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Strategic Narratives in the Diaoyu/Senkaku Dispute: An analysis of Chinese and Japanese newspaper coverage in 2012

Silva, Diogo (2018) ACET35
Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
Abstract
From Nye’s famous soft power, a new international relations concept has recently emerged: strategic narratives, the narratives which different states use to promote their agendas in the international system. This thesis focuses on one particular aspect of Sino-Japanese relations: the understanding, characterization and possible implications of the strategic narratives projected by both countries via the English language version of online newspapers about the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands territorial dispute.

Three periods and three newspapers were selected. The periods were before, during and after the September 2012 crisis period, following the announcement and effective purchase by the Japanese Government of three privately owned islands.... (More)
From Nye’s famous soft power, a new international relations concept has recently emerged: strategic narratives, the narratives which different states use to promote their agendas in the international system. This thesis focuses on one particular aspect of Sino-Japanese relations: the understanding, characterization and possible implications of the strategic narratives projected by both countries via the English language version of online newspapers about the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands territorial dispute.

Three periods and three newspapers were selected. The periods were before, during and after the September 2012 crisis period, following the announcement and effective purchase by the Japanese Government of three privately owned islands. The newspapers were the China Daily, the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Asahi Shimbun. The corpus of 188 articles was subjected to content analysis. In order to contextualize the discussion, an historical background on the territorial dispute and on the media environment in both countries was provided.

The analysis brings to light a complex set of narratives, which are derived from the plurality of sources and views that characterize each one of the three newspapers. The concept of strategic narratives proved to be adequate to analyze the “war with words” played out in the articles reporting on the dispute. (Less)
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author
Silva, Diogo
supervisor
organization
course
ACET35
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Strategic narratives, Soft power, China, Japan, Sino-Japanese relations, Diaoyu/Senkaku territorial dispute, Media analysis
language
English
id
8962189
date added to LUP
2018-10-22 16:32:07
date last changed
2018-10-31 10:37:39
@misc{8962189,
  abstract     = {{From Nye’s famous soft power, a new international relations concept has recently emerged: strategic narratives, the narratives which different states use to promote their agendas in the international system. This thesis focuses on one particular aspect of Sino-Japanese relations: the understanding, characterization and possible implications of the strategic narratives projected by both countries via the English language version of online newspapers about the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands territorial dispute.

Three periods and three newspapers were selected. The periods were before, during and after the September 2012 crisis period, following the announcement and effective purchase by the Japanese Government of three privately owned islands. The newspapers were the China Daily, the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Asahi Shimbun. The corpus of 188 articles was subjected to content analysis. In order to contextualize the discussion, an historical background on the territorial dispute and on the media environment in both countries was provided.

The analysis brings to light a complex set of narratives, which are derived from the plurality of sources and views that characterize each one of the three newspapers. The concept of strategic narratives proved to be adequate to analyze the “war with words” played out in the articles reporting on the dispute.}},
  author       = {{Silva, Diogo}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Strategic Narratives in the Diaoyu/Senkaku Dispute: An analysis of Chinese and Japanese newspaper coverage in 2012}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}