Pluralistic Geopolitical Imaginaries about Chinese Development in Global South Media: Topic Model and Fantasy Theme Analysis

Pluralistic Geopolitical Imaginaries about Chinese Development in Global South Media: Topic Model and Fantasy Theme Analysis | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Pluralistic Geopolitical Imaginaries about Chinese Development in Global South Media: Topic Model and Fantasy Theme Analysis Mengning Gao, Leping Huang, Ruimeng Han, Qianying Yu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6589694/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Chinese modernization, as a novel practice transcending Western-centric developmental paradigms, demands theoretical articulation of its international communication mechanisms and cognitive landscapes. Grounded in the fantasy theme analysis framework, this study constructs a multi-language corpus (2012–2024) covering Chinese, French, Spanish, Arabic, Thai, and Vietnamese media from the Global South. Through the topic model LDA-Word2Vec, it deciphers the fantasy themes of Chinese modernization across four developmental phases. The findings reveal both cognitive divergences and convergences among different regional groups, collectively exhibiting a spiral evolutionary trajectory characterized by "economic narrative dominance → institutional narrative deepening → civilizational narrative emergence." While media in the Global South generally adopt neutral stances, the persistent influence of Western media’s hegemonic stances continues to shape narratives in these regions. To address this, the international communication of Chinese modernization must move beyond a unidirectional "experience export" approach. It should construct a discursive framework centered on a "developmental community of shared destiny", to dismantle Western discursive containment. Humanities/Cultural and media studies Social science/Cultural and media studies Social science/Development studies Social science/Politics and international relations Media perceptions Chinese modernization Global South LDA-Word2Vec Model fantasy theme analysis Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6589694","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":501371146,"identity":"3802334f-a149-4bbc-ab84-095b2335147d","order_by":0,"name":"Mengning Gao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Beijing International Studies University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mengning","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""},{"id":501371147,"identity":"24d170e2-3720-4530-a26f-a3cee236dde4","order_by":1,"name":"Leping Huang","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABB0lEQVRIie3PsUrDQBzH8X84OJerGVzuSMBX+BehoRDqq5wEcksoQqF0PCjUV4gv0vlKQZegmwhdUgQnhxREulRNgqvXjIL3HQ4Ofh+4A3C5/mDYntcAFMArq1nMfF93IdgS0s+LNBS56Ujq6FlvsY5RSzuJePK6fcd4fBrcPAGjjwzBeNUu+50M8zS6CDGd0LCYlpxtWEQ0EbdLy8Oe5SDguL5a8Ewh8g0bakNJz0rUR02+GpJyiQ8MjTxGsoGo0NRE3XEjTQdSvE0DwGRCeUb62iRM5Ku5/S/3ain2s9H4PFfbl8Pn6NL356tqZyFNhAFIAIY/d0/b981k35KT8ujS5XK5/mffiIVSxNcu85AAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Shenzhen University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Leping","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""},{"id":501371148,"identity":"1a666a6b-ae39-45d2-9af3-9c8e02d97a27","order_by":2,"name":"Ruimeng Han","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shenzhen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ruimeng","middleName":"","lastName":"Han","suffix":""},{"id":501371149,"identity":"0bcdcd13-0dcf-466c-872f-08183e493c61","order_by":3,"name":"Qianying Yu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shenzhen University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qianying","middleName":"","lastName":"Yu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-05-04 17:53:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6589694/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6589694/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109174596,"identity":"dd3c70ab-da9e-423b-bf53-340ca917bb21","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-13 09:17:37","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2500028,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"anonymisedmanuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6589694/v1_covered_d74820de-bb73-47dc-a80f-4af43d3611ee.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Pluralistic Geopolitical Imaginaries about Chinese Development in Global South Media: Topic Model and Fantasy Theme Analysis","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Media perceptions, Chinese modernization, Global South, LDA-Word2Vec Model, fantasy theme analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6589694/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6589694/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eChinese modernization, as a novel practice transcending Western-centric developmental paradigms, demands theoretical articulation of its international communication mechanisms and cognitive landscapes. Grounded in the fantasy theme analysis framework, this study constructs a multi-language corpus (2012\u0026ndash;2024) covering Chinese, French, Spanish, Arabic, Thai, and Vietnamese media from the Global South. Through the topic model LDA-Word2Vec, it deciphers the fantasy themes of Chinese modernization across four developmental phases. The findings reveal both cognitive divergences and convergences among different regional groups, collectively exhibiting a spiral evolutionary trajectory characterized by \"economic narrative dominance \u0026rarr; institutional narrative deepening \u0026rarr; civilizational narrative emergence.\" While media in the Global South generally adopt neutral stances, the persistent influence of Western media\u0026rsquo;s hegemonic stances continues to shape narratives in these regions. To address this, the international communication of Chinese modernization must move beyond a unidirectional \"experience export\" approach. 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