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Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics
Vol. 18:5 (2019) ► pp.671–697

We can(’t) do this

A corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis of migration in Germany

| Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
ORCID logo | Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
Migration has been a defining topic in the discourse in Germany since the so-called “refugee crisis” in 2015. This corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis systematically reconstructs the discourse about migration in two influential German newspapers, thereby emphasizing the construction of different subject positions for people migrating to Germany. Mass media are an important arena for the fight for hegemony between discursive coalitions of culturalization regimes that are based on openness and closure respectively. The discursive space of the German discourse about migration offers multiple opportunities in this regard. In the left-leaning taz, we detect a general trend to support an open society although some (but often contested) elements of closure are detected in this medium as well. Die Welt leans much more towards closure and the problematization of migration although it also offers a diverse array of interpellations that depend on the usefulness or threating character of people coming to Germany.
Keywords: migration, Germany, media discourse, corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis, culturalization, subject positions
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical considerations – migration and different culturalization regimes in the media
  • 3.Methodological considerations – combining corpus linguistics and critical discourse analysis
  • 4.The constructions of subject positions in the German media discourse on migration
    • 4.1The discourse on migration in context
    • 4.2Publication patterns over time
    • 4.3Left-leaning newspaper taz
      • 4.3.1Promoter and defender of the Open Society – “Geflüchtete” (refugees) in the taz
      • 4.3.2Mostly open but sometimes closed – “Flüchtling” (refugees) in the taz
    • 4.4Centre-right newspaper Die Welt
      • 4.4.1From technical to criminal – asylum seeker(s) in Die Welt
      • 4.4.2To deserve or not to deserve – migrant(s) in Die Welt
      • 4.4.3Open for quality – immigrant(s) in Die Welt
  • 5.Conclusion – towards a cartography of discourse coalitions in the German migration discourse
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 2 August 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.19006.gri
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