HOPE VS FEAR: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF GLOBAL MEDIA NARRATIVES ON SPACE EXPLORATION AND THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY

Abstract

The representations of space exploration through the media are essential in influencing the imaginaries of the public concerning the future of the human race. Global news narratives have the tendency to swing between the positive (technological advances and human survival) and the negative (dangers, uncertainties, geo-political tensions). The knowledge of such accounts is a key to the discussion of the role of discourse on how the society views the exploration of the alien world. The research study critically evaluates the rhetoric and linguistic concepts employed by the world media to create discourses of hope and fear around space exploration. It also examines differences in regional framing, in terms of political, cultural and socio-economic aspects. The qualitative research design was followed with the combination of critical discourse analysis and the appraisal theory. Evaluative language, metaphors, modality, and intertextual references were examined on a corpus of News articles in English language in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East (2020-2024, 200 articles). The results unveil that hope stories focus on innovation, progress and human future, whereas fear stories anticipate risk, conflict, and existential vulnerability. The narrative orientation is formed by the regional difference and represents the local priorities and ideologies. The global media creates both the dream image and the warning image of the way of the humanity in space at the same time and influence the human perception of the way of humanity in space.