中西经济类新闻报道中委婉语对比研究——以中美贸易战为例

Contrast Study on Euphemism between Chinese and Western News Reports—Take Trade War as an Example

新闻报道具有表达立场,宣传政治理念,引导舆论导向等重要作用。报道中使用过激言论可能会造成国际关系恶化,酿成不良后果。因此,在敏感语境中,新闻媒体通常使用相关委婉语来降低语篇中的攻击性,以避免矛盾的激化、维护政治家和政府的利益。近日来,中美贸易摩擦不断升级,双方冲突不断,局势愈加紧张。在这一敏感话题上,中美媒体均采用了相应的委婉表达,以达到美化事实,维护本国利益的目的。本文通过对比分析人民日报和纽约客在该话题报道中使用的委婉语,对其背后的意图及政治立场进行了探究。研究发现,由于两国媒体政治目的大不相同,因此在委婉表达的选择上也各有千秋:中方媒体通过模糊表达、提出质疑、隐喻等方式来稳定民心、缓解紧张局势;美方媒体则通过上义替换、使用间接引语等委婉表达来美化事实,维护本国政治利益。

News reports play an important role in expressing their positions, propagating political ideas as well as guiding public opinion. In addition, their remarks are also publicly accessible worldwide and radical words in news reports may lead to worse international relations. Therefore, in sensitive contexts, journalists often use relevant euphemisms to reduce aggression in discourse, avoid intensification of contradictions and safeguard the interests of their government. Recently, conflicts between China and America have turned into a lengthy trade war. On this sensitive topic, both Chinese and American media have adopted corresponding euphemistic expressions in order to achieve the purpose of beautifying the facts and safeguarding their own interests.