The article focuses on media images and artistic discourses on refugees and migration. In both discourses, by the arts and media, stereotypical identities are constructed and reproduced, but are also at times modified or rejected. Theoretically, the article relates to the concept of media-constructed spaces of identity developed with reference to cultural studies. Analytically, three types of such places have been distinguished: geopolitical spaces, spaces of identification and spaces of in-between. We argue that the concept can be fruitfully extended to artistic representations. Following this, the article presents the results of an exemplary analysis of Austrian press photographs accompanying reports on flight and refugees in 2015. While geopolitical spaces and spaces of identification are clearly marked in the media images, spaces of in-between are rare. However, these abound in artistic productions on the subject. Finally, the article discusses media and contemporary art as distinct spaces of identity construction and formation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.