Critical Metaphor Analysis of the White Paper “Fighting COVID-19: China in Action” From the Perspective of Conceptual Blending Theory

COVID-19 has been one of the most threatening infectious diseases in recent years, and China, the epicenter of this epidemic, has suffered a national image crisis, which calls for urgent actions to achieve self-image construction. The government’s white paper, the window of national ideology, is essential in constructing a national image. In this context, the study aims to conduct an ideological exploration of the white paper “Fighting COVID-19: China in Action”. The study relies on conceptual blending theory and van Dijk’s theory of ideology to develop a theoretical research framework to explore the process of ideological construction of metaphorical structures in the blended space. This study comes to the following three conclusions: (1) metaphorical structures in the blended space try to explain China’s actions to the public and arouse sympathy to persuade readers; (2) conceptual metaphors in this white paper reveal major ideologies: “collectivism,” and “people-oriented value”; (3) these ideologies aim to construct a positive national image: a country willing to take responsibilities and cooperate with the world. In conclusion, conceptual blending theory could provide a valuable apparatus for micro-level study in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), enhancing people’s understanding of conceptual metaphors’ functions in ideological construction.