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Article published In: Discourses of Discrimination: Language aggression in the construction of otherness
Edited by Angeliki Alvanoudi and Marianthi Georgalidou
[Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 14:1] 2026
► pp. 35–56

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Excluding the migrant Other via resistance and inclusion

The case of the Greek anti-racist short film Jafar

ORCiD logo with link | University of Ioannina, Greece
Published online: 17 October 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlac.00124.kar
Abstract
In the present study, I investigate the construction of otherness in the Greek anti-racist short film Jafar. Drawing on Critical Discourse Studies, I argue that although the film appears to combat racism, it simultaneously reproduces practices of discrimination. This contradiction is achieved via liquid racism, namely a multi-layered and, thus, difficult to detect form of racism (Weaver, Simon. 2011. “Liquid Racism and the Ambiguity of Ali G.” European Journal of Cultural Studies 14(3): 249–264. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2016. The Rhetoric of Racist Humour: US, UK and Global Race Joking. London: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). More specifically, by combining Kress, Gunther, and Theo van Leeuwen. 2006. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design (2nd edn). Oxon/New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar grammar of visual design with Bucholtz, Mary, and Kira Hall. 2005. “Identity and Interaction: A Sociocultural Linguistic Approach.” Discourse Studies 7(4–5): 584–614. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar model for identities-in-interaction, I show that the film allows two different representations of otherness: (i) the caring Other, which resists the stereotype of the criminal migrant (anti-racist positioning) and (ii) the useful Other, which regulates migrant inclusion via eligibility criteria of usefulness (racist positioning).
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Modern nation-states, (anti-)racism(s) and post-modernity
  • 3.Liquid racism
  • 4.Data and analytical tools
  • 5.Analysis
    • 5.1Scene one: The waiting room
    • 5.2Scene two: The doctor’s office
    • 5.3Liquid racism in the construction of the migrant Other
  • 6.Discussion/conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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