The visual dehumanisation of refugees

Abstract

Dealing with refugees is one of the most contested political issues in Australia. We examine how media images of asylum seekers have framed ensuing debates during two crucial periods over the past decade. By conducting a content analysis of newspaper front pages we demonstrate that asylum seekers have primarily been represented as medium or large groups and through a focus on boats. We argue that this visual framing, and in particular the relative absence of images that depict individual asylum seekers with recognisable facial features, associates refugees not with a humanitarian challenge, but with threats to sovereignty and security. These dehumanising visual patterns reinforce a politics of fear that explains why refugees are publicly framed as people whose plight, dire as it is, nevertheless does not generate a compassionate political response.

如何对待难民是澳大利亚一个最具争议的政治话题。我们考察了在过去十年中的两个关键时期中媒体的避难者形象是如何影响接下来辩论的。根据笔者对报纸的头版所做的内容分析，避难者主要被再现为中、大型群体，多集中在船上。我们认为，这样的视觉形象、尤其是缺少描画个体避难者脸部特征的形象，不会将避难者同人道主义问题联系起来，而只会同威胁主权及安全相链接。这类非人性化的视觉模式强化了恐惧的政治，这也解释了为什么公众认为难民境遇凄惨，却不给他们政治上的同情。

Keywords:

• emotions
• images
• peace and conflict studies
• refugees
• visual politics