四十年来尘扑面:境外英文报纸的中国农村形象建构(1982-2023)

Blown by the Dust and Wind for Forty Years: Constructing the Image of Chinese Rural Areas in Overseas Reporting (1982-2023)

既往关于国家形象的研究具有城市中心主义倾向,农村议题在国际传播领域鲜有关注。研究以1982-2023年间506篇境外英文报纸的中国农村报道作为研究对象,通过内容分析来描述境外英文报纸对于中国农村议题的关注。研究发现:第一,境外英文报纸对于中国农村的关注发生了上升-下降的变化趋势,清晰地呈现出阶段性特征;第二,境外英文报纸最为关注中国的经济发展和社会问题,主要使用了“发展框架”和“不平等框架”两类报道框架;第三,根植于国家的现代化过程,境外英文报纸所呈现的农村形象发生了“在落后中缓慢革新”“在动荡冲突中艰难转型”“在发展中消除贫困”三个阶段的变迁。研究认为,将农村形象标识为国家形象的组成部分,平衡既往研究中的城市中心主义,有助于国际传播研究谱系的自主性构建。

Previous research on national image has shown a bias towards urban-centric perspectives, with rural issues receiving little attention in the field of international communication. This study focuses on 506 reports on Chinese rural areas published by overseas English newspapers from 1982 to 2023, using content analysis to depict the attention given to Chinese rural issues in international coverage. The study finds that: firstly, overseas English newspapers pay attention to Chinese rural areas exhibited a fluctuating trend over the forty-years period, with distinct phases;secondly, overseas English newspapers focus primarily on China's economic development and social issues, utilizing two main reporting frameworks: the “development framework” and the “inequality framework”;thirdly, rooted in the nation's modernization process, the rural image presented by overseas English newspapers underwent transitions in three stages: “slow innovation in backwardness”“difficult transformation amid turmoil” and “poverty eradication in development”. The study argues that identifying the rural image as a component of national image, balancing the urban centrism prevalent in previous research, helps constructing the autonomy of the international communication research.