Ideational Meaning: Media Representations of Sino-Bangladesh Relation and Its Actors

Abstract

This study, within the frameworks of Systemic Functional Grammar and Critical Discourse Analysis, aims to explore how Bangladesh’s news agency BSS (1975-2016) represents Sino-Bangladesh relations. Three methods are employed to collect the data: (i) the 40 year media coverage, (ii) questionnaire and (iii) observations at the newsrooms. By examining 140 news reports and investigating linguistic features, this study shows how the BSS under government control represents China and Sino-Bangladesh relations.  This study will focus only on the analysis of the news headline as a ‘micro story’, while the news body is completely excluded from the analysis. The findings will show how the social actors are constructed through the BSS media discourse on the topic. This study will detail the representations of the actors at the clause as a representation. The main reason for historical change is the establishment of the diplomatic ties between Bangladesh and China in 1975. This paper clearly explains how the media representation generally reflects social practice, ideology and power relations in social structures at the time of reporting.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, systemic functional grammar, Sino-Bangladesh relation, BSS media discourse, representation

DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/52-11