Discursive Construction of Risk: A Critical Analysis of Linguistic Strategies in Pandemic-Related Reporting on Traditional Chinese Medicine

Abstract

This paper employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Michel Foucault’s discourse theory to examine the linguistic and rhetorical strategies used in Western media reports that link Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a close analysis of a representative news text, the study demonstrates how ostensibly neutral language—such as modal verbs (“could have been” a vector), agentless passive voice, and strategic syntactic arrangements—implicitly frames TCM within a narrative of uncertainty and potential threat. Furthermore, it explores how intertextual references (e.g., to “wet markets” or “bat soup”) activate pre-existing cultural schemas in the audience, thereby reinforcing Orientalist stereotypes under the veil of objective reporting. The paper argues that these discourse mechanisms function as a form of “gentle violence”, constructing hierarchies of knowledge that marginalize non-Western epistemologies. Ultimately, this discursive framing not only misrepresents TCM but also undermines intercultural dialogue and polarizes public discourse about science, tradition, and global health responsibility.