Migration Narrative(s) in the Arab Media: A Metaphorical Framing Analysis

Abstract

Over the last decade, migration across the Mediterranean has progressively gained attention in the European political forum and in news media, where metaphorical language has constantly marked the narrative strategies used to frame migrants as a threat to social security in host countries. As an integral part of this scenario, news production in the Arab world has always provided a detailed coverage of migration-related issues, although strongly influenced by the translation process of the foreign material it relies on. Through the lens of metaphorical framing analysis, this paper seeks to understand whether the Arab media discourse challenges the European dominant narrative on migration, or if it rather contributes to its reproduction.