The concept 战争 / WAR as a slot in frame structures in Chinese media discourse

Abstract

The article deals with frame structures in which the concept战争 / WAR serves as a slot in Chinese media discourse. Given Ukraine’s prolonged state of threat, the study of this concept holds a central position in Ukrainian scholarly research, contrasting with its relatively underexplored status in Chinese discourse. This difference prompts an investigation into the features in Chinese media discourse as the most open type of discourse that exchanges concepts with other discourses. The article identifies the types of basic frames (subject frame, taxonomic or hyponymic frame, associative or, in other
words, conceptual metaphor), where the concept战争 / WAR is an integral part. It categorizes the basic frames according to the type of propositions that link the slots and describes the linguistic units of Chinese media discourse that represent the semantics of these frames involving the concept战争 / WAR. The subject frame is represented by 战 争即邪恶 zhànzhēng jí xié’è – WAR IS EVIL, where the second slot gives the first one a strong negative evaluation, being its basic conceptual domain. This is manifested through various lexico-grammatical means: in the negative semantics of the representatives of the concept 战争 / WAR, as well as their collocations. The taxonomic (hyponymic) frame is exemplified by 战争即政治 zhànzhēng jí zhèngzhì – WAR IS POLITICS, where the
second concept is superordinate to the subordinate first concept. Additionally, the second concept serves as a means of resolving war, thus striving towards the concept和平 hépíng / PEACE. Finally, the third type of frame structures (associative frames) includes these frames: 战争即赌博 zhànzhēng jí dǔbó – WAR IS A GAME, whose main characteristic is unpredictability; 战争即灾难 zhànzhēng jí zāinàn – WAR IS A DISASTER, specifically fire, which can be further specified as 战争即火焰 zhànzhēng jí huǒyàn – WAR IS FIRE; and 战争即戏剧 zhànzhēng jí xìjù – WAR IS A PLAY.