{"id":{"repo_id":"arizona-thes","oai_identifier":"oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/664322"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/arizona-thes/oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/664322","repository":{"repo_id":"arizona-thes","name":"University of Arizona","base_url":"https://repository.arizona.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The Performance of Refugeehood on Social Media in an Era of Superdiversity: A Digital Ethnographic Study of Arab Refugee Identities and Literacies on YouTube","abstract":"The internet has increased the visibility of cultures and subcultures that would otherwise remain invisible (Varis & Wang, 2011). This study explores the post-migration identities and literacy practices of one such subculture, namely Arab refugees resettled in Europe, by taking a close look at their social media presence and activism in a superdiverse setting. Using digital ethnography as a methodology, and drawing upon various theoretical perspectives, including notions from Mikhail Bakhtin, Erving Goffman, and Pierre Bourdieu, the study analyzes YouTube videos by two refugee YouTubers from Syria, who have been resettled in Germany and Sweden. By investigating their use of language and other semiotic resources on the social media platform, the aim is to gain insight into their identity performance (Jonsson & Muhonen, 2014) and how they reflect superdiverse conditions. The study builds on a growing body of research exploring superdiversity in digital contexts (e.g., Androutsopoulos & Juffermans, 2014; Stæhr, 2015; Varis, 2017; Varis & Blommaert, 2015). However, two aspects remain largely unaddressed in the literature: the resettlement experiences of Arab refugees as creators of digital content and an explicit examination of power and social justice issues, two gaps this study attempts to fill.","abstract_html":"The internet has increased the visibility of cultures and subcultures that would otherwise remain invisible (Varis & Wang, 2011). This study explores the post-migration identities and literacy practices of one such subculture, namely Arab refugees resettled in Europe, by taking a close look at their social media presence and activism in a superdiverse setting. Using digital ethnography as a methodology, and drawing upon various theoretical perspectives, including notions from Mikhail Bakhtin, Erving Goffman, and Pierre Bourdieu, the study analyzes YouTube videos by two refugee YouTubers from Syria, who have been resettled in Germany and Sweden. By investigating their use of language and other semiotic resources on the social media platform, the aim is to gain insight into their identity performance (Jonsson & Muhonen, 2014) and how they reflect superdiverse conditions. The study builds on a growing body of research exploring superdiversity in digital contexts (e.g., Androutsopoulos & Juffermans, 2014; Stæhr, 2015; Varis, 2017; Varis & Blommaert, 2015). However, two aspects remain largely unaddressed in the literature: the resettlement experiences of Arab refugees as creators of digital content and an explicit examination of power and social justice issues, two gaps this study attempts to fill.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Elsayed, Ahmad"],"institution":"The University of Arizona.","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":"Graduate College","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Gilmore, Perry"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Combs, Mary Carol","Tardy, Christine"],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022","date_published":"2022","updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:56:34Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author."],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10150/664322","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Gilmore, Perry"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Combs, Mary Carol","Tardy, Christine"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Elsayed, Ahmad"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2022-05-19T19:00:21Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-05-19T19:00:21Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2022"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["The University of Arizona."]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Electronic Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Graduate College","Second Language Acquisition and Teaching"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Arizona"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10150/664322"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The internet has increased the visibility of cultures and subcultures that would otherwise remain invisible (Varis & Wang, 2011). This study explores the post-migration identities and literacy practices of one such subculture, namely Arab refugees resettled in Europe, by taking a close look at their social media presence and activism in a superdiverse setting. Using digital ethnography as a methodology, and drawing upon various theoretical perspectives, including notions from Mikhail Bakhtin, Erving Goffman, and Pierre Bourdieu, the study analyzes YouTube videos by two refugee YouTubers from Syria, who have been resettled in Germany and Sweden. By investigating their use of language and other semiotic resources on the social media platform, the aim is to gain insight into their identity performance (Jonsson & Muhonen, 2014) and how they reflect superdiverse conditions. The study builds on a growing body of research exploring superdiversity in digital contexts (e.g., Androutsopoulos & Juffermans, 2014; Stæhr, 2015; Varis, 2017; Varis & Blommaert, 2015). However, two aspects remain largely unaddressed in the literature: the resettlement experiences of Arab refugees as creators of digital content and an explicit examination of power and social justice issues, two gaps this study attempts to fill."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Performance of Refugeehood on Social Media in an Era of Superdiversity: A Digital Ethnographic Study of Arab Refugee Identities and Literacies on YouTube"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Gilmore, Perry"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Combs, Mary Carol","Tardy, Christine"],"dc:creator":["Elsayed, Ahmad"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2022-05-19T19:00:21Z"],"dc:date.available":["2022-05-19T19:00:21Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2022"],"dc:description.abstract":["The internet has increased the visibility of cultures and subcultures that would otherwise remain invisible (Varis & Wang, 2011). This study explores the post-migration identities and literacy practices of one such subculture, namely Arab refugees resettled in Europe, by taking a close look at their social media presence and activism in a superdiverse setting. Using digital ethnography as a methodology, and drawing upon various theoretical perspectives, including notions from Mikhail Bakhtin, Erving Goffman, and Pierre Bourdieu, the study analyzes YouTube videos by two refugee YouTubers from Syria, who have been resettled in Germany and Sweden. By investigating their use of language and other semiotic resources on the social media platform, the aim is to gain insight into their identity performance (Jonsson & Muhonen, 2014) and how they reflect superdiverse conditions. The study builds on a growing body of research exploring superdiversity in digital contexts (e.g., Androutsopoulos & Juffermans, 2014; Stæhr, 2015; Varis, 2017; Varis & Blommaert, 2015). However, two aspects remain largely unaddressed in the literature: the resettlement experiences of Arab refugees as creators of digital content and an explicit examination of power and social justice issues, two gaps this study attempts to fill."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10150/664322"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:publisher":["The University of Arizona."],"dc:rights":["Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:title":["The Performance of Refugeehood on Social Media in an Era of Superdiversity: A Digital Ethnographic Study of Arab Refugee Identities and Literacies on YouTube"],"dc:type":["text","Electronic Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Graduate College","Second Language Acquisition and Teaching"],"thesis:degree_level":["doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Arizona"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T00:56:34Z"}