COMUNICAZIONI SOCIALI - 2022 - 1. MIGRATIONS / MEDIATIONS Promoting Transcultural Dialogue through Media, Arts and Culture

Reimagining Narratives on Migration. The Role of Media, Arts and Culture in Promoting Transcultural Dialogue by Pierluigi Musarò, Nikos Papastergiadis, Laura Peja is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

For decades now, the framing of migrations in public discourse and news media appears to be stuck within a limited number of recurring stories. Therefore, the need emerges to find new perspectives in policies and a narrative more  useful to understand the social change produced by migratory processes and offer new interpretations. The effectiveness of these alternatives is closely related to the ability to analyse the structure of the dominant frames and the  metaphorical connections of the hegemonic narratives. Additionally, the contribution aims at offering a methodology to analyse the media discourse, a specific set of definitions and some tools useful for analysing the impact of arts,  campaigns and media activist action and, at least, to design new and more effective ones. For this objective, the article addresses three needs: a) refining the description of the dominant narratives, by proposing a heuristic scheme  to define key metaphors, and general as well as specific issue frames; b) completing this structure with the possible strategies for minority voices, by defining the relationship between the dominant narratives and those that, over  time, have been constructed to counter them (counter-narratives), as well as those that are built to provide new sense and narrative-reframing; c) evaluating these possibilities by placing in this scheme some examples of counter- frames to verify their argumentative effect and possible effectiveness. In this third part the article analyses some artistic interventions or civil society campaigns developed in the Italian or international context to investigate their position in this scheme and to answer the following research questions: are these proposals built only as simple counter-frames, that is, do they only react, reformulating only one of the aspects of the narrative present in the  agenda? Or are they reframing strategies, that is, they offer a different discourse with respect to fundamental frames, key metaphors and basic analogies or dualities. In other words, starting from the analysis of the framing  structure the goal is to investigate and measure the agency capabilities.

Countering or Reframing Migrations. Frames, Definitions, Strategies to Imagine New Metaphors and Narrative for the Media Agenda by Marco Binotto is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

The study critically examines the personal stories of Italians of immigrant background – or ‘new citizens’ – published on intercultural digital media platforms. It explores how and to what extent these individual narratives broaden,  challenge, or subvert the dominant regime of representation of ‘immigration’ in Italy. Drawing on a conceptual framework informed by cultural studies and critical discourse analysis, the paper finds that the strategic, organising idea  of the ‘new citizen’ articulated through a set of recurring discourses, while on the one hand seeks to challenge hegemonic portrayals of ‘the immigrant subject’, on the other hand strategically draws on neoliberal aspirations and  essentialist interpretations of formal citizenship to legitimise a collective project of socio-political inclusion. The analysis informs final reflections on the potential, limitations and ongoing transformations of collective inter-cultural  tactics of (self-)representation towards more inclusive and diverse discourses about cultural identity, citizenship and belonging.

Making the ‘New Citizen’: (Self-)Representation Narratives of Italians of Immigrant Background on Intercultural Digital Media Platforms by Marina Morani is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Media practices are often dominated by hegemonic discourses, and members of marginalised groups tend to struggle to get access to professional media production opportunities. In this paper, we present a study on agency and strategies of migrant media producers in Germany with a specific focus on experiences with racism, visibility of marginalised voices and negotiations of belonging in alternative spaces. Community media are media that are  independent, non-commercial, organised from the community, and directed to the community. Their aim is to enable citizens to take control over their own representation, produce media content that is representative of a diverse  society, and raise issues often overlooked by commercial and large-scale public-service media. Racism is understood in this study as a practice based on hierarchical oppositional distinction and connected to the practical effects of  this distinction. Discriminatory practices denote the exclusion of individuals or groups because of prevailing prejudices linked to certain discrimination categories like age, sex, origin, appearance, language, sexual or religious  orientation. Eight media producers living in Germany with refugee/migration backgrounds participated in two group discussions and an interview. The focus of the conversations were experiences of racism, individual experiences in  Germany regarding acceptance, experiences with community media, perception of the public or mainstream media, structures within the radios and media projects, possible wishes, and strategies for dealing with racism in media, the topic of multilingualism and feedback of listeners. All recordings were transcribed, and the analysis focused on individual agency and strategies, (lack of) institutional support and social evaluations. The explorative, qualitative  approach enabled deeper insights into the complex ways how discrimination is at play in society at large but also how these practices are encountered in ‘alternative’ spaces. On the one hand, the analysis reveals the effects of  intersectional positions that media producers navigate when attempting to reach representation for themselves and for topics they find important. The results underline the importance of informal networks to access resources. On  the other hand, forms of recognition for education and competencies (particularly those acquired outside of Europe) need to be in place for media producers to realise their potential.

“We Do Something because We Think that It Is Important for Society and that We Should Be Heard”. Agency and Strategies of Empowerment of Community Media Producers in Germany in Light of Experiences of Racism by Nadia Bellardi, Esther Domke, Judith Purkarthofer, Özge Zar is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Communication is one of the critical issues organisations working with migrants and refugees in Europe must face. Our research question is how do art-based education organisations’ projects working with underage migrants and  refugees communicate online? There is a gap concerning three key discursive approaches that we wish to tackle when communicating about these populations: miserabilism, even-image, and gender-neutrality. We propose to analyse  them by focusing the research on a case study of two music organisations in two different European countries – the Swedish Dream Orchestra and El Sistema Greece. Through a multimodal critical discourse analysis  of their digital communication, the results show that both organisations use their multicultural contexts as an asset to persuade people to join the orchestra (as volunteers, as teachers) and to make donations. However, they do not present  intercultural and transcultural alternative approaches. These findings are important to question the choices made when communicating about such ethically and emotionally-charged social phenomenon as the social inclusion of  underage migrants and refugees through art-based educational projects in Europe.

The Online Communication of Art-Based Education Organisations Working with Underage Refugees and Migrants in Europe by Alix Didier Sarrouy, Rita Grácio is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Contemporary representations of Nigerian women in Italy result, as is often the case with black women, in the reproduction of stereotypical images such as those of refugees. The patronising view informing research of migrant  communities hinders the development of an open and engaging dialogue with them. In this article, we discuss the ways in which the participatory multimedia exhibition Iloi challenges dominant ways of representation through its  employment of a collage methodology. The exhibition was co-created by a collective formed by a group of Nigerian women based in Palermo, two international art professionals and three academic researchers based in the  Netherlands. Collage, a process of knitting together experiences, objects, history and futures, reflects the complexity of human interactions. Thus, this article proposes the use of a performative and interactive methodology geared  towards making migration research more inclusive and reflective.

Using Collaborative Exhibition-Making to Engage with the Representation of Nigerian Women in Palermo: Iloi as a Case Study in the Application of a Participatory ‘Collage Methodology’ by Noemi Mena Montes, Marta Pagliuca Pelacani, Mariia Shaidrova is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This article attempts to simultaneously connect fiction, emotions, and (im)mobility in migration maps. It presents the works of three cartographers that conceive fictional maps to engage with emotion and subjectivity in the narration of refugee stories. Inspired by non-representational theory, the article reflects on how such fictional maps question the ontological foundations of cartography. The study supports that the case studies challenge three different dimensions of such ontological basis. The map in Im Land der Frühaufsteher problematizes an understanding of cartography as a reproduction that merely attempts to mirror natural realities. The second, Crossing Maps, exemplify a processual understanding of cartography: a means to co-create relationships and human bounds, going beyond the idea of the map as an artifact that has to deliver spatial information. The third, Constellations, shows  how cartographies can be considered as objects having no inborn ontological security and that are, on the contrary, constantly recognized and reappraised in a contingent interaction between creators and users.

Fictional Refugee Cartographies: A Reappraisal of Cartographies beyond Truthful Reproductions of Landscape by Kevin Smets, Giacomo Toffano is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

In Greece during the last decade, in a context of crisis and precarity, artistic practices significantly increased their presence in public space often aiming at engaging the social base and touching upon the inclusion of different  communities. Athens became the epicenter of such practices. The main objective of the paper is to explore grassroots arts and culture initiatives’ role in stimulating community-engaging practices in intensively diverse public spaces,  thus contributing to transcultural dialogue and urban co-existence. The paper employs two different artistic urban projects, UrbanDig_Omonia and Victoria Square Project on two Athenian squares, Omonia and Victoria, as case  studies in order to elaborate on the contribution of artistic interventions and transcultural dialogue in ‘difficult places’. This is realised on two interrelated levels: i) through community- based artistic interventions, that serve as the  ‘ice-breaker’ for transcultural dialogue to diverse communities of ‘locals’ and ‘foreigners’; ii) through continuous community engagement practices that serve as evaluation praxis and provide evidence-based reflections that could feed into cultural and social policy making. It further points to the role of artists and cultural managers as mediators among cultures.

Site-Specific Artistic Practices as Potential Ways of Urban Co-Existence and Transcultural Dialogue: The Case of two Athenian Squares by Eirini Iliopoulou, Matina Magkou, Katerina Protonotariou is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Audience Engagement is a challenging concept. There is no one shared definition and can be an ambivalent term especially when put in relation to the aim of ‘diversifying’ audiences. The article aims to contribute to the  understanding of how Audience Engagement can be both framed and implemented as a process which is able to foster and give value to cultural diversity. To this end, we firstly provide a framework of culture and arts as a space of  citizenship while discussing key issues that set the stage for an understanding of Audience Engagement as a process of cultural participation and promotion of cultural diversity. In the second part of the article we present an ongoing  action-research, implemented in the project “Performing Gender- Dancing in Your Shoes-DIYS” (Creative Europe 2020-2023). The initial insights presented in this essay enrich the understanding of Audience Engagement, by shedding  light on the role of co-creation and of cultural operators (organizations and artists) in the mediation of a “constitution of a cosmopolitan imaginary”.

Audience Engagement and Cultural Diversity by Giulia Allegrini, Roberta Paltrinieri is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Cinema took its first steps in Japan in the last years of the xix century, when the first American and French-made devices to project moving images were imported. The protagonists of this auroral phase were some young Japanese  businessmen who saw a great potential in this new type of entertainment. Thanks to them, the land of the Rising Sun opened up to this Western wonder that conquered the public by building a bridge between two so different  cultures. This article intends to outline the roles, actions and the first advertising strategies that marked the birth of the 7th art in Japan.

1897: la nascita del cinema in Giappone. Cinematografo Lumière contro Vitascopio Edison: protagonisti, ruoli e strategie pubblicitarie by Massimo Nicora is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

With the advent of various Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime video, television series are no longer bound by its set temporal relation with its viewers. This paper identifies four temporalities imbibed  within the TV series and analyses the changes in them. It argues that TV series is marked by liveness, embeddedness, anchoring, structuring of social time and a mediatic sequence; and these are being reformulated by OTT.

Disturbing Times of Series in the Age of OTT by Rupinder Singh, Sneha Singh is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0