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Article published In: Journal of Asian Pacific Communication: Online-First Articles

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Recontextualizing “new rural elite” in Chinese media

A diachronic corpus-assisted discourse study

 | Zhejiang Shuren University
ORCiD logo with link | Zhejiang Shuren University
Published online: 2 October 2026
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https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.26042.cai
Abstract
Based on China Daily reports from 2003 to 2025, this study uses correspondence analysis, co-occurrence network analysis, and collocation analysis to trace the diachronic recontextualization of new rural elite discourse. The findings identify a three-stage trajectory: conceptual emergence, governance construction, and strategic upgrading. Legitimation shifts from moral evaluation to rationalization, later incorporating authorization. Meanwhile, the referential scope expands from general rural roles to diverse grassroots elites and high-level talent, while the concept’s semantic status rises from concrete social actors to an institutional strategy. The new rural elite is also redefined from an observed object to a thematically prominent policy actor, while its grammatical agency remains discursively contained within state-directed governance frameworks. This process reveals a discourse-governance logic of incorporation, integration, and guidance in China’s rural governance discourse.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The new rural elite and critical discourse analysis
  • 3.Theoretical framework
  • 4.Data and method
    • 4.1Data collection and corpus construction
    • 4.2Analytical methods and procedures
    • 4.3Coding reliability
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Correspondence analysis
      • I.Period I (2003–2013)
      • II.Period II (2014–2018)
      • III.Period III (2019–2025)
    • 5.2Co-occurrence network analysis
      • I.Period I (2003–2013)
      • II.Period II (2014–2018)
      • III.Period III (2019–2025)
    • 5.3Collocation analysis
      • 5.3.1Verb collocates
      • 5.3.2Adverb collocates
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • AI Use Statement
  • References
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