Abstract:
The study, drawing on the political discourse, examines the role of rhetorical intertextuality in the
construction of political identity, investigates such rhetorical intertextuality as allusion, metaphor and
analogy from the level of intertextual resource identification, discourse trend analysis and pragmatic
function and further proposes a socio-pragmatic framework for the analysis of the intertextuality
thereof. The findings illustrates that allusion and metaphor highlights the discursive power while
analogy performs the discursive democratization. Furthermore, allusion is endowed with vernacular
and innovative style, simultaneously constructing the government’s powerful identity; metaphor is
equipped with reasoning and justifying purpose, as well as constructing the government’s authorative
status; and analogy is armed with reader identification, meanwhile constructing the government’s
affability image. The study also reveals the cultural features of Chinese rhetorical devices and
demonstrates their employment in political discourse for persuading the Chinese public.
|
