PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

Building on insights from Migration Studies and International Relations, we investigate constructions of Ukrainians who arrived in Germany due to conflict-induced displacement during the first year of the Russian-Ukraine war. To do so, we analysed reporting on Ukrainian women in two German major weekly news outlets (Der Spiegel and Die Zeit). Here we take a unique approach - drawing on key points of, and illustrative quotes from, that analysis, and reading them alongside the fictional film Mary Poppins. Doing so helps us understand German discourse around displaced Ukrainians. Specifically, our unique reading of refugeehood and deservingness helps us demonstrate how familiar, yet fictional, stories can be deployed to critically interrogate and better understand real-world extraordinary political responses towards refugees. Overall, we suggest that by analysing representations of Ukrainians through this fictional lens, we contribute to denaturalising 'common knowledge' about displaced people often taken for granted in public discourse and public policy.