The Narrative of Lampedusa - Mediated mobilities reflected in social structures

Abstract: In the mediated narrative about Lampedusa as a destination, thetourist’s mobility is indicating consumption. The recommendation of a boatride off Lampedusa’s coast to best experience/consume Lampedusa’s beauty,stands in great contrast to the boat rides in the narrative of the mobility ofthe migrant/refugee. This research is investigating the mediation andmobility processes working in the narrative of Lampedusa’s social structuresas a destination for the two human mobility categories the Tourist and theMigrant/Refugee. Mediated material concerning the two categories of humanmobility, the tourist and the migrant/refugee has been collected on theInternet. Material from two tourist destination communication platforms isillustrating the mobility of the tourist and the narrative of Lampedusa as atourist destination. While material from two humanitarian-aidcommunication platforms serve to illustrate the narrative of the mobility ofthe migrant/refugee and of the humanitarian crisis at the destination and itssurrounding waters. In order to a get fuller understanding of the mediatednarrative of Lampedusa I have added articles from English and Italianspeaking online news channels. The included material is selected following anon-probability, purposive sampling method. The result of the studydemonstrates that by maintaining the meditated narrative of the tourist as aconsumer, the mobility of the tourist is weakening the mobility of themigrant/refugee. And the narrative of Lampedusa is reinforcing the socialpower structures of the tourist from the Global North and themigrant/refugee from the Global South, as a representation of the politicaland moral consensus of postcolonialism.