Leudar et al.: Hostility towards refugees 187 ARTICLE Discourse & Society Copyright © 2008 SAGE Publications (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore) www.sagepublications.com Vol 19(2): 187–221 10.1177/0957926507085952 Hostility themes in media, community and refugee narratives IVAN LEUDAR AND JACQUELINE HAYES UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER , UK JIR ˇ ÍNEKVAPIL CHARLES UNIVERSITY , CZECH REPUBLIC JOHANNA TURNER BAKER UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER , UK ABSTRACT In฀this฀article,฀we฀use฀the฀concept฀of฀‘dialogical฀network’฀ systematically฀to฀analyse฀hostilities฀towards฀refugees฀and฀asylum฀seekers฀in฀ the฀UK฀and฀their฀effects฀on฀refugees’฀and฀asylum฀seekers’฀biographical฀self- presentations฀and฀psychological฀adjustment.฀We฀find฀that฀hostility฀towards฀ refugees฀took฀different฀forms฀which฀were฀in฀part฀contingent฀on฀contemporary฀ social฀and฀political฀activities.฀We฀also฀found฀that฀all฀our฀refugee฀and฀asylum- seeker฀informants฀constructed฀their฀identities฀around฀hostilities฀expressed฀ towards฀them฀in฀the฀media฀and฀by฀the฀local฀inhabitants.฀In฀particular,฀their฀ identities฀were฀constructed฀in฀terms฀of ฀biographical฀contrasts฀that฀made฀ the฀grounds฀of ฀contemporary฀hostile฀rejections฀false฀and฀irrelevant฀to฀ themselves.฀Most฀refugee/asylum-seeker฀informants฀in฀our฀study฀experienced฀ psychological฀problems฀and฀attributed฀these฀to฀enforced฀idleness. KEY WORDS : ฀asylum฀seekers,฀dialogical฀networks,฀hostility,฀psychological฀problems,฀ refugees Introduction In฀this฀article,฀we฀examine฀biographic฀narratives฀which,฀if ฀taken฀at฀face฀value,฀ qualify฀their฀tellers฀as฀refugees.฀From฀a฀legal฀point฀of ฀view฀in฀the฀UK,฀however,฀ a฀person฀does฀not฀decide฀that฀she฀is฀a฀refugee฀–฀she฀starts฀as฀an฀asylum฀seeker฀ and฀only฀if ฀her฀application฀for฀asylum฀is฀accepted฀does฀she฀become฀a฀refugee฀–฀ the฀status฀of ฀refugee฀is฀in฀this฀sense฀‘other฀conferred’.฀If ฀the฀application฀fails,฀ she฀becomes฀a฀failed฀asylum฀seeker฀(and฀in฀some฀quarters฀even฀a฀‘bogus’฀one).฀ The฀same฀person,฀however,฀can฀be฀a฀refugee฀or฀an฀asylum฀seeker,฀depending฀ on฀one’s฀perspective฀and฀indeed฀can฀be฀both฀–฀some฀of ฀our฀informants฀referred฀ to฀themselves฀as฀‘refugees’฀and฀as฀‘asylum฀seekers’,฀acknowledging฀both฀legal฀ and฀personal฀perspectives.฀For฀some,฀a฀person฀can฀in฀fact฀be฀both฀a฀refugee฀and฀ a฀failed฀asylum฀seeker฀since฀their฀application฀can฀be฀rejected฀not฀because฀their฀ case฀lacked฀merit,฀but฀due฀to฀administrative฀hurdles฀such฀as฀having฀to฀lodge฀an฀ 187-221฀DAS-085952.indd฀฀฀187 12/21/2007฀฀฀11:36:35฀AM