We can('t) do this A corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis of migration in Germany

Migration has been a defining topic in the discourse in Germany since the so-called "refugee crisis" in 2015. This corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis systematically reconstructs the discourse about migration in two influential German newspapers, thereby emphasizing the construction of different subject positions for people migrating to Germany. Mass media are an important arena for the fight for hegemony between discursive coalitions of culturalization regimes that are based on openness and closure respectively. The discursive space of the German discourse about migration offers multiple opportunities in this regard. In the left-leaning taz, we detect a general trend to support an open society although some (but often contested) elements of closure are detected in this medium as well. Die Welt leans much more towards closure and the problematization of migration although it also offers a diverse array of interpellations that depend on the usefulness or threating character of people coming to Germany.