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Article published In:
Media Language and Discourse in Cultural China
Edited by Doreen D. Wu, Ming Liu and David C.S. Li
[Chinese Language and Discourse 13:1] 2022
► pp. 143–165

Intellectual discourse on Chinese media in times of the coronavirus

ORCID logo | Tilburg University

This paper investigates intellectual discourse in China during the COVID-19 coronavirus crisis through two discourse analyses, aiming to see the role of intellectuals in leading public discussion and perception on government decisions in times of crisis. Digital ethnography and digital discourse analysis are implemented to do a micro and in-depth analysis of texts and the media engagement of the Chinese intellectuals. In the context in which the presence and reception of public intellectuals in China has been transformed from pro-West gongzhi (公知) to intellectuals in the system (体制内), this study reviews the moral values and norms that promoted governmental policies and social coherence embedded in a new intellectual discourse. It contributes to the analysis of the dynamics and flexibility of China’s public communication in times of crisis within the social context in which online activities and offline realities are closely bonded in modern China.

Keywords: public intellectual, cultural authority, coronavirus, crisis discourse, media communication
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The need for authority and intellectuals as media celebrities
    • 2.1 Gongzhi and intellectuals ‘in the system’
    • 2.2Public communication in crisis: Facticity and interaction
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Embedded moral values in defining truth and normality
    • 4.1Seeking truth from facts: A historical value
    • 4.2The collective memory on rumors and professionalism
    • 4.3Talking politics in an unofficial way
  • 5.Findings and discussion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 29 March 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/cld.20029.tan
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