Syrian refugees in Turkish cartoons: a social semiotic analysis

Abstract

This article examines Syrian refugee- or migrant-themed cartoons in Turkish weekly satirical magazines published between 2013 and 2017. In our analysis, we point out that as the Syrians’ stay in Turkey has extended over the years, the refugees have become part of Turkish political discourse. We follow a social semiotic approach and categorize various cartoon representations of both Turkish politicians and Syrian refugees. We observe that cartoonists tend to portray this migrating population sometimes as an alterity, which isthreatening the stability of the country, and sometimes as an “own kind”, which should be integrated at all costs.

Keywords

• Turkey
• Syrian refugees
• migration
• social semiotic analysis
• political discourse
• cartoons