2020 Volume 8 Pages 11-34
The disaster at the Tokyo Electric Power Company(TEPCO)’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant following the Great East Japan Earthquake had a serious impact on nuclear power policy not only in Japan but also around the world . But in relevant reports from the Chinese media it can be seen that China will continue to promote nuclear power development in the future.
This paper uses the critical discourse analysis approach to analyze the Chinese documentary “The Great Japan Earthquake Revelation Record.” The purposes are (1) to clarify what ideologies were behind the Chinese TV media’s attitudes toward nuclear power and the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant; (2) to reveal the linguistic elements used to maintain them.
In the analysis, I mainly use the theoretical framework of Topos (Wodak 2001,2010) and the Presumption (Fairclough 2003) to micro-analyze five discourse quotes by reporters and experts as well as voice-over in the documentary. The analysis showed that the documentary intends to (1)attribute the aggravated release of radioactive materials to TEPCO and the Japanese government, (2)Support continued operation of nuclear power plants, in addition, this paper analyzes the linguistic strategies which made the Chinese TV coverage more acceptable and convincing to the audiences.
