Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2025, 8(10); doi: 10.25236/AJHSS.2025.081004.
Mingwei Li1, Jing Yang2
1South China Business College Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, 510545, China
2Yanching Institute of Technology, Langfang, Hebei Province, 065201, China
In September 2025, the renowned Chinese restaurant chain Xibei became embroiled in a “pre-made food” accusation storm initiated by online opinion leader Luo Yonghao. The incident rapidly escalated from a personal consumer dispute into a nationwide public issue, profoundly touching upon societal sensitivities regarding food safety, business integrity, and consumer sovereignty. This study employs Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework to conduct an in-depth analysis of four core news reports surrounding this event. The analysis reveals that the discursive practice of this event was essentially a fierce contest among official technical definitions, corporate legitimacy defense, and consumer lived experience perceptions. At its core lies a structural power conflict between the efficiency logic pursued by capital and the value logic desired by consumers. This study aims, through systematic discourse deconstruction, to reveal the implicit power asymmetries and ideological manipulations in public communication, offering a new theoretical perspective and practical case for understanding consumer rights movements and corporate social responsibility discourse under China’s contemporary market economy.
Critical Discourse Analysis; Fairclough; Pre-Made Dishes; Xibei; Right to Know
Mingwei Li, Jing Yang. Discourse, Power, and Ideological Contestation in the “Xibei Pre-made Food Incident”: A Norman Fairclough Critical Discourse Analysis Perspective. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2025), Vol. 8, Issue 10: 22-27. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2025.081004.
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