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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
YAN Rui
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DOI:10.17265/2328-2134/2023.03.001
National University of Defense Technology, Changsha, China
Government Work Report is essential for domestic and international understanding of China’s national conditions. This paper selects the national defense section in Government Work Reports released by the State Council of the People’s Republic of China over the last fifteen years from 2009 to 2023 as an example of China’s official discourse. From the perspective of positive discourse analysis, the theory of three meta-functions of language proposed by M. A. K. Halliday in Systemic Functional Linguistics is used in this article in terms of transitivity, appraisal, mood, modality, and theme to explore the constructing of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) image. This study finds that, by using the goals and circumstances with optimistic meaning in material processes, adopting more appreciation in attitude, applying more declaratives in mood, utilizing modal operators with high modulation, and implicit objective modal adjuncts, and employing government-focused themes, China’s official discourse objectively and authentically conveys a positive image of the brave and just PLA both at home and abroad which advocates itself to peace-keeping, and mission-fulfilling.
Government Work Report, official discourse, PLA image, systemic functional linguistics
YAN Rui. (2023). The Construction of PLA Image in China’s Official Discourse From the Perspective of Positive Discourse Analysis——Based on Government Work Reports Over the Last 15 Years. International Relations and Diplomacy, May-June 2023, Vol. 11, No. 3, 111-118.
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