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Article published In:
Public Debates on Immigration
Edited by Andreas Musolff
[Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 5:2] 2017
► pp. 227–250

In transit

Representations of migration on the Balkan route. Discourse analysis of Croatian and Serbian public broadcasters (RTS and HRT online)

| Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Norway
| University of Oslo, Norway
This article investigates the representation of migration and migrants in Croatian and Serbian public broadcasters’ online portals during the “migrant crisis” in 2015/2016. The study shows that there are similarities in representations in the two portals at both the macro- and micro-linguistic levels. The migrants are generally represented in positive terms congruent with the official policies of Croatia and Serbia. However, this positive representation was frequently used for positive self-evaluation in contrast to negative evaluation of others – in this case, neighboring countries.
Keywords: migrants, refugees, Balkan route, Croatia, Serbia
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and background
  • 2.Methodology and theoretical framework
    • 2.1Methodology
    • 2.2Theoretical framework
  • 3.Results and discussion: Representation of social actors
    • 3.1Naming strategies, determination, and functionalization
    • 3.2(Moving) water metaphors
    • 3.3Representing social actions: Non-agency and conditional agency
    • 3.4Representing countries’ actions and views: Protecting one’s own interests versus competing to be the most humane country
    • 3.5Visual presentation of social actors and social actions
      • 3.5.1Photographs of migrants in groups
      • 3.5.2Photographs of children (and their mothers or families), and photographs in which single individuals are in focus
      • 3.5.3Photographs of politicians
      • 3.5.4Photographs with no apparent/visible social actors
  • 4.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
  • Internet sources
  • RTS and HRT articles
Published online: 23 November 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.5.2.04fel
References (50)
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