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Email this article Constructing (Un)Welcome and (Il)Legal: Affective Mechanisms of B/ordering and Othering in Graphic Novels about Migration
Abstract
This research studies the representation of migrants in graphic novels through the interdisciplinary lens of affect theory and bordertexture methodology. Considering the controversy surrounding border policies and the current anti-migrant populist sentiment, it is crucial to explore the emotional affects induced by visual and textual representations of welcome and unwelcome border-crossers. This paper questions binary opposition legal/illegal and welcome/unwelcome and examines how the graphic novels Illegal, The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees, Home, The Power of Welcome deconstruct or reinforce these binaries and selectivity and multivalence of the border. The paper argues that this framing, rooted in a colonial legacy of 'othering,' reinforces a hierarchical worldview where borders function as both physical barriers and cultural constructs within complex bordertextures.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17951/lsmll.2026.50.2.12-30
Date of publication: 2026-07-10 10:35:54
Date of submission: 2025-11-27 15:44:38
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