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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Abstract
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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Media