A Tentative Expansion of Variation Theory: A Case Study on “One Belt and One Road”

Abstract

Misunderstanding and misinterpretation are common existence when an item of news is put to its global distribution. On the basis of Variation Theory of Comparative Literature (VTCL) proposed by Chinese scholar Cao Shunqing, the present paper makes a case study on various international news reports on “One Road, One Belt” initiated by Chinese government in 2015. The aim of this study is on one hand to reveal how misunderstanding and misinterpretation happen during its circulation, and to test the feasibility of VTCL in the research of Mass Media on the other. The significance of such investigation lies in the construction of a new path to the sought of difference between heterogeneous cultures and further attempt to build up variation theory of communication