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In:Representing the Other in European Media Discourses
Edited by Jan Chovanec and Katarzyna Molek-Kozakowska
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 74] 2017
► pp. 235–258

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

Published online: 23 November 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.74.11cho
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.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background
  • 3.Data
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Othering through delocalization
      • 4.1.1The placelessness of the Roma
      • 4.1.2Relocation proposals
    • 4.2Constructing collective ingroup identity through popular culture
      • 4.2.1The “good old days” without the “other”
      • 4.2.2Explicit and implicit othering
    • 4.3Narrative scripts of (de)legitimization
      • 4.3.1Self-legitimization through establishment of historical links
      • 4.3.2Perspectivization and argumentation in narrative scripts of othering
        • Expression of negative emotion
        • Family lineage
        • Contrast between US and THEM
        • Cultural incompatibility & superiority v. inferiority positioning
        • Spatial incompatibility & physical relocation
      • 4.3.3Additional observations
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Sources
  • References
References (44)
Sources
Fear, loathing and prejudice in Blunkett’s back yard: A deeply disturbing dispatch as the ex-Labour Home Secretary warns of race riots over the Roma influx in Sheffield. Daily Mail, 15 November 2013.Article and reader comments available online at: [URL]Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
V Sheffieldu eskaluje napětí mezi Romy a místními [Tension escalates between the Roma and the locals in Sheffield]. aktualne.cz, 16 November 2013. The text of the article (under an updated headline) is available online at: [URL]The reader comments for the article are no longer available on the website.
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