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Chapter 10. The othering of Roma migrants in British and Czech online news discussion forums

  • Jan Chovanec
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Representing the Other in European Media Discourses
This chapter is in the book Representing the Other in European Media Discourses

Abstract

The article addresses the discursive process of othering in online news discussion forums. It is based on a comparative analysis of data from reader comments in British and Czech online newspapers on the topic of recent Roma immigration to the United Kingdom. Applying the discourse historical and the cognitive-pragmatic approaches to CDA, the analysis identifies several common patterns in the two data sets. The first similarity concerns the central importance of place, with the theme of relocation being very prominent. The second point involves the role that intertextual quotations from popular culture play in activating the commenters’ search for relevant, implicitly communicated meanings. Finally, attention is paid to extensive narrativization of reader comments that contain elaborate discursive scripts of othering. It is argued that these strategies not only establish highly polarized collective identity of the ingroup but also postulate an absolute incompatibility between the ingroup and the outgroup. These extreme forms of differentiation appear to be particularly salient in discriminatory discourse involving the Roma.

Abstract

The article addresses the discursive process of othering in online news discussion forums. It is based on a comparative analysis of data from reader comments in British and Czech online newspapers on the topic of recent Roma immigration to the United Kingdom. Applying the discourse historical and the cognitive-pragmatic approaches to CDA, the analysis identifies several common patterns in the two data sets. The first similarity concerns the central importance of place, with the theme of relocation being very prominent. The second point involves the role that intertextual quotations from popular culture play in activating the commenters’ search for relevant, implicitly communicated meanings. Finally, attention is paid to extensive narrativization of reader comments that contain elaborate discursive scripts of othering. It is argued that these strategies not only establish highly polarized collective identity of the ingroup but also postulate an absolute incompatibility between the ingroup and the outgroup. These extreme forms of differentiation appear to be particularly salient in discriminatory discourse involving the Roma.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Media representations of the “other” Europeans 1
  4. Part I. Othering as political and media practice
  5. Chapter 1. Orbán’s Hungary 25
  6. Chapter 2. Togetherness or othering? 55
  7. Chapter 3. The European “stranger” in Le Monde ’s headline discourse 81
  8. Chapter 4. Profiling of new Europeans in the British conservative press 103
  9. Chapter 5. Construing the Other 121
  10. Chapter 6. Discursive legitimation of criminalization and victimization of sub-Saharan immigrants in Spanish El País and ABC newspapers 135
  11. Part II. Othering as interpersonal and interactional practice
  12. Chapter 7. Negotiating an identity 157
  13. Chapter 8. Representations of Eastern Europeans in the UK in reader comments of two British online newspapers 183
  14. Chapter 9. Othering others 207
  15. Chapter 10. The othering of Roma migrants in British and Czech online news discussion forums 235
  16. Chapter 11. The Roma as ultimate European minority and ultimate outsider? 259
  17. Chapter 12. Othering in Estonian online discussions about refugees 281
  18. Contributors 305
  19. Index 309
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.74.11cho

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Media representations of the “other” Europeans 1
  4. Part I. Othering as political and media practice
  5. Chapter 1. Orbán’s Hungary 25
  6. Chapter 2. Togetherness or othering? 55
  7. Chapter 3. The European “stranger” in Le Monde ’s headline discourse 81
  8. Chapter 4. Profiling of new Europeans in the British conservative press 103
  9. Chapter 5. Construing the Other 121
  10. Chapter 6. Discursive legitimation of criminalization and victimization of sub-Saharan immigrants in Spanish El País and ABC newspapers 135
  11. Part II. Othering as interpersonal and interactional practice
  12. Chapter 7. Negotiating an identity 157
  13. Chapter 8. Representations of Eastern Europeans in the UK in reader comments of two British online newspapers 183
  14. Chapter 9. Othering others 207
  15. Chapter 10. The othering of Roma migrants in British and Czech online news discussion forums 235
  16. Chapter 11. The Roma as ultimate European minority and ultimate outsider? 259
  17. Chapter 12. Othering in Estonian online discussions about refugees 281
  18. Contributors 305
  19. Index 309
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