Narrating the Syrian refuge crisis: single story of Aylan Kurdi in divergent media narratives

Abstract

This study examines how English- and Arabic-language news outlets constructed narratives around the death of Aylan Kurdi during the Syrian refugee crisis. Using a qualitative case study design, four articles from the BBC, The Guardian, Al Jazeera and Al Hadath were analyzed through narrative theory, focusing on features such as temporality, causal emplotment and selective appropriation. Findings reveal distinct narrative priorities: English-language outlets emphasize policy critique and institutional responsibility, while Arabic-language outlets foreground justice and moral accountability. Visual elements, serving as moral and emotional anchors, consistently reinforce these strategies across both language groups. The analysis demonstrates that media narratives actively shape meaning rather than passively report events, reflecting the influence of linguistic, cultural and editorial factors on public perception. This study contributes to scholarship on media translation and humanitarian communication by offering a framework for analyzing how narrativity features operate across languages and media contexts, highlighting the interplay of text, image and moral framing in global news coverage.