Media Representation of Migrant Workers in China ― Identities and Stances

While migrant workers become the backbone of China’s fast growing economy, internal migration and its impacts on various aspects of social life in China have been an increasing concern of both the Chinese general public and the academics. It is timely, therefore, that identities of and stances towards migrant workers represented in China’s media are subject to discourse analysis and sociolinguistic research. This book examines how identities of and stances towards migrant workers have been constructed, transformed and mediated in China’s media discourse, and it investigates the media strategies and practices constructing these media products. This book provides a comprehensive study of how the media representation of migrant workers is interacting with the sociocultural transformation in China. The findings and discussions of the book offer critical insights into media discourse and practice in contemporary China which will be of interest to scholars and research students in discourse studies, sociolinguistics, media and communication studies, and China studies.

Dr Wei Wang is a Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney. His research interests include discourse studies, sociolinguistics, and translation studies. He published extensively in the field of interdisciplinary studies of contemporary Chinese discourse, including Contemporary Chinese Discourse and Social Practice in China and Genre across Languages and Cultures.