1887
image of The normalization of liquid racism in migrant narratives
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

This study critically examines how racist representations of migrants are subtly normalized in Greek parliamentary, media, and NGO narrative texts, often under the guise of empathy and solidarity. Drawing on Krzyżanowski’s (2020) model of and De Fina’s (2020) approach, the analysis reveals how migrants are recurrently portrayed as vulnerable victims and ideal objects of assimilation. These narrative representations serve to enact, perpetuate, and normalize a subtle form of racism, i.e. (Archakis and Tsakona 2024), which emerges in ostensibly anti-racist texts. By unpacking the discursive processes that sustain this normalization, the study seeks to contribute to debates on language and politics, highlighting how discourse can implicitly legitimize racist norms about who is (not) “deserving” support and acceptance.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.25217.sko
2026-04-02
2026-04-21
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aliai, Rita, and Villy Tsakona
    2020 “‘Αυτοί/ές είναι σαν κι εμάς’: Ταυτότητες και θετικές αναπαραστάσεις μεταναστών/τριών σε αφηγήσεις από την επίσημη ιστοσελίδα του Διεθνούς Οργανισμού Μετανάστευσης [‘They are like we are’: Migrants’ identities and positive representations in narratives from the official webpage of International Organization for Migration].” Glossologia: –. [in Greek]
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Anthias, Floya, and Cathy Lloyd
    2002 “Introduction: Fighting Racisms, Defining the Territory.” InRethinking Anti-racisms. From Theory to Practice, ed. byFloya Anthias, and Cathy Lloyd, –. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Archakis, Argiris
    2022 “The Continuum of Identities in Immigrant Students’ Narratives in Greece.” Narrative Inquiry (): –. 10.1075/ni.19118.arc
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.19118.arc [Google Scholar]
  4. Archakis, Argiris, and Villy Tsakona
    2010 “‘The Wolf Wakes up inside Them, Grows Werewolf Hair and Reveals All Their Bullying’: The Representation of Parliamentary Discourse in Greek Newspapers.” Journal of Pragmatics (): –. 10.1016/j.pragma.2009.08.015
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2009.08.015 [Google Scholar]
  5. 2012The Narrative Construction of Identities in Critical Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9781137264992
    https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137264992 [Google Scholar]
  6. 2022 “‘It Is Necessary to Try Our Best to Learn the Language’: A Greek Case Study of Internalized Racism in Antiracist Discourse.” Journal of International Migration and Integration: –. 10.1007/s12134‑021‑00831‑3
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-021-00831-3 [Google Scholar]
  7. (eds) 2024Exploring the Ambivalence of Liquid Racism. In between Antiracist and Racist Discourse. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.341
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.341 [Google Scholar]
  8. Bennett, Samuel
    2018Constructions of Migrant Integration in British Public Discourse: Becoming British. London: Bloomsbury.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. 2022 “Mythopoetic Legitimation and the Recontextualisation of Europe’s Foundational Myth.” Journal of Language and Politics (): –. 10.1075/jlp.21070.ben
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.21070.ben [Google Scholar]
  10. Bernstein, Basil
    1990The Structuring of Pedagogic Discourse. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Chouliaraki, Lilie, and Tijana Stolic
    2017 “Rethinking Media Responsibility in the Refugee ‘Crisis’: A Visual Typology of European News.” Media, Culture and Society (): –. 10.1177/0163443717726163
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443717726163 [Google Scholar]
  12. Chouliaraki, Lilie, and Myria Georgiou
    2022The Digital Border: Migration, Technology, Power. New York: New York University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. De Fina, Anna
    2020 “Doing Narrative Analysis from a Narratives-as-practices Perspective.” Narrative Inquiry (): –. 10.1075/ni.20067.def
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.20067.def [Google Scholar]
  14. De Fina, Anna, and Alexandra Georgakopoulou
    2012Analyzing narrative: Discourse and sociolinguistic perspectives. Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. De Fina, Anna, and Amelia Tseng
    2017 “Narrative in the Study of Migrants.” InThe Routledge Handbook of Migration and Language, ed. bySuresh Canagarajah, –. London/New York: Routledge. 10.4324/9781315754512‑22
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315754512-22 [Google Scholar]
  16. Efimerida ton Syntakton
    Efimerida ton Syntakton 2022 “‘A hug for Saidou’ [Μια αγκαλιά για τον Σαϊντού].” March26. Available athttps://www.efsyn.gr/ellada/koinonia/337307_mia-agkalia-gia-ton-saintoy (accessed3/10/2026). [in Greek]
  17. Ekström, Hugo, Michał Krzyżanowski, and David Johnson
    2023 “Saying ‘Criminality’, Meaning ‘Immigration’? Proxy Discourses and Public Implicatures in the Normalisation of the Politics of Exclusion.” Critical Discourse Studies, –.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Fairclough, Norman
    1992Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. 2003Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London/New York: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203697078
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203697078 [Google Scholar]
  20. Fernandes, Sujatha
    2017Curated Stories: The Uses and Misuses of Storytelling. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190618049.001.0001
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190618049.001.0001 [Google Scholar]
  21. Giaxoglou, Korina
    2021A Narrative Approach to Social Media Mourning: Small Stories and Affective Positioning. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Giaxoglou, Korina, and Tereza Spilioti
    2024 “‘The EU Gave Us a New Beginning’: Liquid Racism and Affect in a Curated Migrant Story.” InExploring the Ambivalence of Liquid Racism. In between Antiracist and Racist Discourse, ed. byArgiris Archakis, and Villy Tsakona, –. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.341.07gia
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.341.07gia [Google Scholar]
  23. Goffman, Erving
    1981Forms of Talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Greek Council for Refugees
    Greek Council for Refugees 2020Asylum Information Database (AIDA). Country Report: Greece, Update 2019 Available at: https://asylumineurope.org/reports/country/greece/ (accessed3/10/2026)
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Greek Government Law No 4285/2014
    Greek Government Law No 4285/2014. “Τροποποίηση του ν. 927/1979 (Α΄ 139) […] για την καταπολέμηση ορισμένων μορφών και εκδηλώσεων ρατσισμού και ξενοφοβίας μέσω του ποινικού δικαίου (L 328) και άλλες διατάξεις [Amendment of the law No 927/1979 (Α΄ 139) […] for combating certain forms and manifestations of racism and xenophobia through criminal law (L 328) and other provisions].” Government Gazette 191/A/10-09-2014. [in Greek]
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Greek Government Law No 4636/2019
    Greek Government Law No 4636/2019. “Περί διεθνούς προστασίας και άλλες διατάξεις. [On international protection and other provisions].” Government Gazette 169/Α/01-11-2019. [in Greek]
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Hellenic Parliament Proceedings
    Hellenic Parliament Proceedings 2022 Sitting ΡΜΘ΄ [148th], June 28, 2022. Available at: https://www.hellenicparliament.gr/UserFiles/a08fc2dd-61a9-4a83-b09a-09f4c564609d/es20220628.pdf (accessed3/10/2026). [in Greek]
  28. Karachaliou, Rania, Vasia Tsami, Alexis Lazanas, and Argiris Archakis
    2024 “Racist Discourses of Discrimination and Assimilation in an Antiracist Corpus. InExploring the Ambivalence of Liquid Racism. In between Antiracist and Racist Discourse, ed. byArgiris Archakis, and Villy Tsakona, –. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.341.02kar
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.341.02kar [Google Scholar]
  29. Krzyżanowski, Michał
    2020 “Discursive Shifts and the Normalisation of Racism: Imaginaries of Immigration, Moral Panics and the Discourse of Contemporary Right-wing Populism.” Social Semiotics (): –. 10.1080/10350330.2020.1766199
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2020.1766199 [Google Scholar]
  30. Krzyżanowski, Michał, and Per Ledin
    2017 “Uncivility on the Web: Populism in/and the Borderline Discourses of Exclusion.” Journal of Language and Politics (): –. 10.1075/jlp.17028.krz
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.17028.krz [Google Scholar]
  31. Krzyżanowski, Michał, Ruth Wodak, Hannah Bradby, Mattias Gardell, Aristotle Kallis, Natalia Krzyżanowska, Cas Mudde, and Jens Rydgren
    2023 “Discourses and Practices of the ‘New Normal’: Towards an Interdisciplinary Research Agenda on Crisis and the Normalization of Anti- and Post-democratic Action.” Journal of Language and Politics (): –. 10.1075/jlp.23024.krz
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.23024.krz [Google Scholar]
  32. Labov, William
    1972Language in the Inner City: Studies in Black English Vernacular. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Lampropoulou, Sofia, Korina Giaxoglou, and Paige Johnson
    2024 “‘Hosting Refugees is the Most Rewarding Experience’: Migrant Identity and Affective Positioning in Curated NGO Stories.” Critical Discourse Studies, –.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Lampropoulou, Sofia, and Paige Johnson
    2023 “‘[P]aying back to the Community and to the British People’: Migration as Transactional Discourse in Curated Stories by UK Charity Organisations.” Discourse and Society (): –. 10.1177/09579265231170974
    https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265231170974 [Google Scholar]
  35. 2026 “‘We Were all so Relieved When the Judge Granted her Refugee Status’: Positive Migrant Storytelling by UK NGOs.” InRepresenting Migration: Discursive and Methodological Perspectives from Triangulated Fields, ed. byBeatriz Méndez Cendón, and Josefa Ramos Estall, –. Berlin: Peter Lang.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Leudar, Ivan, and Jiří Nekvapil
    2004 “Media Dialogical Networks and Political Argumentation.” Journal of Language and Politics (): –. 10.1075/jlp.3.2.06leu
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.3.2.06leu [Google Scholar]
  37. Lymperi, Maria, and Argiris Archakis
    2024 “(Non) Representation and Normalized Losses of the Other in Pro-migrant Media Texts: What Is at Stake in Migrant Visibility?” Social Semiotics (): –. 10.1080/10350330.2024.2380308
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2024.2380308 [Google Scholar]
  38. Martínez García, Ana Belén
    2021 “Refugees’ Mediated Narratives in the Public Sphere.” Narrative (): –. 10.1353/nar.2021.0012
    https://doi.org/10.1353/nar.2021.0012 [Google Scholar]
  39. Reisigl, Martin, and Ruth Wodak
    2001Discourse and Discrimination: Rhetorics of Racism and Antisemitism. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. 2009 “The Discourse-historical Approach.” InMethods of Critical Discourse Analysis, ed. byRuth Wodak, and Michael Meyer, –. London, UK: Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Rheindorf, Markus, and Ruth Wodak
    2019 “‘Austria First’ Revisited: A Diachronic Cross-sectional Analysis of the Gender and Body Politics of the Extreme Right.” Patterns of Prejudice (): –. 10.1080/0031322X.2019.1595392
    https://doi.org/10.1080/0031322X.2019.1595392 [Google Scholar]
  42. Semino, Elena, and Mick Short
    2004Corpus Stylistics: Speech, Writing and Thought Presentation in a Corpus of English Writing. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203494073
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203494073 [Google Scholar]
  43. Serafis, Dimitris
    2023Authoritarianism on the Front Page: Multimodal Discourse and Argumentation in Times of Multiple Crises in Greece. John Benjamins Publishing Company. 10.1075/dapsac.99
    https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.99 [Google Scholar]
  44. SolidarityNow
    SolidarityNow 2022 “Το όνομά μου είναι Fateme. Το όνομά μου είναι Parvin. [My name is Fateme. My name is Parvin].” March14. Available athttps://www.solidaritynow.org/ (accessed3/10/2025). [in Greek]
  45. Svendsen, Stine, Kristine Ask, Kristine Øygardslia, Christian Engen Skotnes, Priscilla Ringrose, Gunnar Grut, and Fredrik Røkenes
    2021 “Migration Narratives in Educational Digital Storytelling: Which Stories Can Be Told?” Learning, Media and Technology (): –. 10.1080/17439884.2021.1954949
    https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2021.1954949 [Google Scholar]
  46. Tannen, Deborah
    1989Talking Voices: Repetitions, Dialogue and Imagery in Conversational Discourse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Weaver, Simon
    2016The Rhetoric of Racist Humor: US, UK and Global Race Joking. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9781315553504
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315553504 [Google Scholar]
  48. Wodak, Ruth
    2021The Politics of Fear: What Right-wing Populist Discourses Mean (2nd ed.). London, UK: Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. 2022 “Shameless Normalization as a Result of Media Control: The Case of Austria.” Journal of Language and Politics (): –.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Young, Katharine Galloway
    1987Taleworlds and Storyrealms: The Phenomenology of Narrative. Dodrecht: Martinus Nijhoff. 10.1007/978‑94‑009‑3511‑2
    https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3511-2 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.25217.sko
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.25217.sko
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: normalization ; narratives ; migrants ; liquid racism
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error