A corpus-based study of China’ s agricultural image in mainstream media news discourse in China and the United States
中美主流媒体新闻话语中的中国农业形象建构——一项基于语料库的研究

摘要

农业是国家发展的重要基础，随着中国农业现代化转型的深入与全球化进程的演进，其形象的建构与传播具有重要意义。本研究以“Chinese agriculture”和“China’s agriculture”为检索词，分别从《中国日报》和《纽约时报》中收集2020年至2025年间有关中国农业的新闻报道，自建两个媒体话语语料库，并借助语料库检索软件AntConc 4.3进行分析。基于费尔克劳批评话语分析的三维框架，本研究对两个自建语料库中的高频实词和索引行进行分析，探讨中国农业在中美主流媒体新闻话语中的呈现特征及其异同。研究结果表明：在中媒话语中，报道主题较为丰富，中国农业主要呈现出科技创新驱动、重视粮食安全以及现代化发展的积极形象；在美国主流媒体的话语建构中，中国农业更多与国际贸易和市场议题相联系，呈现出一定的发展韧性，但整体话语倾向较为中性。基于全球气候变化背景，本研究认为，中国农业形象的国际传播仍可进一步加强可持续发展理念的呈现，以丰富和完善中国农业形象。

Abstract

Agriculture is an important foundation for national development. With the advancement of agricultural modernization and the deepening of globalization, the construction and dissemination of China’s agricultural image have gained increasing significance. This study uses Chinese agriculture and China’s agriculture as search terms to collect news reports from China Daily and The New York Times between 2020 and 2025, constructing two media discourse corpora. AntConc 4.3 is employed for corpus analysis. Based on Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework of critical discourse analysis, this study examines high-frequency content words and concordance lines to explore China’s agricultural image in mainstream media discourse in China and the United States, as well as their similarities and differences. The findings show that Chinese media construct a positive image of China’s agriculture characterized by technological innovation, food security, and modernization, with diverse reporting themes. In contrast, American media tend to associate China’s agriculture with international trade and market issues, presenting a certain degree of resilience while maintaining a generally neutral discourse orientation. Against the backdrop of global climate change, this study suggests that China’s agricultural image construction can further emphasize sustainable development to achieve a more comprehensive international representation.