批评话语分析视角下中英领导人新年致辞人际意义的对比研究

A Comparative Analysis of the Interpersonal Meaning of Chinese and British Leaders’New Year Speeches--Critical Discourse Analysis as a Perspective

该论文采用批评话语分析方法,以韩礼德系统功能语法中的人际功能为分析框架,所用语料为2021–2023年中国领导人新年致辞的英译文本与英国首相的新年致辞。该文对所选语篇的语气、情态和人称三个系统进行批评性对比分析,旨在探索中英两国领导人新年致辞语言使用特征,分析两国领导人如何通过人际意义达到演讲目的。研究表明,致辞中语气、情态及人称的选择,受到国家历史、文化、国情等因素影响。从对外传播角度来看,译者在政治文本英译过程中应避免使用过多高量值情态词,以促进西方读者的理解,增强对外传播的有效性。此外,英译文本中高频使用第一人称复数“we”有助于塑造踏实稳定、以民为本的中国政府形象,增强领导人讲话内容的可信度,从而更好地实现演讲的人际意义。

Applying the theory of critical discourse analysis as a guide and the interpersonal meta-function in Halliday’s Systematic Functional Grammar as analytic framework,this paper selects the English translation of the Chinese leader’s New Year speeches from 2021 to 2023 as a corpus and compares it with British Prime Ministers’New Year speeches.A critical comparative analysis of the three systems of mood,modality and person is conducted,aiming to explore the ways in which the New Year speeches achieve the purpose of speech through interpersonal meaning,as well as analyzing the similarities and differences in the language-use characteristics of the two countries’leaders.The research shows that the different choices of the two countries’leaders on the mood,modality and person in the speech are influenced by factors such as history,culture and national conditions.From the perspective of external communication,translators should avoid using too many high-value modal verbs when translating political texts,so as to promote the understanding of Western readers and strengthen the effectiveness of external communication.In addition,the high frequency use of the first person plural“we”helps to shape a stable and people-oriented government image,thus enhancing the credibility of leader’s speeches and better realizing interpersonal meaning.