ABSTRACT

Australia is highly polarised about its treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, with the available literature indicating that public, political, and media discourse routinely constructs them as culturally incompatible with the broader society. These discourses present refugees and asylum seekers as undesirable ‘others’ and in turn, their deservingness of protection becomes contingent upon arbitrary notions of who gets to belong (and why). Rhetoric about what it means to be Australian pervade these discussions, however little is known about the various linguistic functions these ideas serve. This paper presents the findings arising from Critical Discourse Analysis of interviews with 24 Western Australians. Findings revealed that notions of ‘Australian values’ were regularly called upon to further arguments that both deny and advocate for the nation's acceptance of people seeking asylum. While some constructed ‘Australian values’ as incompatible with asylum seekers’ cultural practices and beliefs, others asserted that open, compassionate, and charitable treatment of people seeking asylum is a key facet of ‘being Australian’. Examined with consideration of the literature on Social Exclusivism and Cosmopolitan Acceptance, I discuss the discursive features of these contrasting ideas, emphasising key implications for both societal and scholarly understandings of Australia’s ongoing asylum debate.

摘要

澳大利亚对待难民和寻求庇护者的态度高度两极分化，现有文献表明，公共、政治和媒体话语经常将他们视为与更广泛社会的文化不相容。这些话语将难民和寻求庇护者描述为不受欢迎的“其他人”，反过来，他们是否值得保护取决于对谁（以及为什么）归属的武断概念。关于身为澳大利亚人意味着什么的言论充斥着这些讨论，但人们对这些想法所服务的各种语言功能知之甚少。本文介绍了对 24 名西澳大利亚人的采访的批判性话语分析的结果。调查结果显示，“澳大利亚价值观”的概念经常被用来进一步论证，既否认又提倡国家接受寻求庇护的人。虽然一些人认为“澳大利亚价值观”与寻求庇护者的文化习俗和信仰不相容，但其他人则断言，对寻求庇护者的开放、富有同情心和慈善待遇是“成为澳大利亚人”的一个关键方面。考虑到社会排他主义和世界主义接受的文献，我讨论了这些对比思想的话语特征，强调了对澳大利亚正在进行的庇护辩论的社会和学术理解的关键影响。其他人则断言，对寻求庇护者的开放、富有同情心和慈善待遇是“成为澳大利亚人”的一个关键方面。考虑到社会排他主义和世界主义接受的文献，我讨论了这些对比思想的话语特征，强调了对澳大利亚正在进行的庇护辩论的社会和学术理解的关键影响。其他人则断言，对寻求庇护者的开放、富有同情心和慈善待遇是“成为澳大利亚人”的一个关键方面。考虑到社会排他主义和世界主义接受的文献，我讨论了这些对比思想的话语特征，强调了对澳大利亚正在进行的庇护辩论的社会和学术理解的关键影响。