Cover not available

In:The Cultural Pragmatics of Danger: Cross-linguistic perspectives
Edited by Carsten Levisen and Zhengdao Ye
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 346] 2024
► pp. 194–216

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 10
The cultural pragmatics of “danger” in Chinese political discourse

ORCiD logo with link | The Australian National University
Published online: 15 August 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.346.10ye
Abstract
This chapter examines a way of speaking about “looming danger” that is pervasive in Chinese Communist Party discourse but which has not been given much attention in studies of Chinese elite politics. It centres on cultural beliefs underlying the discourse of jū ān sī wēi (‘think about danger during peaceful time’) and unpacks its associated meaning and the cultural contents surrounding this discourse. The paper argues and demonstrates that political discourse is a form of cultural pragmatics, in that the former builds on fundamental beliefs and values of the culture in which the discourse is situated, and that these beliefs and values may be influenced and reinforced by historical events and national memory. It also demonstrates that Natural Semantics Metalanguage can be a useful tool for analysing and representing the cultural elements in political discourse.
Article outline
  • 1.Context: “Looming danger” as a recurring theme in Chinese political discourse
  • 2.Cultural scripts: An analytical tool for cultural pragmatics
  • 3.The pragmatics of jū ān sī wēi (‘be mindful of danger during peacetime’) in CCP discourse
  • 4.Cultural scripts for ‘be ever mindful of danger during peacetime’
  • 5.Cultural beliefs and political discourse
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
References (41)
References
Chilton, Paul. 2003. Analysing Political Discourse: Theory and Practice. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
China Daily (2013, November 26). “Jiang Zemin tongzhi zai dang de shiliu da shang suozuo baogao quanwen” (2002/11/17) 江泽民同志在党的十六大上所作报告全文 (2002/11/17) [Full text of Jiang Zemin’s Report at 16th Party Congress on Nov 8, 2002 (17/11/2002)]. In Dang de shiliu da baogao quanwen (Zhong ying duizhao) 党的十六大报告全文(中英对照) [Full text of the report of the 16th National Congress of the CPC (Chinese–English bilingual version)]. Retrieved from [URL]
Collins WordBanks Online. [[URL]]
Dictionary Editing Room, Institute of Linguistics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Ed.). (2016). Xiandai Hanyu cidian 现代汉语词典.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
enTenTen21 (English Web 2021). [[URL]]
Gill, Bates. 2022. Daring to Struggle: China’s Global Ambitions under Xi Jinping. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goddard, Cliff. 2018. Ten Lectures on Natural Semantic Metalanguage: Exploring Language, Thought and Culture Using Simple, Translatable Words. Leiden: Brill. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(ed.). 2021. Minimal Language in Action. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goddard, Cliff, and Anna Wierzbicka. 2004. “Cultural Scripts: What Are They and What Are They Good For?” Intercultural Pragmatics 1 (2): 153–166. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2021. “‘We’: Conceptual Semantics, Linguistic Typology and Social Cognition.” Language Sciences 83: 101327. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Guo, Sujian (ed.). 2006. China’s “Peaceful Rise” in the 21st Century: Domestic and International Conditions. London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Information Office of the State Council, People’s Republic of China. 2011. China’s peaceful development [White paper]. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jiang, Jinqiang. 蒋金锵. 2021. Xi Jinping zong shuji zhichu “tongchou fazhan he anquan, zengqiang youhuan yishi, zuo dao ju an si wei, shi women dang zhiguo lizheng de yige zhongda yuanze” 习近平总书记指出“统筹发展和安全，增强忧患意识，做到居安思危，是我们党治国理政的一个重大原则” [General Secretary Xi Jinping points out that “a significant principle in the governance of our Party is to have an overall plan for development and security, increase awareness of the dangers and troubles ahead, and practice ‘being ever mindful of danger during peacetime’”]. Renmin ribao 人民日报 [People’s Daily]. [URL]
Kilpatrick, Ryan Ho. 2023. CCP or CPC: A China watchers’ Rorschach. China Media Project. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kissinger, Henry. 2011. On China. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Legge, James. 1939. The Chinese Classics: With a Translation, Critical And Exegetical Notes, Prolegomena and Copious Indexes. 2nd ed. rev. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Levisen, Carsten. 2019. “Biases we live by: Anglocentrism in linguistics and cognitive sciences.” Language Sciences 76: 101173. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Liang, Shih-chiu. 1972. A New Practical Chinese-English Dictionary. Hong Kong: Far East Book Co.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
“Mao Zedong Deng Xiaoping Jiang Zemin guanyu jianku fendou ju an si wei baochi tong renmin qunzhong xierou lianxi de lunshu”* 毛泽东邓小平江泽民关于艰苦奋斗、居安思危、保持同人民群众血肉联系的论述 [Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin discussing hard struggle, being prepared for adversity in times of peace and maintaining flesh-and-blood ties with the people]*. 2003. Zhongguo Qingnian Bao 中国青年报 [China Youth Daily]. [URL]
Mathews, Robert Henry (ed). 1943. Mathews’ Chinese-English Dictionary. Rev. American ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mitter, Rana. 2020. China’s Good War: How World War II Is Shaping a New Nationalism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Okulska, Urszula, and Piotr Cap. 2010. “Analysis of political discourse: Landmarks, challenges and prospects.” In Perspectives in Politics and Discourse ed. by Urszula Okulska and Piotr Cap, 3–20. John Benjamins Publishing Company.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pollard, David, (Trans, ed). 2000. The Chinese Essay. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ramo, Joshua Cooper. 2004. The Beijing Consensus. London: Foreign Policy Centre.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shaughnessy, Edward. 1998. I Ching = The Classic of Changes. 1st trade paperback ed. New York: Ballantine Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wang, Zheng. 2012. Never Forget National Humiliation: Historical Memory in Chinese Politics and Foreign Relations. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
“White Paper on China’s Peaceful Development Road”. 2006. China Report 42 (2): 215–232. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wierzbicka, Anna. 2013. Imprisoned in English: The Hazards of English as a Default Language. London: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2021. “‘Semantic primitives’, fifty years later.” Russian Journal of Linguistics 25 (2): 317–342. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wu, Jingrong. 吴景荣. 1985. Han Ying Cidian 汉英词典 [A Chinese-English Dictionary]. Commercial Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Xinhua. 2021a. “Full Text: Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century.” Qiushi Online. [URL]
. 2021b. “Zhonggong Zhongyang Guanyu Dang de Bainian Fendou Zhongda Chengjiu He Lishi Jingyan de Jueyi (Quanwen)” 中共中央关于党的百年奋斗重大成就和历史经验的决议（全文） [Full Text: Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century]. Zhongguo Zhengfu Wang 中国政府网. [URL]
Xun, Endong 荀恩东, Rao Gaoqi 饶高琦, Xiao Xiaoyue 肖晓悦, & Zang Jiaojiao 臧娇娇. 2016. “Dashuju beijingxia BCC yuliaoku de yanzhi” 大数据背景下BCC语料库的研制 [The Construction of the BCC Corpus in the Age of Big Data]. Yuliaoku Yuyanxue 语料库语言学 [Corpus Linguistics] 3 (1): 93–118.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ye, Zhengdao. 2006. “Why the ‘inscrutable’ Chinese face? Emotionality and facial expression in Chinese.” In Ethnopragmatics: Understanding Discourse in Cultural Context, ed. by Cliff Goddard, 127–170. De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2013. “Understanding the conceptual basis of the ‘old friend’ formula in Chinese social interaction and foreign diplomacy: a cultural script approach.” Australian Journal of Linguistics 33 (3): 365–85. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. “Opposites in language and thought: a Chinese perspective.” In Selected Papers from the 4th UK Cognitive Linguistics Conference, 320–338. [URL]
. 2017. “The semantics of social relation nouns in Chinese.” In The Semantics of Nouns, ed. by Zhengdao Ye, 66–88. Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2022. “CRISIS as a keyword in Anglophone public discourse.” Studia Anglica Resoviensia 19: 95–109. [URL]
Zhao, Kejin. 2016. “China’s rise and its discursive power strategy.” Chinese Political Science Review 1: 539–564. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Zheng, Bijian. 郑必坚. 2003. “Zhongguo Heping Jueqi Xin Daolu He Yazhou de Weilai” 中国和平崛起新道路和亚洲的未来 [China’s New Road of Peaceful Rise and the Future of Asia]. Xinhua. [URL]
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue