摘要

经过多年的研究发展，隐喻已经不仅仅是亚里士多德所认为的一种修辞手段，而是普遍存在于人们日常生活中，帮助人们认识世界的一种重要工具，体现着人们的思维。本文所要探讨的是中美媒体报道中关于中美汇率争论的隐喻应用。本文试图通过对中美媒体所使用的隐喻进行分类比较，归纳总结出双方媒体所构筑的汇率争论的不同概念，借此分析双方对于汇率问题的不同理解和产生争执的原因，希望此对比研究为今后关于经济纠纷问题的隐喻分析研究提供一些参考。本文以概念隐喻为理论支撑，通过抽取纽约时报和凤凰网在2010年有关中美汇率争论问题的报道共30篇，发现双方媒体的隐喻使用有诸多相似和不同之处，反映出了双方对于汇率争论问题的性质、起因、应对态度及后果等方面的不同理解。本文试图通过归纳出双方所构筑的汇率争论的不同概念，解释中美在汇率问题上所存在的分歧。

关键词：概念隐喻，中美汇率争论，中美媒体，对比研究

Abstract

After years of development and study, metaphor has become not only a rhetorical device, which was proposed by Aristotle, but also a pervasive tool to comprehend the world that reflects people’s mind. This thesis would focus on the use of metaphors of Sino-US exchange rate dispute in Chinese and the US media. After the metaphors are categorized and analyzed, the different concepts of exchange rate dispute would be concluded, which helps to comprehend the cause and distinct understandings of this dispute. This thesis would be a reference to the further study on the metaphors used in economic problems. Based on the theory of conceptual metaphor, this thesis selected 30 reports about the Sino-US exchange rate dispute from New York Times and Phoenix TV website and figured out some similarities and differences in the choice of metaphors, which manifest the different understandings of the nature, cause, attitude and the consequence of this dispute. By analyzing the different concepts constructed by different metaphors, this thesis tries to explain the disagreement of this dispute.

Key words: conceptual metaphor, Sino-US exchange rate dispute, Chinese and the US media, comparative study
 
1  Introduction
1.1    Exchange rate dispute between China and the US
As the largest two economic entities in the world, China and the US both have incomparable influence on the global economy. They complement each other and push the world economy forward together. However, in the era of post financial crisis, the conflicts between these two countries, especially the dispute of exchange rate, have been a focus of the world which would affect the survival of the global economy.
Ever since 2002, the conservatives have been claiming that China is manipulating the exchange rate. The underestimation of yuan has brought great advantage on export to China, which has made a surplus in Sino-US trade. As a result, the unemployment rate in the US has kept rising and the export declined. From 2003 to 2004, 6 proposals have been submitted to the congress to press yuan to appreciate, or an extra tariff would be levied on China. In 2006, the Strategic Economic Dialogue was held between China and the US and exchange rate was discussed most fiercely. After Barack Obama became the president of the US, there have been three stages of Sino-US conflict on exchange rate.