摘要
本文从语用含糊这一新的视角对政治英语新闻进行批评性语篇分析。批评性语篇分析最重要的理论基础和最主要的方法论来源是韩礼德的系统功能语言学。然而,就其方法论而言,无论是哪一家哪一派的理论方法,只要能用于分析语言、权力和意识形态的关系并产生令人信服的结果,它都不会拒绝。
语用含糊既是一种特殊的语言现象,又是一种语用策略,它在很大程度上反映了说话人的元语用意识。语用含糊现象在言语交际中十分普遍,在政治英语新闻中也不例外。其在政治英语新闻中的存在不是偶然的,而是新闻报道者有意识作出的一种语言选择。本文首先探讨了政治英语新闻语篇中的语用含糊表现手段,并从语用含糊角度对美国媒体的伊拉克战争新闻报道进行批评性分析,分析其元语用意识,进而揭示语篇中含而不露的意识形态。
本文提供了一个新的视角,透过语言现象看清其本质,通过对政治英语新闻的语用含糊现象进行批评性语篇分析,进一步阐明政治英语新闻语篇中的语言运用不是任意的,总要顺应强势群体和权力机构的思维方式和意识形态。通过阅读本文,作者希望可以帮助读者增强批评意识,正确解读政治英语新闻中的语用含糊现象,认识到新闻报道不可能做到绝对的客观公正,它总是受各种政治集团和权力集团的利益驱动。
This thesis is a preliminary attempt to make critical discourse analysis of political English news from the perspective of pragmatic vagueness. It is no denying that the major methodology of CDA is based on Halliday’s systematic-functional grammar. However, Critical discourse analysis doesn’t provide a ready-made, how-to-do approach in social analysis. Any theory is acceptable if it aims to reveal the relationship between language, power and ideology.
Pragmatic vagueness refers to the deliberate use of vague language in verbal communication, which is viewed as a communicative strategy and greatly reflects the speaker’s metapragmatic awareness. It is a pervasive language phenomenon in verbal communication, so is in political English news. Its existence in political English news is not accidental but intentional. Through making a critical analysis of news reports of the American media on Iraq war from the perspective of pragmatic vagueness, the thesis not only illustrates linguistic choices at different levels to realize vagueness in political English news, but also investigates the reporter’s metapragmatic awareness triggering the choice of this strategy, and finally discloses the ideologies concealed in political English news.
The present study aims to provide a new perspective of“seeing through language”: to probe into vagueness used in political English news and to explain how language is used by powerful groups to reinforce their political ideologies. Besides, it expects to help readers increase the awareness of how language contributes to the domination of some people by others because political English news is not a value-free reflection of“facts”; it is constructed socially and inevitably influenced by dominant ideologies.
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