A Critical Discourse Analysis of Antigay Discourse on Chinese Tongqi Forum

Authors

  • Ke Zhang University of Science and Technology Beijing
  • Jingyuan Zhang University of Science and Technology Beijing
  • Chao Lu University of Science and Technology Beijing

Keywords:

Chinese gay men, representations, antigay discourse, tongqi forum, discursive strategies, gender ideologies

Abstract

Although gay marriage has been legalized in more than 20 countries and regions around the world, the marriage between gay people is illegal in China. This article adopts a critical discourse analytical approach to explore how Chinese gay men (CGM) are represented in netizens’ antigay discourse in Chinese online forum, while also inquiring into the gender ideologies reflected by these representations. For this purpose, we assembled a collection of 3,476 user comments posted on the tongqi “homo-wives” forum in China. Tongqi is a label commonly used to describe and refer to heterosexual women who unwittingly marry gay men in mainland China. We examine netizens’ posts by applying Ruth Wodak’s discursive strategies that include nomination, predication, and argumentation. Our findings reveal that CGM are mostly represented as husbands who bring trauma to their wives, and as fathers who have a negative influence on children. Meanwhile, we explicate gender ideologies that emerge from public representations of gay men in China. 

Author Biographies

Ke Zhang, University of Science and Technology Beijing

Ke Zhang is currently pursuing his PhD degree at the School of Foreign Studies, University of Science and Technology Beijing. His areas of interest include sociolinguistics, gender studies and discourse analysis. 010-82376845

Jingyuan Zhang, University of Science and Technology Beijing

Jingyuan Zhang is a Professor at the School of Foreign Studies, University of Science and Technology Beijing. His research interests include discourse studies and applied linguistics. He has published scholarly articles in Australian Journal of Linguistics, Computer Assisted Language learning, Culture & Psychologyand others. 010-82376845

Chao Lu, University of Science and Technology Beijing

Chao Lu is an Associate Professor at the School of Foreign Studies, University of Science and Technology Beijing. Her areas of specialisation are gender studies and critical discourse analysis.010-82376845

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Published

2022-02-13

Issue

Vol. 16 (2022)

Section

Articles

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