Shevtsova, ‘(Mis?)representing LGBTI refugees’, 2019
- Category: Literature
- Source: Academic
- Subject: Sexual Orientation/Sexuality, Gender Identity, Intersex, Refugee/Asylum, Religion, Ethnicity/Race, LGBT+
- Place: Germany
- Year: 2019
- File: Mis_representing_LGBTI_refugees_instrum
- URL: https://www.academia.edu/38585009/_Mis_representing_LGBTI_refugees_instrumentalization_strategies_in_media_coverage_of_asylum_policy_in_German%D0%BD
Maryna Shevtsova, ‘(Mis?)representing LGBTI refugees: instrumentalization strategies in media coverage of asylum policy in Germany’, 2019 (draft)
Abstract
This study examines recent discourses and representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) refugees in selected German media. The present chapter uses the existing framing theories and homonationalism concept coined by Jasbir Puar (2007) to analyze German media coverage on LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers. It questions the ways in which the topic has been instrumentalized by press and the reasoning behind them. The chapter argues that the dominant discourse on queer asylum seekers strengthens the division between German population and Muslim refugees while presenting both groups in generalized and homogenized ways. Such simplified representation leads to establishing of an exclusionary order in which some groups are visible and perceived as those in need of help and support and others are overlooked and not heard. While framing effects of German media discourse are yet to be covered by a larger quantitative research, this chapter discusses possible implications for different groups of queer refugees in Germany. This chapter proceeds as follows. First, I briefly introduce existing scholarly debates and allocate present research in literature, then, I discuss the methods chosen. The next section of the chapter presents the empirical findings of the study and discusses them. I conclude with a brief summary and discussion of the implications of study results.