IShowSpeed’s Digital ‘Diplomacy Experiment’ Research on the Construction of China's Image through Live streaming Comment Discourse
Keywords:
Critical Discourse Analysis, China’s image, IShowSpeed, corpus, comment, live streamingAbstract
Previous studies on the construction of national image mostly relied on news reports，this study’s data was selected from the emerging live streaming industry. From the perspective of critical discourse analysis, it explored the construction of the Chinese national image in the live streaming comment section of IShowSpeed. The research employs AntConc 4.2.1 for contextual analysis and Weiciyun for sentiment analysis, focusing on the use of high-frequency keywords, collocation analysis, and sentiment analysis. The findings reveal that under the unfiltered live streaming, the discourse in the comment section focus on the following themes: City Impressions; Live Broadcast Interaction; Cross-Cultural Communication and Chinese People; Emotional Experience; Cultural Symbols and High-Technology; Feelings and Intentions Regarding the Trip. These themes collectively construct the following images of China: (1) A authentic China that breaks through the narrative framework of Western discourse; (2) A national image that combines openness, inclusiveness, and hospitality; (3) A national image that combines modernization of urban governance with strong developmental momentum; (4) A national image that integrates historical depth with technological innovation.
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