Mediated Love: Attachment in Media Debates on Transnational Marriages

The project examines media representations of attachment relative to marriage-based family reunifications from 2000 to 2015. The aim is to investigate the specific forms in which media discourses on attachment fold subjects into relations of love and belonging. The empirical material will consist of personalized stories about individuals who have been denied family reunification on the grounds of the attachment requirement, allowing for an investigation into the kinds of love relations that are represented as unjustly hindered by the attachment requirement. In order to uphold analytical sensitivity to differences across media, cases from different media platforms (newspaper, television, online), scopes (national, local), and genres (news, features, media events) will be chosen.

The project is part of the collective reseach project LOVA