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Contemporary Social Sciences is a bimonthly English language periodical published by Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences.Contemporary Social Sciences publishes outstanding research in the field of social sciences in China,promotes academic achievements supporting China’s going global and enhances China’s international discourse in the field of social sciences.

Aims & Scope

Contemporary Social Sciences aims to present the most outstanding research and achievements in the field of social sciences in China.The scopes of research fields for consideration include,but not limited to political science,economics,literature,linguistics,journalism and communication,education,sociology,philosophy,history,law,and interdisciplinary research.Contemporary Social Sciences enhances the international discourse of China and seeks to promote communication and cooperation between scholars from China and the rest of the world.

学科背景下的元话语:概述

1.Introduction Central to successful communication is an integration of talk about the experiential world and how this is made coherent,intelligible and persuasive to a particular readership.Metadiscourse equips us to achieve this interactivity.Simply,metadiscourse captures the ways writers organize their texts to help readers interpret,evaluate,and react to the propositional information they supply(Hyland,2005a;Jiang,2022;Jiang&Hyland,2018).

Review of Accessing Academic Discourse:Systemic Functional Linguistics and Legitimation Code Theory

Accessing Academic Discourse:Systemic Functional Linguistics and Legitimation Code Theory,was edited by J.R.Martin,Karl Maton and Y.J.Doran and published by Routledge in 2020.This volume explores the dialogue with Legitimation Code Theory(LCT)from the viewpoint of systemic functional linguistics(SFL).“Systemic functional linguistics(SFL)is a long-established and widely known approach to understanding language.Legitimation Code Theory(LCT)is a younger and rapidly growing approach to exploring and shaping knowledge practices”(p.1).They have become widely used to access academic discourse by a growing number of systemic scholars and educators.

The Identity and Discourse in Georgian and Turkey Diplomatic Relations Between 2002-2022

This article’s primary objective is to answer the question of what is the semantic language of identity and interests of Turkey and Georgia?In addition,it analyzes the connotative quotes that exchanged between the two countries during diplomatic visits.Because the article concentrated on the remarks that were stressed during visits and meetings that took place between the years 2002 and 2022,it was necessary to search through 150 news on civil.ge site and filter down to 35 news before applying the content analysis.The AntConc corpus analysis was used in order to comprehend the nature of the political conversation between both countries.According to the findings,the constructivism of core theme that claim states view each other via the identity through interaction was verified.The purpose of the research is to provide a contribution to the study of the identities and interests of Georgia and Turkey who are good neighbors.

Writing AIDS,Deconstructing Politicized Discourses on the Body:AIDS in Post-apartheid South African Novels by Mpe and Mhlongo

HIV/AIDS has been one of the most serious health concerns in South Africa over the past 30 years.Novels such as Welcome to Our Hillbrow,Dog Eat Dog,and After Tears are literary responses to the profound shame and fear inflicted by the epidemic on individuals and society.These AIDS narratives serve as a means to deconstruct politicized discourses about the disease.They scrutinize the stereotype that the voracious sexuality of black men is the primary cause of AIDS and challenges the xenophobic notion of contagious foreigners prevalent in post-apartheid South Africa.Additionally,the novels critically examine and satirize the denialist discourse propagated by incompetent politicians who have failed to contain the virus in post-apartheid South Africa.By representing the conflicting voices surrounding HIV/AIDS,these writings vividly depict the social and political landscape of the era.

The Translation of Allusions in Political Discourse:An Intertextuality Perspective

drawn from ancient classics are the treasures of traditional Chinese culture.The allusions used in Xi Jinping:The Governance of China illustrate a distinctive feature of political discourse,and the publication of its English version provides a valuable opportunity for the study of allusions in translated political discourse.With the English translations of 241 allusions collected from two volumes of the book,we classified these allusions into three categories of history,culture,and literature based on their original sources.Then we analyzed the strategies used in translating the allusions,and provided typical examples to illustrate the use of such translation strategies for each category.Finally,we tried to account for the use of these strategies in light of the intertextuality theory.

Personification in Chinese Diplomatic Discourse and the Construction of National Identity Based on Corpus:A Case Study of the Regular Press Conference of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

With the development of the major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics,diplomatic discourse,as an important part of building China’s international discourse power,has attracted much attention.Personification is a common means in diplomatic discourse.By giving anthropomorphic expressions to countries,regions,institutions and policies,the purpose of building national identity and establishing national image can be achieved.Based on conceptual metaphor theory and national identity theory,this paper focuses on personification in diplomatic discourse with a case study of the regular press conference of Ministry of Foreign Affairs.It is found that the spokesperson skillfully constructed China’s positive national identity,such as peace-loving,openness and inclusiveness by using a large number of body metaphor,kinship metaphor and role metaphor.

Ecological Discourse Analysis Based on the Corpus-A Case Study on the Environmental Discourse of 21st Century

Language learning materials not only provide language input for learners but also subtly disseminate ideology and influence readers’behavior.This study,based on the framework of ecological discourse analysis,quantitatively analyzes and qualitatively describes the ecological significance of environmental texts in the 21st Century.The aim is to provide references for the compilation of environmental discourse in language learning materials,promote the construction of more ecologically beneficial discourse,and facilitate the widespread dissemination of the ecological philosophy of“Diversity and Harmony,Interaction and Co-existence”among young readers.The initial findings of this study are as follows:In the environmental texts of the publication,a large number of relational processes and action processes are used to objectively represent the natural environment;the discourse tends to be ambiguous and beneficial,generally aligning with the ecological philosophy of“Diversity and Harmony,Interaction and Co-existence.”This can guide readers to correctly understand and face environmental issues,which is conducive to the healthy development of natural ecosystems.

On Zero Translation in News Discourse

In the context of globalization,zero translation words are more and more frequently used in news discourse.This article aims to explore the reasons for the frequent use of zero translation words in news discourse and their impact on news discourse from the perspectives of translation studies and journalism and communication studies.

The Research on Cross-Cultural Critical Thinking in English Teaching: A Pedagogical Paradigm Within the Ideological and Political Course Framework

The conflation of linguistic competencies with ideological and political educational paradigms presents unique opportunities and challenges for English language teaching(ELT)in our increasingly interconnected world.This research seeks to address the role of cross-cultural critical thinking within the landscape of English pedagogy,framed by the imperatives of ideological and political education.Employing a multi-method approach,including thematic content analysis and action research,the study proposes a pedagogical model designed to integrate transcultural discourse and ideologically reflective practices into the conventional ELT curriculum.This paper argues for a reimagined approach to teaching English that encourages students to engage with diverse cultural perspectives and develop a nuanced understanding of global issues.

English Translation of Chinese Natural Ecological Discourse:A Corpus-based Case Study on Xi Jinping:The Governance of China

Amid the increasingly severe global natural eco-environment,it is necessary to build a natural ecological civilization by constructing an ecological civilization discourse.Against this background,this study compiles a corpus of natural ecological discourse in the English translation of Xi Jinping:The Governance of China(short for Xi).By using Wordsmith and AntConc,this study explores the linguistic features of the ecological discourse in English translation of Xi in the following dimensions,including high-frequency words,keywords,word collocations,concordance lines.This study aims to analyze the concepts and attitudes towards natural ecology,so as to provide certain valuable insights for the construction of China’s discourse on natural ecological civilization.The study found that the natural ecology discourse involving in the English translation of Xi turned out to be ecologically beneficial.

The Youth’s View of Marriage in Chinese Mainstream Media Discourse-A Corpus-assisted Three-dimensional Discourse Analysis

The rising of aging and the declining of birth rates have forced the public to focus on the youth’s view on marriage.Based on critical discourse analysis and combined with Fairclough’s three-dimensional discourse analysis model,this paper builds a“Chinese media News Report Corpus on the topic of‘marriage’”whose news are collected from China Daily.It is found that the discourses are neutral and objective with regard to the advantages and disadvantages of marriage,but in general,it is still a traditional view of marriage that is inevitable and closely related to fertility.Although this is controlled by the policies and the social reasons including declining fertility rate,it deviates from the current view of the youth towards marriage,resulting in many serious consequences such as young people’s rejection.In addition,this research found that male and female have great differences in their views on marriage,and men’s resistance to marriage is far greater than that of women,which is departure from the public’s cognition.The reasons behind this need to be explored in order to solve the marriage and love problems of young people in today’s era and realize the healthy development of young marriage.

Transitivity Analysis of the Energy in China’s New Era

At present,with the steady development of the global economy,more and more countries begin to pay attention to the impact of ecological environment on economic development and human society,so the ecological environment has become a global issue that cannot be ignored in today’s era.Therefore,from the perspective of the ecological philosophy of Diversity&Harmony as well as Interaction&Co-existence,this paper will conduct ecological discourse analysis on the Energy in China’s New Era based on the transitivity system of systemic-functional grammar,and use the Corpus analysis software UAM Corpus Tool 3.3x to label and make statistics on the transitivity system,aiming to explore the distribution characteristics of the transitivity system in this white paper.Through the transitivity analysis of the white paper,this study helps readers to have a deeper understanding of the positive significance contained in the white paper.To a certain extent,it enables readers at home and abroad to understand China’s stance on energy issues and the positive image of China in energy ecology.It also awaken readers’awareness of environmental protection and acquire good habits of resource conservation to be in harmony between human and nature for sustainable development.

Six-Dimensional Guidance: The Strategies of Thinking Quality Cultivation in Senior High School English Discourse Learning

Taking the discourse learning of the new senior high school English textbook published by the People’s Education Press as an example,combined with the“six-dimensional guidance”deep reading strategy,and through the six-skill training strategies of“memory skill training,understanding skill training,application skill training,analytical skill training,evaluation skill training,creative skill training,”this paper aims to cultivate students’thinking profundity,logic,flexibility,sensitivity,criticality,and originality.It also promotes the real implementation of senior high school English deep reading that points to the cultivation of thinking quality in classroom teaching,and realizes the transformation from“conventional reading”to“deep reading”that reflects the core literacy of the discipline.

An Analysis of Innovative Contributions to the Important Discourse on the Development of New Quality Productivity

The discourse on developing high-quality productivity marks a significant theoretical innovation,which is conducive to the modernization and sinicization of Marxism.It refines our understanding of“new quality productivity,”defining it as an advanced form driven by innovation,embodying“high technology,efficiency,and quality,”with the aim of comprehensively enhancing productivity.It elucidates the necessity of cultivating such forces,asserting that they are crucial for achieving high-quality development,securing a leading position in global technology,and fulfilling the aspirations for a better life.Moreover,it outlines a new implementation route,emphasizing strategies such as fostering technological autonomy,nurturing emerging industries,integrating education and talent in technology,adopting a“build through challenges”approach,adjusting solutions locally,and providing categorized guidance,all of which are based on the ongoing comprehensive reforms.

A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Lingnan Cultural Promotional Videos on Social Media

In recent years,more and more directors of culture and tourism have taken part in the promotion of local cultural tourism by cross-dressing,talent shows,and pushing their limits on self-media platforms.This study investigates short videos of Lingnan culture promoted by directors general and deputy directors general of the Culture,Radio,Television,Tourism,and Sports Bureau of counties and cities in Guangdong Province on social media by the method of multimodal critical discourse analysis.The analysis of 33 videos shows that Lingnan culture is a domineering and confident culture,historical culture,graceful and elegant culture,and vibrant and active culture.Domineering and confident culture is embedded in the utterances and behaviors of the directors general or deputy directors general in the video.Historical culture is realized through the conversation with historical figures through time travel.Graceful and elegant culture is constructed in the depiction of sceneries and the depiction of characters’manners.Vibrant and active culture is represented in the depiction of the characters’actional process and analytical process.

Discourse Analysis of the Belt and Road Initiative From the Perspective of Central Asian Countries: A Case Study of the Republic of Kazakhstan

This study employs Norman Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis(CDA)three-dimensional model,using the Republic of Kazakhstan as a case study,to delve into the discourse construction of China’s Belt and Road Initiative(BRI)in Central Asian countries.Through detailed analysis of policy documents,media reports,and public discussions in Central Asian countries,this paper reveals how the BRI constructs specific social practices,discourse events,and textual meanings within these nations.The findings indicate that through this global development strategy,China has not only strengthened its economic ties with Central Asian countries but has also exerted profound influences on political,cultural,and social levels.

Analysis of Evolutionary Social Media Activities: Pre-Vaccine and Post-Vaccine Emergency Use

Dear Editor,In this letter,we analyze the public discourse sentiments over time and seek to understand the salient patterns around COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination from social media data.Globally,more than 373 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and 5.66 million have died from this disease by 2022.It continues to have a negative impact on human daily life and the global economic development till now,due to the lack of effective treatment of COVID-19 induced issues and prevention of transmission methods.

Submissions Invited

Contemporary Social Sciences is a bimonthly English language periodical published by Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences.Contemporary Social Sciences publishes outstanding research in the field of social sciences in China,promotes academic achievements supporting China’s going global and enhances China’s international discourse in the field of social sciences.Our primary audience are the scholars and students whose primary research interests include humanities and social sciences in contemporary China,both at home and abroad.