Discourse and transformation

Abstract This paper sets out to investigate the representation of energy in China’s diplomatic discourse in a context where power structures within and among nation-states are shifting and energy is becoming more politicized. To do this, this research adopts corpus-assisted discourse-historical analysis to examine discursive strategies and investigates the way energy is constructed in China’s diplomacy. Results show a dichotomy of an active ingroup and an indifferent outgroup, revealing a reversal of power in the fierce competition of discourse in the international energy sector, which serves as a catalyst for the creation of demand for new energy sources and the development of new energy industries. The analysis of grounded linguistic evidences also signifies that discourse is the site where power is not only enacted and performed, but also negotiated and contested.