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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. 281–304

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Chapter 12
Othering in Estonian online discussions about refugees

Published online: 23 November 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.74.13lai
Abstract
Talking about the Other evokes strong emotions tied to cultural narratives and folkloric motifs that are shared within communities. Following these discussions offers an entry point into practices of othering and their psychological, cultural and folkloric components. The chapter analyses how the Other is described in semi-public media, reflecting on the refugee crisis that intensified in 2015.
The analysis follows online discussions about the 2015 refugee crisis in Estonian public forums. In particular, the focus will be on the incident that triggered much public reverberation, namely setting fire to the refugee centre in Vao, north-eastern Estonia, in early September 2015. The interdisciplinary study is based on insights on othering from the areas of folkloristics and linguistics and relies on the methods offered by digital humanities. It aims to draw conclusions from the news readers’ comments to describe how online forums communicate conflicting emotions and opinions about the Other in the context of conflict. The results suggest that viewpoints become even more polarised in the discussion, othering both the strangers / refugees as well as local Estonian groups for or against accepting immigrants. In the course of heated discussions, folk rhetorics support long-established narratives of cultural trauma.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Context
    • 2.1Refugees in Estonia
    • 2.2Online flaming
  • 3.Online responses to the arson attack on Vao refugee centre
    • 3.1Methodology
    • 3.2Results
      • 3.2.1Categories of emotions in (anonymous and non-anonymous) comments
  • 4.Discussion
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Sources
  • References
References (52)
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Cited by one other publication

Chovanec, Jan
2018. Irony as counter positioning. In The Pragmatics of Irony and Banter [Linguistic Approaches to Literature, 30], ► pp. 165 ff. DOI logo

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