Analysis of the Article “Kenyan Tea, a Reliable Export, Brews a Market at Home” under Narrative Device

Introduction to the theory

Narrative device is one of the four major rhetorical devices which are put forward by Paul van den Hoven， professor of Utrecht University， the Netherlands. Rhetorical analysts try to understand how public Rhetorical discourse works. Van den Hoven introduces four major rhetorical devices： narrative， comparison， argumentation and contextual framing. It has five schemes： preparation， complication， transference， struggle， and recognition. This paper is going to analyze a piece of news， and the news writer's intentions are not easy to find if only read the article roughly. So it's better to use narrative device to interpret the author's goals.

Analysis of the article

Preparation： The state of equilibrium is that Mombasa， Kenya， this nation exports more tea than any other in the world. It annually exports roughly 400，000 tons of tea， ahead of other leading producers such as China and India. Kenya's domestic tea sales were $70 million in 2010.

Complication： But for years Kenyans weren't able to enjoy a cup of premium tea cultivated in their own country. The high-quality tea was widely viewed as a luxury here， and for decades few Kenyans drank it. Only about 5% of Kenya's tea crop stays in the country， much of it dust and residue from higher-quality leaves sold and processed abroad， and many Kenyans use it to make the hot， milky brew known as chai.

Transference： The article is wrote by an American published on the journal The Wall Street for Americans， who ranks the first place in the table of Individualism Ranking for 50 Countries and Three Regions （Hofstede）. That is to say， America is a country valuing high on individualism. However， Kenya， a country of East Africa， ranks 33/35 in the table of Individualism Ranking for 50 Countries and Three Regions （Hofstede）， which means that Kenya is relatively collective. Its obvious that they have a sense of collectivism. African ethics stress the well-being of the community and economic considerations over political rights. The well-being of the individual derives from the well-being of the community.

Struggle： After the appearance of the helper-the Gold Crown Company- there also shows up opposing forces. What's more， putting too much weight on the local market carries risks. And the company's effort to expand local production has also hit hurdles. The Ahmeds are still waiting for compensation from the government.

Recognition： Gold Crown has managed to establish a product that doesnt rely on exporting raw materials and importing processed goods. Kenyas domestic tea sales is up to $118.6 million in 2015. While standard black tea sales grew by some 40%between 2010 and 2015， the sales of the more expensive teas nearly doubled.

Conclusion

Through the analysis of the article， the preparation is that Kenya exports more tea than any other in the world. But Kenyans seldom can afford a cup of premium tea produced in their own country. This serves as complication. Then a company appeared acts as transference to make efforts to change this situation. Even there are competitions and challenges， the company struggled to install a new equilibrium and in the end， the company makes large number of profits and intends to expand its business.

References

[1] Hofstede，G.（1997）.Cultures and Organizations：Software of the Mind. New York， NY：McGraw-Hill.

[2] http：//www.wsj.com/articles/kenyan-tea-a-reliable-export-brews-a-market-at-home-1486216804

[3] Paul van den Hoven， （2015）. Gold Mining [M]，Xia Men： Xiamen University Press.

作者簡介： 陈玉琴 （1993至今）， 女， 汉族，  四川成都， 硕士研究生， 研究方向： 话语分析