The Construction of China’s National Image from the Perspective of Framing Theory

-- Take Independent Online’s Report on the Belt and Road Initiative

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-277-4_65How to use a DOI?

Keywords

framing theory; The Belt and Road; National image; South Africa; IOL

Abstract

The construction of a national image in the global media landscape plays a critical role in shaping international relations and perceptions, particularly in an era where geopolitical strategies like China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are increasingly under the spotlight. Academically, there is a growing interest in understanding how countries’ images are constructed and communicated through media narratives, especially in relation to significant international collaborations. In this context, utilizing a systematic content analysis, this study analyzes the representation of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in South Africa through the lens of Independent Online (IOL) reporting. The choice of IOL is predicated on its stature as South Africa’s extensive media brand, noted for its authority, wide reach, multimedia dissemination capabilities, and dedication to maintaining independent and objective reporting. A total of 34 relevant articles published between January 1, 2023, and August 1, 2023, were collected and analyzed using the Divominer text mining platform, showcasing the methodological approach employed to uncover the narrative structures shaping the national image of China within mainstream South African media. The research reveals two main narrative strategies in the construction of a positive national image: deconstruction and construction, and event and reaction. The findings highlight Chinese local media’s significant presence in Independent Online, thus positively influencing China’s overseas image construction. However, it also identifies limitations in communication forms, namely the monolithic, official tone and didactic nature of the content, which may impede audience understanding and acceptance.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Weimiao Su
AU  - Haojie Yang
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/09/02
TI  - The Construction of China’s National Image from the Perspective of Framing Theory
BT  - Proceedings of the 2024 10th International Conference on Humanities and Social Science Research (ICHSSR 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 585
EP  - 599
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-277-4_65
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-277-4_65
ID  - Su2024
ER  -