Mídias e migrações: a representação de si e a representação midiática da identidade senegalesa em diáspora

Abstract

This dissertation is an investigation into the self-representation of Senegalese diasporic identity through the social uses of the internet by migrating subjects in contemporary Brazil. It aims to comprehend the new migration flows into Brazil and the media representations thereof by means of a theoretical and methodological framework that draws on notions of the social uses of media (viz. the internet) as well as on conceptualisations on identity/difference, representation, and migration (within the theoretical framework of British and Latin American cultural studies). This study uses methodological tools that allow for direct contact with migrating subjects by combining in-person interviews with the observation of their profiles on a social network (namely Facebook, as this was the most used platform identified during the exploratory stage of this research) and focuses on the self-representation of Senegalese diasporic identities. Based on two such aspects of observation in terms of the representation of Senegalese diasporic identity, what follows is a reflection on the appropriation of media space by migrants as well as on the creation of new ones. The main uses that subjects make of the internet via social networks are thus: educational, such as for learning Portuguese and studying the legislation by means of apps or for sharing information about the African continent; supportive, overcoming physical barriers and reaching migrants’ networks all over the country that converge online through social networks; and mediatic, inasmuch as it fills the gaps left by traditional media in reference to their products about Senegalese migration. The latter of which is evidence of the creation of networks that will frequently transcend the disclosure of information by traditional media, ultimately generating a constant use of the internet to share diverse information, therefore complementing the web diaspora of Senegalese living in Brazil.