A Linguistic Analysis of National Security Discourse and the Construction of National Consciousness From the Perspective of Attitude Resources

Amid escalating geopolitical risks, the ideological construction in national security discourses has gained strategic significance. Guided by Martin and White’s Appraisal Theory, this study investigates how China Daily employs three attitude resources: Affect, Judgement and Appreciation, to construct national security discourses and shape public national consciousness. Through corpus analysis of 78 news articles (2023-2024), the findings reveal: 1) Affect mobilizes urgency and solidarity via “crisis alerts” and “collective belonging;” 2) Judgement constructs an image between a “responsible China” committed to sovereign equality and “just China”, legitimizing state actions as both ethically grounded and globally necessary; 3) Appreciation reinforces institutional superiority through repetitive valorization of policies as “scientific” and “strategic.” The research identifies a defensive “positivity” strategy in China’s state media discourse, which simultaneously counters external threats and consolidates internal cohesion. Also, this research offers interdisciplinary insights into the linguistic mechanisms of national consciousness construction

Consciousness · Linguistics · National security · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Educational Reforms and Innovations · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence