| dc.description.abstract | This research study is a semiotic and hermeneutic analysis of the tweets published on Twitter about the migratory caravan that occurred in 2018 under the hashtags #viacrucismigrante, #caravanamigrante #caravanscoming, and #migrantcaravan, in Spanish and English from March 25th to April 28th, 2018. The texts of the tweets studied included the caravan's symbols, mythologies, representations, and messages favoring or opposing the migrant caravan. This study’s findings underscore mythological imaginaries about migrant caravans, migration, borders, and nations, elements sometimes linked to ideas of the past and the future. Also, the 2018 migrant caravan incorporated characteristics of a social movement as a strategy to confront the limitations of migration in the region. The migrant caravan used the narrative of the way of the cross to reinforce group identity, and this narrative was contested with the imaginary of an invasion. In the analysis, five themes were identified: a) caravan journey; b) forced to leave; c) religious; d) demands; e) threats. The messages about or against the caravan include imaginaries about the past and the future. Past times are viewed as a romanticized era presented as a paradigm of the future, a time living in the collective memory and needing to be rescued for the greatness of a nation. The future is represented as hope and tied to religious penitence and travel through which redemption will be achieved in the form of a new life. These two myths are expressed in connotations, narratives, religious metaphors, and intertextualities in the texts published on Twitter regarding the 2018 way of the cross migrant caravan during the timeframe studied. Aspects of solidarity were more frequent in the Spanish tweets than in English ones, where the threat theme was more frequent. The context of the caravan was characterized by polarized debate about migration during Donald Trump’s administration as president of the United States. | en_US |
