Recontextualization and transformation in media discourse: An analysis of the First-Instance Judgment of the Peng Yu Case

Abstract

Enlightened by Van Dijk’s Context Model Theory and Wodak’s Discourse-Historical Approach, this article puts forward the Discourse-Historical-Contextual Approach as the analytical framework for the study of the recontextualization and transformation processes involved in media discourse. It is then applied to the analysis of the First-Instance Judgment of the Peng Yu Case. Through exploring the relevant context models, the article examines why a text is interpreted differently when it is circulated in different contexts. The study also reveals, by investigating the traces of previous texts in subsequent texts, how intertextuality is formed as well as how specific transformations are used in the processes. It is hoped that this study will provide some insights into the understanding of recontextualization and transformation processes in media discourse.