Thematic Study on National Identity and the Media WP4

1
Thematic Study on National Identity and the
Media (WP4)

• Participants
• Dunarea de Jos University of Galati, Department
  of English. Romania
• Panteion University of Social and Political
  Sciences, Center for Gender Studies. Greece
• Euro-Balkan Institute, Research Center in
  Gender Studies. Former Yugoslavian Republic of
  Macedonia

2
Thematic Study on National Identity and the
Media (WP4)

• Key words
• National identity
• Images of otherness
• Migration
• Gender
• Media representations.

3
National Identity

• Theoretical framework adopted imagology and
  cultural studies
• Imagology the study of the representations of
  the foreign other in the mental structures
  prevailing in a cultural community at a given
  historical moment in its evolution the study of
  the force lines that at a given moment govern and
  condition the representation of alterity in a
  base culture.
• The corpus of common ideas or mental structures
  held by one community with respect to another is
  inevitably influenced by national identity, i.e.
  the subjective construct, collective self-images
  that influence the cultural and social praxis .

4
Images of Otherness and National Identity

• Distinction is made between two types of
  interrelated images
• self (auto-) images (i.e. images shaped by the
  attitude one has towards ones own cultural
  values) and
• hetero-images (i.e. images shaped by ones
  attitude towards the other).
• These images may be positive or negative in their
  valorization, reflecting different attitudes such
  as xenophilia, tolerance and cosmopolitism, on
  the one hand, and xenophobia and ethnocentricism,
  on the other.
• National stereotype an attempt to fix a certain
  representation of identity as characteristic for
  the national character an instance of cultural
  confrontation reflecting an extrapolation of the
  particular with the general, and of the
  individual with the collective.
• ?
• Our interest will not be on establishing the
  truth value of these images as if they were items
  of information about reality, but on disclosing
  the properties of the context which makes them
  available as patterns of identification for a
  group of people.

5
Migration and Gender as Cultural Maps

• Culture maps of meaning whereby a particular
  group of people make sense of everyday practices,
  that are prone to processes of formation and
  deconstruction.
• In reading the representational terrain of
  national identity, we will focus on migration and
  gender as variable and fluid maps of meaning
  which are open to negotiation and re-negotiation.
  

context addresser - message
- addressee contact code

• (Roman Jakobsons diagram of communication)
• Who is saying this? What audience is the author
  addressing? Why is it important for the author to
  make this point? What are the political
  circumstances at the time the text is produced?
  How does the author attempt to convince the
  addressee of the validity of his claim? What type
  of text and code does (s)he use to construct a
  certain image?

6
Media Representations

• Media texts
• Printed texts books, newspapers and magazines
• Audio-visual texts television and film (feature
  films and documentaries)
• Electronic texts/ internet blogs, podcasts,
  forums.

7
In analysing these representations with an aim
at underlining a certain relationship between the
examining self and the examined other, it is
important to

• delimitate the spatial frame
• identify the dichotomic coordinates relating the
  geographical space to the mental structures
  underlying the representation of cross-cultural
  encounters (East vs. West town vs. country
  distant vs. familiar margin vs. centre included
  vs. excluded)
• consider the time component (both diachronically
  and synchronically)
• read the text as an anthropological document
  bearing on social practices, manners, living
  conditions, etc.
• consider the auto- and hetero-images as they
  emerge in textual terms as an ensemble of signs
  meant for a certain public in order to meet
  certain expectations.

8
Case Study Migration and Image Construction in
the Romanian Context

• Spatial mapping of the Romanian context as
• migration source
• migration target
• migration transit space.
• Temporal mapping of the Romanian context
• pre-1989 migration
• post- 1989 migration.
• (De)constructing the migrant in media texts.

9
Romania as migration source

• Before 1989 (under the Communist regime)
• restrictive exit policies, severely limiting the
  ability of citizens to travel internationally
  with the hope of reducing the number of asylum
  applications made by Romanians abroad
• Nonetheless, a relatively high amount of
  permanent, legal emigration ? Ethnic minorities,
  i.e. Jews, Germans and Hungarians (44 of the
  emigrant population between 1975 and 1989)
• Jews ? Israel and the United States
• Germans ? the Federal Republic of Germany
• Hungarians ? Hungary, most of them choosing
  illegal strategies of leaving (crossing the green
  border illegally, staying in Hungary without
  residence permit, etc.).

10
Romania as migration source

• Before 1989 (under the Communist regime)
• temporary migration notably for the purposes of
  education and work. Labour migration was
  exclusively state-managed, and a large majority
  of Romanian workers headed to the Middle East,
  particularly to the Persian Gulf area, where
  their labour activities were tightly regulated
  and family reunification forbidden.

11
Romania as migration source

• After 1989 (after the fall of the Communist
  regime)
• Liberalization of passport administration and
  international travel
• a set of acts meant to regulate the international
  mobility of the labour force (both outflows and
  inflows)
• 2002 - Labour Force Migration Office
• bilateral agreements on labour migration. E.g. In
  2006 it provided 53,029 Romanian workers with
  foreign jobs (up 137 from 2002), mainly as
  seasonal workers in Germany (the major
  destination for this type of migration), Spain
  and Hungary.
• 2004 the National Strategy on Migration (its
  main goal to provide a coherent legal framework
  for labour migration, asylum cases and
  naturalization).

12
Romania as migration source

• 1. ethnic minorities (especially Germans and
  Hungarians) over-represented among the migrants
  in the 1990s.
• 2. studies abroad in both European and American
  educational institutions (secondary schools and
  mainly universities).
• 3. since the 1990s massive migration of
  Romanian labour force on account of the
  restructuring of Romanian economy resulting in
  increased unemployment. 3 phases of labour
  migration
• 1990-1995 migration to Israel, Turkey, Hungary
  (mostly ethnic Hungarians) and Germany
• 1996-2002 westward migration increasingly to
  Italy and Spain
• 2002- to the present removing the visa
  requirements in the Schengen space ?Italy, Spain,
  Portugal and the UK.
• Estimations 3.4 million Romanians were working
  abroad in mid-2007, approximately 1.2 million of
  them legally . Almost two thirds of Romanian
  emigrants are women.

13
Romania as migration source

• Categorisation of immigrants
• Legal/ authorized immigrants
• Undocumented/ illegal/ irregular/ unauthorized
  immigrants (Romania mainly a source country for
  irregular migration)
• Sectors most likely liable to undocumented
  employment
• construction and associated businesses
• hotels and restaurants
• cleaning of industrial facilities and buildings
• agriculture and forestry
• food, beverage and tobacco industry
• transportation of persons and goods
• metal processing industries
• businesses in the entertainment sector (bars,
  nightclubs, amusement arcades)
• private households and private building sites
  (domestic work cleaning and caring)

14
Romania as migration source

• Consequences of massive migration from Romania
• Positive effects
• For the migrant ethnic minorities (Jews, Germans,
  Hungarians) - regaining their sense of national
  identity by rediscovering, by displacement, their
  cultural roots.
• For students direct access to a varied range of
  academic approaches to different study fields
  from which they could benefit by acquiring more
  working (but also) life experience.
• For workers - increasing the living standards of
  migrant households (e.g. the National Bank of
  Romania reported the record amount of EUR 4.8-5.3
  billion for remittances in 2006)
• Negative affects
• loss of valuable professional labour force, since
  many of the students trained abroad and of the
  well-trained workers left abroad more often than
  not decide not to return to Romania (mainly for
  financial reasons).
• ?
• growing shortages in sectors of the Romanian
  labour market
• abandonment of minors by their labour migrant
  parents (especially by their mothers in the
  recent years) (e.g. in 2006 - 60,000 children at
  risk for having their parents working abroad, out
  of which one third deprived of both their parents
  - the National Authority for the Protection of
  Childrens Rights
• trafficking in human beings, especially women.
• increased criminality

15
Romania as migration target

• Before 1989 (under the Communist regime)
• rather limited inflow of foreign migrants to
  Romania, especially from the unfriendly
  countries
• foreign students, especially from the Middle East
  and African countries (from the 1970s onwards) (
  7-8 of the students in the Romanian universities
  in the 1980s).

16
Romania as migration target

• After 1989 (after the fall of the Communist
  regime)
• Main reasons for immigration to Romania studies
  marriage work/ business.
• Several phases in the immigration process
• 1990s mostly entrepreneurs, especially from
  Turkey, the Middle East (Syria, Jordan) and
  China
• 2000 to the present foreign workers meant to
  make up for the shortages on the Romanian labour
  market (especially in sectors like clothing and
  construction industries).
• ?
• Countries of origin mainly Turkey and China, but
  also Ukraine and Middle-East countries (Syria,
  Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, etc.)
• But also investors and highly specialized workers
  from countries like France, Germany, Italy, the
  United States, etc.

17
Romania as migration target

• Migrants from the neighbouring Republic of
  Moldova (building on historical ties)
• The 1991 Romanian Citizenship Law, which
  practically defined the migration of Moldovan
  citizens as a form of repatriation

• Total number of immigrants and immigrants from
  the Republic of Moldova, 1991-2005

18
Romania as transit migration space

• Romania counts as a transit country for many
  asylum applicants due to its geographical
  location on the European Unions eastern border
  and due to its position as a crossroad between
  the north-south migration axis (African countries
  being significant places of origin) and the
  east-west route (Far East, Middle East and former
  Soviet Union as main sources).
• As the Romanian economy is still not very
  attractive to economic migrants, most of these
  groups just adjourn on their way toward more
  developed west side of Europe. ? crossing the
  border illegally, staying in Romania without
  residence permit, etc.
• ?
• the largest groups of apprehended aliens
  Turkey, China, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine,
  Syria, India, Nigeria, etc.

19
Romania as transit migration space

• Refuge and asylum in Romania
• 1991- the UN Convention and the Protocol Relating
  to the Status of Refugees Romanian Government
  Ordinances (e.g. no. 616/ 06.06.2004 defining the
  National Strategy regarding Migration)
• the National Office for Refugees (the Romanian
  governmental unit in charge of the implementation
  of asylum policy)
• The number of applications currently in decrease,
  but it might increase in the near future owing to
  the fact that approximately two-thirds of
  Romanias borders are with non-EU countries
  (Moldova, Ukraine and the former Yugoslavia) .

20
Romania as transit migration space

• Romania both a source and a transit country
  (for persons originating from Moldova, Ukraine
  and Russia) of human trafficking, with victims
  (including children) being trafficked to various
  places in the Balkan states as well as Italy,
  Spain, France and beyond.
• Considerable pressure on the Romanian authorities
  to implement effective policies to address this
  problem
• 2001 the law to combat and prevent human
  trafficking
• Focus mainly on trafficking with children 2004
  a Draft National Plan of Action for Preventing
  and Combating Trafficking with Children
• enforcement of regulations meant to prevent or
  sanction trafficking setting up institutions to
  assist victims including centres that underage
  victims of trafficking can return to and centres
  where adult victims of trafficking can receive
  counselling.
• However, as international reports evidence, in
  spite of the progress made at the legislative
  level, Romania remains a source and transit
  country primarily for women and girls trafficked
  from Moldavia and Ukraine to Bosnia, Serbia,
  Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Greece, Italy and
  Turkey for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

21
Romanians, Migration and Media Representations

• Printed texts books
• novels, diaries and monographies written by
  Romanians who migrated (legally or illegally)
  under the Communist regime
• E.g. Sorin Alexandrescu, Identitate în ruptura
  (Identity in Rupture), Sanda Stolojan, Nori peste
  balcoane. Jurnal din exilul parizian (Clouds over
  balconies. The Diary of a Parisian exile), Hertha
  Muller, The Land of Green Plums Oana Orlea, Une
  Sosie en Cavale Oana Orlea, Les Anées volées
  dans le Goulag roumain à seize ans, Louise
  Gherasim, Escape from Romania
• diaries and monographies mainly by young Romanian
  postgraduates who left for studies after the 1989
  change of regime
• E.g. Ioana Bot, Jurnal elvetian (Swiss Diary)

22
Romanians, Migration and Media Representations

• newspapers and magazines
• daily Romanian newspapers (broadsheets) Romania
  libera Adevarul Evenimentul zilei Jurnalul
  national, etc.
• international press La Stampa, Corriere della
  Sera, The Guardian, The Times, The Daily
  Telegraph, International Herald Tribune, etc.
• Romanian diaspora press Actualitatea romaneasca
  Romanii de pretutindeni Diaspora romaneasca
  Romanii de pretutindeni Repere romanesti
  Romanii de pretutindeni, Romanian Global News,
  next to (on-line) newspapers of Romanian
  communities in different European countries
  (Italy, Spain, Hungary, Germany, the UK , France
  ,Belgium, Sweden)

23
Romanians, Migration and Media Representations

• Audio-visual texts television
• Romanian TV channels (TVR, PRO-TV, Antena 1,
  etc.) news (e.g. news series Tu stii ce mai
  face copilul tau?) talk-shows , etc.
• international TV channels Euronews, BBC World,
  etc.

24
Romanians, Migration and Media Representations

• Audio-visual texts films
• Feature films
• Romanian Occident (2002, director Cristian
  Mungiu), Italiencele (2004, director Napoleon
  Helmis), Cum mi-am petrecut sfarsitul lumii
  (2006, director Catalin Mitulescu)
• Foreign Leo (2000, director Jose Luis Borau),
  Sex Traffic (2004, TV-series UK) Je vous trouve
  tres beau (2006, director Isabelle Mergault), La
  notte (to be released in 2008, director
  Francesco Munzi).
• Documentaries
• Romanian Satul sosetelor (2006, director Ileana
  Stanculescu) Orfani pe termen limitat (2006)
  Independenta (2006, director Rastko Petrovic)
• Foreign The Last Peasants Temptation (2003,
  director Angus Macqueen) Leaving Transylvania
  (2006, director Dieter Auner) Stam We are
  staying (2006, directors Anne Schiltz and
  Charlotte Gregoire) Stella (2006, director
  Vanina Vignal) Beyond the Forest (2007, director
  Gerald Igor Hauzenberger)

25
Romanians, Migration and Media Representations

• Electronic texts/ Internet
• Blogs http//blogsearch.google.com/ Romanian
  language blog directory (http//dir.blogflux.com/l
  ang/romanian.html)
• Podcasts e.g. racist music by DJSyto (Spain)
• forums www.e-migrant.ro www.comunitati.net
  www.romania-italia.info/portal
  www.italiaromania.com www.spaniaromaneasca.com/s/
  www.romaniinspania.3xforum.ro www.rgnpress.ro
  www.romanul.co.uk, etc.