Analysis of Chinese Internet Catchphrases from the Perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis

【Abstract】Utterance/discourse refers to a process whereby a social group disseminates its meaning in the society according to some regulations and principles so as to establish its social status and be identified by other groups. It is the manifestation of power. Internet catchphrases are special utterances/discourses that are produced by internet users. This thesis analyzes and interprets some Chinese internet catchphrases from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis and reveals the relationship between discourse， sense and society.

【Key words】internet catchphrases； critical discourse analysis

In recent years， due to the fast development of society and technological advances in media and information communication， all kinds of new things and new phenomena emerge. And there comes about a lot of new words. Almost all the new words are created by internet users. In modern society， internet users have formed a group of their own which plays an important role in dissemination of social information. And the voice of internets users imposes great influence upon social development and social stability. This voice is represented by internet catchphrases which are used frequently by netizens to express their ideas. A lot of studies have been made on Chinese internet catchphrases. But most of the researches are from the perspective of memetics， speech regulation theory， or news research. Little work is done from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis. Thus， this paper aims to analyze and interpret some Chinese internet catchphrases from the perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis so as to reveal the relationship between discourse， sense and society.

I. A Brief Account of Critical Discourse Analysis

According to Fairclough and Holes （1995）， Critical Discourse Analysis （CDA） is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of discourse that views language as a form of social practice and focuses on the ways social and political domination are reproduced by text and talk. The approach draws from several disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. And it is based on the assumption that language and power are entirely linked. Chouliaraki and Fairclough （1999） see discourse as a form of potential creative social practice. Discourse influence and creates social structure. And at the same time， it is constrained by the social structure it created. The existing social relations and social structures will inevitably be reflected in discourse， and discourse plays certain role in the reproduction of these social relations. Meantime， discourse is also a place of social struggle， where all kinds of social forces implement their power through discourse. That is， the change of discourse may cause the change of culture and society.

II. Types and Characteristics of Chinese Internet Catchphrases

Internet language is a new social dialect variety which takes internet as its medium. And Chinese internet catchphrases are created and spread by active Chinese internet users. Subsequently， they are recognized， accepted and then used by most netizens. There are three major types of internet catchphrases （Yang 2010）. The first type refers to general internet language. The second category refers words that are created and spread by netizens， such as “your mother are calling you home for dinner”， etc. The third type of internet catchphrases are those associated with social public events， such as “hide and seek”， “push”， “house crunchy”， etc. This paper mainly focuses on the third type.

Concerning the third type of internet catchphrases， they have some common features. The internet users put emphasis upon part of the content of the original discourse， and highlight the attitude that is different from the original intent.

III. The Relationship between Discourse， Sense and Social Structure

CDA takes social cognition as the media to interpret the relationship between discourse structure and social structure. In this part， one particular internet catchphrases will be analyzed and their relationship between social structure will be discussed.

That is “Hide and Seek”. This term dates back to a news event in 2009. On February 13th， 2009， a piece of news named “A pirate man of forest died after being detained for a half month” in Yunnan Information Newspaper reported the death of a man from the north town of Yuxi. The man was 24 years old and was named Lee Qiaoming. He was detained for felling trees illegally. On January 1st， 2009， he got into the Detention Centre， and on February 8th， he was injured and hospitalized. But four days later， he died due to severe head injury. The Public Security Bureau of Jinning County explained to the public that Lee hit the wall accidentally and got injured when he and his fellows were playing “hide and seek” in the courtyard. Since the interpretation of the public security organs are endowed with legal authority， the phrase “hide and seek” is a typical discourse of power. it becomes the voice of common people and implicit criticism towards the government power.

Seen from the analysis above， it has been made clear that， how discourse， as a form of social practice， influences， interacts and finally changes social structures. Internet catchphrases are not merely words. They are the voice of the group of internet users. They are the representation of users’ interest and the manifestation of their power. It influences and changes social structure through the media of common sense， namely， social cognition.

And the analysis of Chinese internet catchphrases from the perspective of CDA can present the interaction of discourse and society clearly. It shows the relationship between discourse， sense and social structure distinctly.

【Reference】

[1]Chouliaraki， L. N. Fairclough. 1999. Discourse in Late Modernity： Rethinking Critical Discourse Analysis. Edinburgh： Edinburgh University Press.

[2]Fairclough， Norman. 2001. Language and Power. London： Longman.

[3]田海龍.語(yǔ)篇研究的批評(píng)視角：從批評(píng)語(yǔ)言學(xué)到批評(píng)話語(yǔ)分析[M].山東外語(yǔ)教學(xué)，2006（2）：40-47.