Negotiating spaces: The role of media in perceptions of identity among Ethiopian migrants in Johannesburg: a focus on consumption patterns
Date
2007-02-14T11:25:23Z
Authors
Steeneveldt, Jacqueline Melanie
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Abstract
Johannesburg has seen a significant increase in its Ethiopian born population since the
end of apartheid, which mirrors global patterns of cities being the primary
destinations of international migrants. In addition the city is considered instrumental
in shaping South Africa’s media landscape. It is this juncture between media and
migration which forms the theoretical basis of this study, as they both recognise the
work of the imagination. This study explores the local particularities and stylistic
features of media consumption patterns of Ethiopian migrants in Johannesburg and
the relationship this has with articulating their self-understanding. It argues that South
African media informs the bulk of the Ethiopian migrant media experience and as a
result it contributes in assisting their integration into Johannesburg society. On the
other hand, South African media also plays an active part in enforcing the
respondents’ sense of social exclusion, as the media highlights South African
behaviours which they find offensive (such as xenophobia). In this way, Ethiopian
migrant narratives and the ways in which they consume media serves both to
rationalise their choice of leaving ‘home’ and the state of permanent transit in which
they live.
Description
Student Number : 9201317D -
MA research report -
School of Journalism and Media Studies -
Faculty of Humanities
Keywords
media and migration, media consumption, identity and media, Ethiopian migrants