中美政府国防白皮书与国家身份的构建

A Comparative Study of Chinese and American National Identity Reflected in their White Papers on National Defense

国防白皮书是构建国家身份、对外宣传的一条重要渠道和语篇形式,是一国国家政策的重要组成部分。选取2004年至2008年间中国和美国发布的国防白皮书为语料,采用定性和定量相结合的话语分析方法,对中美国防白皮书在选词、分类和情态以及语篇结构等方面进行比较分析,重点考察中美国防白皮书是如何构建各自的国家身份及其蕴含的社会文化价值观,可以发现在国防白皮书中,中国努力构建热爱和平、促进共同发展的国家形象和身份,美国则将自己塑造成一个具有全球战略利益的霸权国家。

This paper presents a critical discourse analysis and a comparative study of the Chinese and American white papers on national defense from 2002 to 2008.It finds that China and U.S.differ greatly in their choice of words,classification,modality and macro-textual structure in constructing their respective national identities.The very national identity the Chinese government intends to construct is that of China as a peace-loving and development-pursuing country that highly cherishes cooperation and avoids confrontation,while the U.S.government portrays the U.S.as a superior country with a mission.This difference can be attributed to the culture of harmony in China and the mission mentality deeply rooted in America.