The Representation Of Syrian Refugees In The Online Media News Reports Of Host And Non-Host Countries: A Corpus-Based Critical Discourse Analysis

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Date
2015-10
Authors
Abid, Raith Zeher
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There is a substantial body of research that has examined the media representation of refugees in their host countries. However, scant attention has been paid to their depiction in the media discourse of non-host countries. This study uses Van Leeuwen‟s (2008) sociological categories of discourse, namely role allocation, genericisation and specification, assimilation, association, indetermination, and identification, as well as Lakoff and Johnson‟s (2003) conceptual metaphor theory to examine the representation of Syrian refugees in the online media news reports of both their host and non-host countries. Corpus linguistics is used to ensure that the results are generalizable, valid, and impartial. The two corpora of this research consist of 3082130 words. Anthony‟s AntConc programme (version 3.2.4) was used to analyse the corpora. To calculate the statistical significance in comparing both corpora, Fisher‟s exact test is used. The results of Van Leeuwen‟s (2008) sociological categories of discourse indicate that Syrian refugees are comparably represented in all of the examined categories of discourse except for the categories of beneficialisation, specification, and coordinated nominal groups. In the analysis of beneficialisation, host countries tend to emphasize their role as carers of refugees while non-host countries tend to stress the troubles Syrian refugees are facing. The analysis of specification shows that female refugees are more frequent in the corpus of the host countries. In the analysis of the coordinated nominal groups, host countries tend to associate Syrian refugees with host communities more than nonhost countries to signify the troubles that refugees and host communities face, the tension between them, and the aid they need or receive from the international community. The analysis of the results based on Lakoff and Johnson‟s (2003) conceptual metaphor theory shows that the representation of Syrian refugees is comparable as both corpora implement predominantly water and pressure metaphors to describe Syrian refugees. These categories of metaphors are used in both corpora to highlight the economic and social issues refugees are causing to the host communities. The overall results of the research indicate that the online media news reports of the host and non-host countries use virtually similar discoursal features that depict Syrian refugees undesirably as a burden that is negatively affecting the economy, environment, and society of the host countries.
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