Analysing visual dysphemisms in news items on the arrival of Sub-Saharan immigrants to Spain in small boats: visual strategies of pity, fear and compassion

Abstract

This paper is a multimodal critical discourse study of the representation of Sub-Saharan immigrants who arrive on the Spanish coasts in small boats. The main objective of this research is to analyse the visual portrayal of the way the Spanish press transmits news items dealing with the arrival of the above mentioned immigrants. The data of this article consists of all the news items published upon arrival of these immigrants in the digital edition of the two most popular Spanish newspapers, i.e., El Pais and ABC, from 1 June 2011 to 1 January 2015. For its framework of analysis, the study draws on the principles of critical discourse analysis and visual grammar in order to observe the main visual strategies used by the press to portray the immigrants under analysis. The analysis of the corpus of examples is intended to assist in the creation of a typology of the main ways in which immigrants are represented visually. The study reveals that immigrants are represented dysphemistically, i.e., negative aspects of them and of their arrival are highlighted. The results show that the general tendency is to represent Sub-Saharan immigrants as victims, distanced from the readers and as strangers and different from the majority group. Moreover, they are portrayed as vulnerable and dependent people who are sick or in need, i.e., as a people-problem. doi: 10.5294/pacla.2017.20.2.6