The principal objective of this thesis is to explore the representation of China in British television documentaries broadcast between 1980 and 2000, focusing on historical documentaries. The thesis addresses, as its primary research questions and on the basis of substantial database, what is represented, how that representation is realised, and the social, historical influences which contextualise and underpin the representation of China. These questions relating to textual representation are framed within the wider context of Sino-Western relations, Western self-perceptions and conceptions of China. The study aims to reveal mechanisms of textual representation by concentrating on two main dimensions: the internal narrative structures and key discursive formations of the documentary text (including visuals), and structures of power relations operating to shape the representation in both the textual domain of meaning mediation and institutional domain of documentary production. Two aspects of the representation are foregrounded: China as a civilisation and China as a Communist `other'. The thesis focuses primarily on the narrative as a methodology in approaching representation, as documentary achieves meaning mainly through the stories it tells. Two dimensions of narrative are explored: a structuralist dimension drawing on theories developed by Propp and Silverstone, and a discursive dimension which is framed within Foucault's concept of power and knowledge. Extensive primary research established the database for the study, which is made up of 170 documentaries broadcast during the sample period between 1980 and 2000, and 18 field interviews with key personnel in broadcasting and production companies. The thesis argues that the British television documentary representation presents a largely Western understanding of China filtered through, among other things, selfperceptions and conceptions of the `other', and mediated by various sources of power. The process of representing `what is China' is enmeshed with the process of constructing how China should be viewed. The result of this social construction of truth and knowledge is that certain values, convictions, and ideologies are reinforced and reproduced in the vital domain of documentary representation

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 154-160). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Данная работа посвящена рассмотрению концептов «свобода», «равенство», «права человека» и особенностей их репрезентации в американском масс-медийном дискурсе. Материалом исследования выступают статьи журналов, газет и онлайн-публикаций американских СМИ, среди которых «The Washington Post», «LA Time», «The New York Reporter», «Daily News», «Time» и др. Первая часть работы раскрывает теорию дискурса в науке, отражает особенности масс-медийного дискурса. Также рассмотрены различные определения понятия «концепт», подходы к его изучению и различные методики. По итогу формулируется рабочее определение понятий «масс-медийный дискурс» и «концепт». Вторая часть работы посвящена описанию лексической репрезентации концептов «свобода», «равенство», «права человека» в американском дискурсе масс-медиа. Рассматривается их реализация в медиа-текстах журналов и газет США, концепты анализируются в соответствии с духовно-ценностной моделью В. И. Карасика. По результатам исследования концепты «свобода», «равенство», «права человека» получают всестороннее изучение на основе их репрезентации в американском масс-медийном дискурсе. / This study is devoted to the consideration of the concepts of “liberty”, “equality”, “human rights” and the specificity of their representation in the American mass media discourse. The research material is articles of magazines, newspapers and online publications of the American media, including “The Washington Post”, “LA Time”, “The New York Reporter”, “Daily News”, “Time” and others. The first part of the research reveals the theory of discourse in science, reflects the specificity of mass media discourse. Various definitions of the “concept”, approaches to its study and different methods are also considered. As a result, a working definition of the “mass media discourse” and “concept” is formulated. The second part of the research is devoted to the description of the lexical representation of the concepts of “liberty”, “equality”, “human rights” in the American discourse of mass media. Their implementation in the media texts of magazines and newspapers of the USA is considered, the concepts are analyzed in accordance with the Karasik’s spiritual-value model. According to the results of the research, the concepts of “liberty”, “equality”, “human rights” receive a comprehensive study based on their representation in the American mass media discourse.

Работа посвящена сопоставительному исследованию прецедентных имен в российском и британском массмедийном дискурсе с применением корпусной методологии. Цель исследования: анализ семантических и функциональных свойств прецедентных имён в текстах современного российского и британского медиадискурса в сопоставительном аспекте. Материал исследования составили 100 английских и 100 русских контекстов, с фрагментами, где были употреблены ПИ. Всего проанализировано 356 словоупотреблений прецедентных имен в составе текстов российских и британских СМИ, опубликованных за период с 2020 по 2024 год. Анализ показал, что что большая часть прецедентных имен приходится на политические и исторические темы, а имена известных мировых лидеров встречаются довольно часто и повторяются множество раз. Наименьшей сферой-источником прецедентных имен как в российской, так и в британской прессе оказалась «Спорт». Особое внимание на себя обращают случаи, когда в русскоязычном медиадискурсе большое количество ПИ отмечается именно в заголовках, в то время как в британском медиадискурсе прецедентные имена зачастую встречаются непосредственно в самом «теле» текста статья и не всегда вынесены конкретно в заголовки. В российских СМИ обнаруживается приём, который мы можем обозначить как так называемые «прецедентные ряды» или «прецедентные цепочки». Таким образом, прецедентность как форма проявления интертекста служит повышению эмоциональной, когнитивной значимости сообщаемой информации, более того, способствует увеличению прагматической и эстетической нагрузки текста. / The work is devoted to a comparative study of precedent names in Russian and British mass media discourse using corpus methodology. The purpose of the study is to analyze the semantic and functional properties of precedent names in the texts of modern Russian and British media discourse in a comparative aspect. The research material consists of 100 English and 100 Russian contexts, with fragments where precedent names were used. There were analyzed 356 usage patterns of precedent names in the texts of Russian and British media published between 2020 and 2024. The analysis showed that most of the precedent names fall on political and historical topics, and the names of famous world leaders are quite common and repeated many times. The smallest source-group of precedent names in both the Russian and British press turned out to be "Sport". Particular attention is drawn to cases when in the Russian-language media discourse a large number of PN is noted precisely in the headlines, while in the British media discourse precedent names are often found directly in the "body" of the text of the article and are not always specifically placed in the headlines. There is a method in the Russian media that we can designate as the so-called "precedent lines" or "precedent chains". Thus, precedent as a form of intertext manifestation serves to increase the emotional and cognitive significance of the information being communicated, moreover, it contributes to an increase in the pragmatic and aesthetic function of the text.

This study of contemporary jazz discourse and gender applies the techniques of critical discourse analysis, inspired by M.A.K. Halliday's systemic functional linguistics and Norman Fairclough's qualitative critical discourse analysis, to explicate the unequal distribution of power in society as represented by the institutions of jazz and mass media, in discourse about jazz vocal artists. Specifically, the study focuses on the way the genres of jazz CD review, jazz performance review, and interviews with jazz artists – disseminated via the institutions JazzTimes and Live New Orleans – represent the artists' identities, roles, achievements and skills. Following Norman Fairclough and the feminist scholar Mary Talbot, the study assumes that institutions of mass media not only discursively construct the gender of jazz vocal artists, but also represent the performers' achievement and skills from a hegemonic standpoint, reflecting the commonsense assumptions about women and men and their roles in patriarchal society.