Evaluative representation of China's political image in modern Russian Media

Fomina Yuliya ORCID: 0000-0001-8284-6322 PhD in Philology Associate Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Russian Philology, Nizhny Tagil Socio-Pedagogical Institute, Branch of the Russian State Vocational Pedagogical University 622031, Russia, Sverdlovsk region, Nizhny Tagil, Krasnogvardeyskaya str., 57 ufomina@yandex.ru

Currently, information about most significant political, social, and economic events is becoming known through the media (including online media), which not only cover what is happening in public life, but also interpret it in their own way, form socio-cultural values in society, and create an ideologized information space. There is a tendency to subjectivize the language of the media [1-4, etc.], their axiological and pragmatic nature [5-8, etc.]. The problems of information impact, the choice of linguistic means corresponding to the author's intention, the evaluativeness of media discourse are reflected in the works of many modern researchers [9-12, etc.].

An important component of media texts is evaluation, which is the main way of translating the value system in the language. According to V. N. Telia, assessment is "a connection established between the value orientation of the speaker / listener and the designated reality, evaluated positively or negatively for some reason in accordance with the "standard" of being things or the state of affairs in some picture of the world, underlying the norms of assessment" ^{[13, p. 22]}. In relation to the language of the media, the assessment can be interpreted as "the result of the broadcasted positive or negative attitude of the author to the events and phenomena covered, his approval or disapproval expressed through language" ^{[11, p. 42]}, the main purpose of which is to influence the mass audience.

The People's Republic of China, as one of the leading geopolitical forces in the world, has traditionally been of great interest to Russia, so its image is often reflected in the Russian media. Currently, the study of this information field is particularly relevant due to the high dynamics of the development of international Russian-Chinese relations. The peculiarities of the evaluative representation of the image of the state and the policy implemented by it in the media allow us to draw conclusions about the mechanisms of formation of evaluative meanings and impact on the mass audience in the modern information space. In this regard, the purpose of this study was to study the evaluative representation of China's political image in modern Russian media. In the course of this work, 109 text fragments containing an assessment of the image of China were identified and analyzed in Russian online media publications. The main objects of assessment that form the image of the state in the political arena are the head of state (his personal qualities, behavior, activities), as well as the peculiarities of the domestic and foreign policy of the country as a whole.

The image of the head of state is one of the important components that create a full-fledged image of the country. The Chinese leader acts as a representative of a country with a large demographic indicator, huge economic potential, good military equipment and scientific achievements. In the press, the assessment of the image of the head of state is formed by interpreting personal qualities, external features or characteristics of his character, as well as by the results of conducting foreign and domestic policy, reflecting the ability of the head of state to lead the country and achieve goals. At the same time, it is worth noting that in the political media, the interest of Russian journalists is focused more on displaying the activities of the Chinese leadership in resolving the conflict with Ukraine and combating American propaganda.

To characterize the image of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the authors of journalistic texts most often use a positive assessment (79%), for example:

"Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the idea of "Chinese-style modernization", demonstrating the wisdom, scope and responsibility of a great politician" (RG.Ru, 23.03.23). In this fragment, the words "wisdom", "scope", "responsibility" characterize the manifestation of Xi Jinping's personal qualities in conducting domestic policy, and the assessment acquires a positive meaning due to the semantics of the words ("wisdom is a deep mind based on life experience"; "scope (translation) — breadth, scope of activity, work"; "responsibility is a highly developed sense of duty, a conscientious attitude to fulfilling one's duties" ^[14]). The adjective "great" expresses a general positive assessment of the politician, emphasizes his importance.

"Chinese President Xi Jinping gives the impression of a real person… There is good—naturedness on his face" (RIA Novosti, 02/13.21). This fragment evaluates Xi Jinping's character. Thus, the noun "good-naturedness" in the meaning of "kindness, gentleness; kindness" ^[14] and the adjective "lively" in the meaning of "full of vital energy; active, active (translation)" ^[14] express a positive assessment of the qualities of the head of state.

In the analyzed texts, there is also a negative assessment of the head of China (21%), for example: "Ambitious Xi Jinping, of course, is interested in gaining full power at once <...>" (Izvestia, 10/14/12). In this example, the assessment is expressed by using the adjective "ambitious" (from the word "ambition — heightened self-esteem, excessive conceit; swagger, arrogance" ^[14]) and conveys a negative attitude towards a politician.

The private and general assessment of the head of China is formed on the basis of the nature of the assessment feature due to the interaction of objective and subjective factors [15-17, etc.]. At the same time, the expressed private assessment values are aimed at displaying one aspect of the assessment (67%), and the general assessment values reflect the attitude towards the object as a whole, are expressed in the text as an explicit, indisputable assessment (33%).

Let's look at examples with general and particular value.

"The President of the People's Republic of China is a very interesting interlocutor, he is deeply immersed in all problems, in world affairs, in the economy of his country and in our relations, knows everything in detail, is well prepared," the Russian leader appreciated.Ru, 29.03.23). In this fragment of the text there is a vocabulary with both a general and a particular value. For example, the general assessment value is contained in the lexeme "good", expressing a general, explicit, lexically expressed assessment of Xi Jinping's level of preparedness for conducting political affairs, and the private assessment value is contained in the lexeme "interesting" (with the intensifying adverb "very") — an intellectual psychological assessment of the Chinese leader as an interlocutor is given.

"Xi Jinping is the president of the People's Republic of China, a talented politician and a man who is called the "big daddy" of the Chinese people" (RG.En, 09.10.20). The private value (psychological intellectual assessment) is expressed using the adjective "talented" in the sense of "having talent; gifted, gifted" ^[14] and characterizes Xi Jinping on the one hand (as a talented politician).

"Xi is considered a tough and unyielding politician" (Izvestia, 06/01/2013). The adjectives "tough" and "unyielding" in the meaning of "resolute, persistent" ^[14] contain a private assessment (intellectual psychological assessment) of Xi Jinping's personal qualities in the implementation of foreign policy and characterize the object of assessment from one position (cf.: tough, unyielding / soft, compliant).

"What is hidden behind Xi Jinping's steely character?" (Izvestia, 08/05-23). In this example, using the metaphor "steely character" in the meaning of "firm, strong, not amenable to external pressure", a private assessment (psychological intellectual assessment) of the positive characteristic of the politician's personality is given.

In addition to the image of the head of state, an important component of the assessment that forms the political image of China in the Russian media is the peculiarities of Chinese foreign and domestic policy, which is often widely criticized and based on the "friend/foe" opposition. The attention of journalists is drawn not only to the head of China, but also to the Chinese government as a whole, which in China is represented by the Communist Party. Basically, Russian media resources evaluate the decisions and activities of the party in foreign and domestic policy, assess the nature of the goals pursued by the party, and the result of actions.

Based on the analyzed materials, it was revealed that China's foreign policy is often characterized by the use of the so-called "soft power" strategy (as opposed to the "hard power" strategy), which assumes the ability to achieve the desired results on the basis of voluntary consent, sympathy, without the use of coercive force or payments. The internal policy of the state is characterized by careful thoughtfulness, it is presented in the Russian media as balanced and effective. The assessment is based on the peculiarities of conducting foreign and domestic policy, modern changes in strategic directions in domestic policy, the level of the economy and substantive aspects of projects to increase the economic growth of the country, demographic policy in the country.

To characterize the image of foreign and domestic policy, the authors of journalistic texts most often use a positive assessment (77%). The Russian media positively assesses the growth of the Chinese economy and the results of economic policy, the strategy of foreign policy on the Ukrainian issue and in relation to the United States, as well as the actions of the authorities to promote Chinese modernization, for example:

"A user named Ulo, who joined the Russian army, reported sending drones from China for our fighters. He explained that China is not ready to turn a blind eye to Nazi antics" (Tsargrad, 04/12.23). This text fragment emphasizes China's readiness to help the Russian army in solving the Ukrainian issue. The stable phraseological combination of "closing your eyes" in the meaning of "consciously not noticing someone or something (simple)" ^[18] in the context expresses a positive evaluative meaning by denying the willingness to perform the actions indicated by this expression.

"China in the situation around Ukraine is never guided by personal interests, but stands for honesty and justice" (RG.Ru, 04/07.23). The above example evaluates the nature of China's foreign policy, a positive assessment of which is contained in the lexical meaning of the nouns "honesty" and "justice" (from the words "honest ? obtained, obtained by a truthful, direct, conscientious attitude to business", "fair ? based on an impartial observance of the truth" ^[14]). At the same time, in this example, there is also a private assessment (ethical assessment) of the Chinese government's activities in relation to the situation on the Ukraine: "is not guided by personal interests." The assessment creates a positive image of foreign policy in general, as well as the head of state.

"Expectations of economic growth China has reached a 17-year high. The whole world knows what a fantastic leap China has made over the years. But the price of a breakthrough is also high" (Literaturnaya Gazeta, No. 1-2, 01/21/2013). This text fragment evaluates China's economic growth. The noun "leap" in the context is used figuratively in the sense of "a sharp change in something" ^[19], the positive assessment of which is intensified by the adjective "fantastic", which thus allows us to highlight and label the described phenomenon ^[20].

"China has been increasing exports of its goods to many countries for decades, and the states of Africa are no exception. A small infographic gives a visual representation of the successes of the Celestial Empire in this matter" (Around the World, 17.01.22). This fragment evaluates China's economic strategy to increase exports of goods. The assessment is formed due to the lexeme "success", which contains a positive meaning in the very denotation of the word ("luck in any business, successful achievement of the set goal" ^[14]).

The analyzed journalistic texts also contain a negative assessment of China's policy (23%). Most often, China's plans to move forward in the political arena are negatively assessed, for example: "Beijing has clearly got into the taste and will not limit itself to this, offering recipes for healing for different strata of the global world, but starting from its own interests" (Journal of Russian Sinology, No. 5, 04/05/2013). In this text fragment, a negative assessment of China's foreign policy is created due to the semantic content of the context, which conveys the meaning of the cunning manipulative policy of "soft power".

The analyzed texts contain a private (83%) and a general (17%) assessment.

"The Chinese economy is characterized by high stability, huge potential and inexhaustible vitality. Its long-term fundamentals remain consistently positive" (RG.Ru, 03.01.23).

In this example, we observe the use of both private and general assessment. With the help of private assessment values (rational assessment), the indicators of the economic state of the country are characterized — "high stability, "huge potential", "inexhaustible vitality". A general positive assessment of the fundamental indicators of the economy is given by using the adjective "positive" and the adverb "invariably" intensifying it (meaning "always, constantly (translated)" ^[14]).

With the help of a general assessment, China's domestic policy is most often characterized, namely, the result of projects to develop economic growth and maintain social stability in the country. The overall assessment is expressed at the lexical level, where the seme "good" will be present in all evaluative language lexemes, for example: "The Chinese economy is coping well with rising inflation and long—term social stability," the political scientist said" (RG.Ru, 13.03.22). In this example, an expert political scientist evaluates the state of the Chinese economy. The general assessment of the phenomenon is expressed by means of the lexeme "excellent".

In most of the analyzed examples, an absolute assessment (89%) is used to characterize China's foreign and domestic policy, that is, a direct assessment of the object. It should be noted that sometimes comparative estimates are used to show changes within the state (11%). At the same time, an absolute assessment forms an image of internal stability, in particular a stable indicator of a high economic level in China, while a comparative assessment, on the contrary, reflects the dynamics of changes, for example: "Last year, 10.62 million children were born in China — this figure was the worst since 1949, when the PRC began collecting these statistics" (Around the World, 17.01.22). This example evaluates the change in the demographic indicator in China, the assessment of which is expressed by the superlative of the adjective "worst" in the meaning of "the worst" ^[14]. Thus, the comparative assessment of the demographic indicator acquires a negative meaning due to the semantics of the word.

Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that the Russian media is forming a generally positive political image of China (81% of positive ratings). On the positive side, the personal qualities of the head of state, which are manifested in the implementation of his political activities, are evaluated. A negative assessment is present only when describing the aggressive strategies in Xi Jinping's policy. When referring to the image of the head of China, journalists most often use private assessment tokens that characterize on the positive side the communicative and intellectual abilities of a politician, as well as his professional qualities in the implementation of domestic and foreign policy. The economic situation in the country, the nature of foreign policy towards the United States, and participation in resolving the conflict between Russia and the United States are also generally positively assessed. Ukraine. At the same time, the authors of journalistic materials more often turn to private values (83%). Comparative forms of assessment are found in relation to the characteristics of changes within the country (demographic situation). In most cases, a positive absolute assessment of China's policy is designed to form the image of a stable state and a strong "player" in the political arena.