ABSTRACT
This chapter primarily examines the issue of “suspected” discrimination in Chinese advertising and journalistic discourse. First, it reports on a case study of a street banner, revealing that the inappropriate use of referential terms may lead to disharmony. Then, focusing on online news headlines and reports regarding “post-90s” China, the study highlights the fact that the online news headlines in question are not conducive to a positive image of current Chinese teenagers. With the adverb “也” (“too”) as an example, it also explores the presuppositions triggered by this adverb, indicating that the relevant presuppositions trigger, or even accelerate, the formation of social stereotypes, thus leading to the spread of social discrimination. It is argued that we need to keep the producers of the problematic discourse at a critical position and uncover how their choice of language use leads to the formation of social stereotypes, thus leading to the spread of social discrimination.
