In:Contemporary Chinese Discourse and Social Practice in China
Edited by Linda Tsung and Wei Wang
[Studies in Chinese Language and Discourse 4] 2015
► pp. 185–200
Popular Spring Festival Gala Language
A Sociocultural Observation
Published online: 9 October 2015
https://doi.org/10.1075/scld.4.11wan
https://doi.org/10.1075/scld.4.11wan
China Central TV’s “Spring Festival Gala” (春节联欢晚会,Chunwan in short
herein after) has captured the attention of vast numbers of Chinese viewers
for over 30 years. It has long been noted that some of the Chunwan scripts not
only Chinese people’s enthusiasm for the gala, but also their perception of the
socio-economic environment and their expectations for the future. Drawing on
theories of cultural studies, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and stylistics,
this chapter aims to analyze the use of these popular Spring Festival Gala expressions
(PSFGEs) between 2009 and 2013 in a context-dependent way. The author
defines and discusses the types and characteristics of PSFGEs, explaining how
they have developed through dramatic shifts in sociocultural discourse in China.
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