Dwie granice, dwa światy? Wspierana korpusowo analiza dyskursywnych reprezentacji migrantów na granicy polsko-białoruskiej i polsko-ukraińskiej
Two Borders, Two Worlds? A Corpus-Assisted Analysis of Discursive Representations of Migrants at the Polish-Belarusian and Polish-Ukrainian Borders

Summary/Abstract: The years 2021 and 2022 marked a profound transformation in Poland’s migration dynamics, driven by the humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This metamorphosis positioned Poland as a country with one of the highest proportions of migrants in Europe, prompting a significant shif in media focus. This study delves into the representation of Persons on the move (the Persons) during this pivotal period, employing corpus-supported discourse analysis.Our research draws on a corpus of over 5 million words extracted from articles published in prominent Polish newspapers over a four-month period following the commencement of each migration movement. To reconstruct the discursive construction of the Persons, we analyzed collocations of the words refugee and migrant. We first categorized them thematically, following Gabrielatos’ and Baker’s (2008) framework. Subsequently, we conducted an in-depth analysis of concordances.The findings reveal a distinct discursive construction of Persons based on the specific border they crossed or attempted to cross. While the image of Persons at the Polish Belarusian border aligns somewhat with previous research (e.g., KhosraviNik, 2010; Vezovnik, 2018), the representation of Persons from the Polish-Ukrainian border is distinctive. This representation offers insights into a positive construction of the Persons, interwined with a discourse of care and help.

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