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Part of
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

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.
Published online: 9 October 2015
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https://doi.org/10.1075/scld.4.11wan
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