The (Un)deserving Refugee : A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Danish Media Representation of Syrian Refugees Between 2015-2022

Abstract: This thesis provides an analysis of how the Danish media represented the Syrian refugees between the years 2015-2022. This is achieved by doing comparative research by analyzing 27 different articles about the refugee groups from four major Danish newspapers. A Multimodal Discourse Analysis is applied, where the images and word phrasing of the articles are investigated to look for patterns in correlation with the theories. With a post-colonial perspective, the theoretical framework consists of the two theories of Orientalism and Deservingness. These theories are applied to discuss why the media discourse is as it is. It was found that the media representation has changed, and Syrian refugees are dehumanized and seen as an out-group, however, it does change for the better throughout the studied years. Keywords: Syrian Refugees, Orientalism, Deservingness, Media Representation, Denmark