MEDIA REPRESENTATION OF THE “BANLIEUES” IN FRANCE

Abstract: The subject of this study is the critical discourse analysis of the term “banlieues” (suburbs in French) in the French media, and its use by journalists and key opinion leaders to shed a light on the narratives attached to the word. The aim is to understand the context of the use of the term and how similar or different it is from one media outlet to another. To carry out this research thesis, the material is constituted of three articles, from three different media outlets to get an overview on what the usage of the word “banlieues”. The research question is: What is the media representation of the “banlieues” in the French Media? The study shows how the suburbs are designated under the same accepted narrative focusing on the same issues that have a tendency to be generalized to all the French suburbs.