Don‟t care what they say about you in the media - ! or ? - Perceptions of mediated Lithuanian identity by Lithuanians Vita Mėlinauskaitė A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo Spring 2010 II Table of Contents CHAPTER 1: Introduction and background ......................................................................1 1.1. Choice of the study area ...........................................................................................1 1.2. Studies about ethnic minorities and media in Norway ...............................................2 1.3. Research questions ...................................................................................................7 1.4. Statistical view .........................................................................................................8 1.5. Diaspora overview .................................................................................................. 10 1.6. Key concepts .......................................................................................................... 10 1.7. Disposition ............................................................................................................. 12 CHAPTER 2: Theoretical perspective .................................................................................. 15 2.1 Social Construction and Subjective Reality – Berger and Luckmann ........................... 16 2.2. The relevance of Berger and Luckmann‟s theory for the study ................................... 18 2.3. Internalization of socially available identification options – J.P. Sartre ....................... 19 2.4. Authentic „self‟ in Social Reality – Charles Guignon ................................................. 21 2.5. Media‟s role in identity formation process. ................................................................ 23 2.6. Summary ................................................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 3: Methodology .................................................................................................. 25 3.1. Media content and discourse analyses ........................................................................ 25 3.1.1. Data and critical discussion ................................................................................. 26 3.2. Qualitative research ................................................................................................... 29 3.2.1. Validity, reliability and transferability – in search of the truth ............................. 30 3.2.2. Choice of Informants ........................................................................................... 31 3.2.3. Subjective position, interview situation and ethical challenges ............................ 34 3.2.4. Analytical approach to data ................................................................................. 36 3.3. Summary ................................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER 4: Lithuanians in Norwegian media discourse .................................................... 39 4.1. Result: Media‟s representation of Lithuanians in Norway........................................... 40 III 4.2.1. „Majority as a problem‟ discourse ....................................................................... 41 4.2.2. „„Others‟ as a threat or/and problem‟ discourse ................................................ 43 4.2.3. „Resourceful‟ members and „colourful community‟ discourses ........................ 48 4.2.4. Final remarks and summary ............................................................................. 49 CHAPTER 5: Lithuanians‟ perception of media representation............................................. 53 5.1. Shifting image of Lithuanians in Norway ................................................................... 53 5.2. Lithuanians and media representation of Lithuanians in Norway ................................ 56 5.2.1. Attempt to negotiate with media representation ................................................... 59 5.2.2. Rejection of the media‟s representation ............................................................... 64 5.2.3. Why „social others‟ matter in the media‟s image negotiations .............................. 68 5.3. Masterminding the stereotype .................................................................................... 69 5.4. Phantom minority ...................................................................................................... 76 5.4.1. Being similar - is it race or is it culture? .............................................................. 78 5.4.2. Our values are similar to the Norwegians‟ - away from „foreigners‟ discourse ..... 81 5.5. Negotiating authentic „self‟ – functionality in society ................................................. 87 5.6. Summary ................................................................................................................... 92 CHAPTER 6: Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 97 6.1. The question of Lithuanian identity and media ........................................................... 97 6.2. Methodological contemplations and future study suggestions ..................................... 99 LITERATURE LIST: ......................................................................................................... 101 APPENDIX 1: Norwegian Social Science Data Service - NSD. .......................................... 105 APPENDIX 2: Information letter ........................................................................................ 107 APPENDIX 3: Informed consent ........................................................................................ 109 APPENDIX 4: Interview guide ........................................................................................... 111 APPENDIX 5: The profile of the informants ...................................................................... 113 APPENDIX 6: Original media texts used in media content analyses ................................... 115 IV Synopsis Open country borders in EU and EEA have allowed a free flow of labour migrants between Norway and Lithuania, and recently there has been increased labour migration from Lithuania to Norway, as well as increased criminal activity of Lithuanians in Norway. Media‟s attention to such events is unanimous, and Lithuanians in Norway are usually portrayed in the public debates as criminals. This paper examines the Lithuanian minority in Norway and their perception of how media coverage portrays Lithuanian identity, and how they negotiate such understandings in their private and public social lives. The findings indicate a complex identity development, in which strategies of distancing themselves from the media‟s portrayal are actively employed in everyday lives. As a result of the stereotypical perception of Lithuanian identity, Lithuanians disguise their ethnic character with a phantom identity, making Lithuanians a phantom minority. Disguised as a phantom, Lithuanians are employing their cultural and social capital to not differentiate themselves from the perceived Norwegian majority „crowd‟. In this way they avoid encounters with the popularly mediated stereotypes of Lithuanians in Norway. Secondly, to maintain their phantom character the Lithuanian minority engage in popular discourse, which sees a non-western immigrant as a problem. In this way they mark out their identities as counter to those of non-western minorities. V VI Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank the participants of this study, who were gracious enough to permit me their stories and time. I feel humble and privileged for being granted an opportunity to enter your lives. I would also like to pay my gratitude to my supervisor Elisabeth Eide (autumn 2009, spring 2010) for her insightful comments, patience and supportive attitude. She helped make the job of writing this thesis an organized work, rather than a forest of never ending ponderings. I would also like to thank my supervisor Ragnar Waldahl (spring 2009) for helping me to organize my thoughts at the early stages of this project. My thanks also goes to Sharam Alghasi for his practical and theoretical suggestions in the autumn of 2008, and Henry Mainsah for our theoretical conversations. And last but not the least, thanks to Jasminka Markovska, who proof read this study. Special thanks to Nancy Frank, for proof reading the study, teaching me the virtue of consistency, and her many academic writing tips. VII VIII CHAPTER 1: Introduction and background 1.1. Choice of the study area This thesis aims to understand how the Lithuanian immigrants in Norway perceive and relate to the mediated imagery of Lithuanians in Norway. The goal of this study is to see whether the media images of the Lithuanians in Norway are perceived as influential by Lithuanians for their own „self‟ perception in Norwegian society and for their identity as social individuals. The focus of this study balances between media presentations and a study of Lithuanian subjects. The main attention is grounded in the Lithuanian subjects‟ own perception of media, its representation of Lithuanian identity, and the way informants negotiate this knowledge in their own identity formation