Visualisation of the “Balkan road”: Media representations of the refugee crisis at the periphery of Europe

Ksenija Vidmar Horvat

doi:10.5771/2566-7742-2020-1-67

Abstract

Visualisation of the “Balkan road”: Media representations of the refugee crisis at the periphery of Europe

Highlights

In autumn 2015, the Mediterranean region witnessed a major influx of refugees from wartorn Syria, followed by continuous refugee movements from Iraq and Afghanistan from September 2015 onwards
A decisive moment occurred on 15 September 2015, when Hungary closed its borders with Serbia, which rerouted the exodus through Croatia, the southern neighbour of Slovenia
The 2015 media coverage of the Balkan Road was replete with traumatic images but, as we have seen, the traumatic images are often placed in an role to bring a sense of closure

Summary

Introduction

In autumn 2015, the Mediterranean region witnessed a major influx of refugees from wartorn Syria, followed by continuous refugee movements from Iraq and Afghanistan from September 2015 onwards. The first example was created by two authors, visual artist Vesna Bukovec and writer Widad Tamimi, who both volunteered at the camp sites Their joint work evolved into a series of twelve refugee tales, published in early 2016 in the major Slovenian daily newspaper Delo. Each of the two presents its own sets of challenges to the mainstream, conventional way of thinking of the figure of the migrant – paradoxically, the first by defeating and the second by employing a convention of representing the refugee In both cases, the mobilization of the counter-ideology of the text demonstrates a possibility for critical engagement beyond humanitarian help as the only possible action at hand; and indicates a way of how, concerning the discourse of migration, European public sphere can be challenged and redefined in a more emancipatory narrative construction. The challenge is formulated first through a comparative historical perspective on media depictions of refugees in Slovenia after the break-up of socialist Yugoslavia; and, second, in light of recent calls for a “new narrative of Europe”, by underlining the role of public memories of solidarity at the periphery of the EU

Media images of the migrant

The Balkan road in Slovene media

Case Two

Discussion

Conclusion