Research Article

Who Deserves to be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media

Volume: 2 Number: 26 November 28, 2022
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Who Deserves to be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media

Abstract

This article explores the online display of artistic ability and cultural practice to express support for the resistance in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees while blaming the Russian attack on the country starting in 2022. Social media engagement is essential in constructing discursive traits of belonging through bottom-up articulations of ‘us’ and ‘them’ dichotomies. Here, I question the distinguished characteristics of representation related to art, artistic practices, and abilities under solidarity social media posts in the case of Ukrainians fleeing their homes. Social media users who include art and culture concerning solidarity use a discourse of inclusion and exclusion to depict refugees as parts of civilization and hence not reducible them to the bare life position. This study is guided by critical multimodal discourse analysis. I contend that these social media posts that convey specific art and culture-related representations serve to distinguish characteristics of war-torn Ukraine, people displacement, and Ukrainian refugees from the generic tendencies of otherization reflected on the ‘Southern’ refugee figure deprived of capability or motivation for logos.

Keywords

References

  1. Agamben, G. (1998). Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life (D. Heller-Roazen, Trans.; 1 edition). Stanford University Press.
  2. Agamben, G. (2004). The Open: Man and Animal. Stanford University Press.
  3. Androutsopoulos, J. (2013). Online Data Collection. In C. Mallinson, B. Childs, & G. V. Herk (Eds.), Data Collection in Sociolinguistics: Methods and Applications (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315535258
  4. Agamben, G. (1998). Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life (D. Heller-Roazen, Trans.; 1 edition). Stanford University Press.
  5. Agamben, G. (2004). The Open: Man and Animal. Stanford University Press.
  6. Androutsopoulos, J. (2013). Online Data Collection. In C. Mallinson, B. Childs, & G. V. Herk (Eds.), Data Collection in Sociolinguistics: Methods and Applications (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315535258
  7. Arendt, H. (1979). The origins of totalitarianism (New ed. with added prefaces). Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
  8. Arendt, H. (2019). The Human Condition: Second Edition. University of Chicago Press.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

-

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

November 28, 2022

Submission Date

September 15, 2022

Acceptance Date

November 11, 2022

Published in Issue

Year 2022 Volume: 2 Number: 26

APA
Arda, B. (2022). Who Deserves to be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media. MSGSÜ Sosyal Bilimler, 2(26), 538-557. https://doi.org/10.56074/msgsusbd.1175562
AMA
1.Arda B. Who Deserves to be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media. MSGSÜ Sosyal Bilimler. 2022;2(26):538-557. doi:10.56074/msgsusbd.1175562
Chicago
Arda, Balca. 2022. “Who Deserves to Be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media”. MSGSÜ Sosyal Bilimler 2 (26): 538-57. https://doi.org/10.56074/msgsusbd.1175562.
EndNote
Arda B (November 1, 2022) Who Deserves to be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media. MSGSÜ Sosyal Bilimler 2 26 538–557.
IEEE
[1]B. Arda, “Who Deserves to be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media”, MSGSÜ Sosyal Bilimler, vol. 2, no. 26, pp. 538–557, Nov. 2022, doi: 10.56074/msgsusbd.1175562.
ISNAD
Arda, Balca. “Who Deserves to Be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media”. MSGSÜ Sosyal Bilimler 2/26 (November 1, 2022): 538-557. https://doi.org/10.56074/msgsusbd.1175562.
JAMA
1.Arda B. Who Deserves to be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media. MSGSÜ Sosyal Bilimler. 2022;2:538–557.
MLA
Arda, Balca. “Who Deserves to Be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media”. MSGSÜ Sosyal Bilimler, vol. 2, no. 26, Nov. 2022, pp. 538-57, doi:10.56074/msgsusbd.1175562.
Vancouver
1.Balca Arda. Who Deserves to be Refugee? : The Instrumentalization of Art and Culture in the Solidarity Discourse of Ukrainian Refugees in Social Media. MSGSÜ Sosyal Bilimler. 2022 Nov. 1;2(26):538-57. doi:10.56074/msgsusbd.1175562

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