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Recontextualizing the “community with a shared future for mankind”

A comparative discourse analysis of Singaporean and Pakistani news media

ORCiD logo with link | Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
Published online: 5 September 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.24227.tan
Abstract
This study examines how the “Community with a Shared Future for Mankind” (CSFM) is recontextualized in Singaporean and Pakistani media, utilizing a Discourse-Historical Analysis framework and a Discourse-Conceptual Approach. It investigates the thematic features, argumentative topoi, and discursive strategies that shape the media’s representation of CSFM. The findings show that Singaporean media primarily frame CSFM within a discourse of pragmatic internationalism and regional stability, highlighting economic interdependence and geopolitical tensions. In contrast, Pakistani media emphasize CSFM as a transformative vision for mutual prosperity, focusing on solidarity, economic sovereignty, and development. The study demonstrates how the identified thematic categories correlate with specific semantic fields, creating key topoi that either legitimize or contest CSFM based on each country’s geopolitical positions and policy priorities. This research offers valuable insights into the discursive construction and recontextualization of political imaginaries within global public discourse.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Transnational recontextualization of CSFM in media discourse
    • 2.2Historical and geopolitical contexts of Singapore and Pakistan
  • 3.Data, methods and analytical framework
    • 3.1Data
    • 3.2Methods
    • 3.3Analytical framework
  • 4.Thematic analysis and results
  • 5.A discourse-conceptual analysis of CSFM
    • 5.1Singaporean media topoi
      • 5.1.1Regional stability & pragmatic engagement
      • 5.1.2Economic interdependence & multilateralism
      • 5.1.3Economic risk & dependency
      • 5.1.4Geopolitical tension & great-power rivalry
      • 5.1.5Political continuity & legitimacy
    • 5.2Pakistani media topoi
      • 5.2.1Existential threat & security cooperation
      • 5.2.2Unbreakable solidarity & shared destiny
      • 5.2.3Mutual prosperity & collective benefit
      • 5.2.4Development, opportunity & economic sovereignty
      • 5.2.5Global responsibility & South–South cooperation
  • 6.Analysis of discursive strategies and results
    • 6.1Nomination
    • 6.2Predication
    • 6.3Perspectivization
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
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