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The (mis)representation of Roma women in Romanian media - A multimodal critical discourse analysis

Bács, Timea LU (2025) UTVK03 20251
Sociology
Abstract
This thesis investigates the representation of Roma women in Romanian media through a multimodal critical discourse analysis of newspaper articles, televised news segments, and public discussion board comments in relation to an infamous 2023 case, where a deaf-mute Roma woman gave birth in the courtyard of a hospital after being refused a bed by the medical staff. Drawing on theories of Orientalism, media representation, and the recontextualization of social practices, the paper examines the construction of Roma women as ‘others’ against the backdrop of powerful discourses of antigypsyism. The analysis finds that while articles and reports may not be explicitly racist, they reproduce racist stereotypes through narratives and visual clues... (More)
This thesis investigates the representation of Roma women in Romanian media through a multimodal critical discourse analysis of newspaper articles, televised news segments, and public discussion board comments in relation to an infamous 2023 case, where a deaf-mute Roma woman gave birth in the courtyard of a hospital after being refused a bed by the medical staff. Drawing on theories of Orientalism, media representation, and the recontextualization of social practices, the paper examines the construction of Roma women as ‘others’ against the backdrop of powerful discourses of antigypsyism. The analysis finds that while articles and reports may not be explicitly racist, they reproduce racist stereotypes through narratives and visual clues that readers interpret in the context of pre-existing discourses of anti-Roma hate. By obscuring the woman’s ethnicity and disability, the news recontextualize the discriminatory treatment into a general medical system issue resulting from the low capacity of hospitals, while commenters ignore structural problems of healthcare in favor of racialized explanations, essentializing the woman’s actions as ethnic traits in order to justify the events. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Bács, Timea LU
supervisor
organization
course
UTVK03 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Roma women, Romania, media representation, racialized other, orientalism, multimodal critical discourse analysis
language
English
id
9194373
date added to LUP
2025-06-18 10:46:46
date last changed
2025-06-18 10:46:46
@misc{9194373,
  abstract     = {{This thesis investigates the representation of Roma women in Romanian media through a multimodal critical discourse analysis of newspaper articles, televised news segments, and public discussion board comments in relation to an infamous 2023 case, where a deaf-mute Roma woman gave birth in the courtyard of a hospital after being refused a bed by the medical staff. Drawing on theories of Orientalism, media representation, and the recontextualization of social practices, the paper examines the construction of Roma women as ‘others’ against the backdrop of powerful discourses of antigypsyism. The analysis finds that while articles and reports may not be explicitly racist, they reproduce racist stereotypes through narratives and visual clues that readers interpret in the context of pre-existing discourses of anti-Roma hate. By obscuring the woman’s ethnicity and disability, the news recontextualize the discriminatory treatment into a general medical system issue resulting from the low capacity of hospitals, while commenters ignore structural problems of healthcare in favor of racialized explanations, essentializing the woman’s actions as ethnic traits in order to justify the events.}},
  author       = {{Bács, Timea}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The (mis)representation of Roma women in Romanian media - A multimodal critical discourse analysis}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}