Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Akademik Hassasiyetler, cilt.8, sa.16, ss.245-263, 2021 (Hakemli Dergi)
Since the beginning of 2020, cases of the COVID-19 have risen rapidly, morethan 150 million people have been affected and more than 2,5 million people havelost their lives. In addition to its impact on global health systems, social life, and theeconomy, the virus has had impact on the global political discourse. In the UnitedStates, change in the discourse has resonated with United States’ former PresidentDonald Trump’s use of the phrase “Chinese virus” in a posted tweet on March 17,2020. Trump’s association of the virus with a certain nationality had broadrepercussion on social media. Following Trump, some conservative politicians andpro-Trump media outlets have used words such as China virus, Chinese virus orWuhan virus. This study aims to reveal that COVID-19 pandemic has become apractice of “othering” through anti-Chinese discourses that are heavily prominentin the media. Hypothesis is that President Trump has been trying to build a new“othering” discourse against China and he instrumentalized COVID-19 pandemicfor the re-construction of the othering discourse. Social constructivist theoreticalperspective is used in the study to provide a more extensive perspective to debatesthat includes social and political discourses emerging from practices.