Linguistic means of formation of migrant’s image in the British press
https://doi.org/10.26907/2658-3321.2021.4.3.349-365
Keywords:
migrant, media text, media image, stereotype, negative/positive imageAbstract
The article is devoted to the study of the representation of a stereotypical image of a migrant in the British press. The purpose of the article is to study the linguistic ways of forming a stereotypical image of a migrant on the basis of the English language. The article presents the result of a linguistic analysis of articles of British online newspapers and magazines on the topic of migration and migrants during the period of 2017–2019. The choice of the research material was due to its relevance, accessibility, and a wide range of the linguistic means used to form the image of the migrant. The analysis identified the topics of publications about migrants, the most used lexical, grammatical and stylistic means in representing the image of a migrant and its prevailing stereotypical image. The results of the study showed that the image of a migrant in the British press is contradictory but most of the publications about migrants in the media broadcast the audience mainly negative events related to migrants. These results led to the conclusion that the predominantly migrant is negative. The created images of migrants evoke a feeling of anxiety in the society, have a disapproving effect on interethnic relations and contribute to the consolidation of a negative stereotype towards migrants in the mass consciousness.
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