Abstract
Blaming the emergence and spread of COVID-19 on various social groups has been a central theme in narrating the pandemic. In such narratives, China has often emerged as a convenient scapegoat. However, systematic research into transcultural and culture-specific strategies of stigmatisation in the context of the corona pandemic is still scarce. With the help of a cultural studies perspective and multimodal analysis, we contribute to this effort by tracing the blame allocation strategies of the online platforms of three Western European newspapers - Daily Mail (the United Kingdom), Bild (Germany) and Neue Kronen Zeitung (Austria). We argue that, in their early accounts of the COVID-19 pandemic, all three newspapers perpetuated narratives of the pandemic outbreak that were then skilfully choreographed to support narratives of invasion that register anxieties over China's potential rise to world dominance. While the strategies the venues apply show striking similarities, occasional differences account for the respective countries' differing relations with and attitudes to China.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1286–1306 |
Number of pages | 21 |
Journal | European Journal of Cultural Studies |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 5 |
Early online date | 10 Mar 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Oct 2022 |
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 602008 English studies
- 605004 Cultural studies
Keywords
- infodemic
- narrative
- media
- pandemic
- disease
- illness
- media communication
- stigmatization
- outbreak narratives
- COVID-19
- Austria
- China
- UK
- popular press
- Sinophobia
- blame allocation
- EPIDEMIC
- corona pandemic
- Germany