The Construction a Migrant Hero Representations of Immigration in The Terminal
Abstract
Hamza, D. (2026). The Construction a Migrant Hero: Representations of Immigration in The Terminal. Article, 1(2), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19655248
The Terminal (2004), a story of a transformation of a legal traveler into an illegal migrant and a painful process of a migrant from rejection to acceptance, narrates Viktor Navorski’s extraordinary journey and sheds light on experiences of millions of immigrants. Navorski, who had come to the United States for a trip, is forced to stay at the airport terminal for a long time due to political developments in his home country. In the study, the obstacles Navorski faces during his forced stay at the airport and his efforts to overcome them will be examined from the perspective of migration studies. The discriminating questions, bureaucracy, the language barrier and his state of “being in between” are the challenges Navorski tries to handle throughout the narration. In order to survive the unexpected migrant life, he manages to form a community and adapts into airport society while he gradually develops a sense of belonging. Navorski shares the fate of countless immigrants who have migrated but are unwelcome in their new country or unable to integrate into it, yet cannot return home. He feels anxiety and fear and, experiences a kind of trauma of rejection against the legitimized prejudices, stereotypes, beliefs and xenophobic approaches. This film serves as a fruitful platform for examining the migration conditions of the post 9/11 period of the US while offering a compelling narrative that interrogates and criticizes the political discourses of the era. Claiming that the film reverses the negative perceptions of immigrants, the study examines the particular barriers immigrants are subjected to and the strategies they develop to overcome them, focusing on Navorski’s case in particular.
Keywords: The Terminal, language barrier, in betweenness, immigration, bureaucracy, sense of belonging
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
The copyrights of the paper published by the Academic at Risk (AAR) Journal of Human Rights and Refugee Studies must be transferred to the journal.
Please fill out and sign this form after reading the Copyright Transfer Statement and upload it with your article via the article submission system.
Copyright Transfer Statement
The copyright of this paper is transferred to Academic at Risk (AAR) Journal of Human Rights and Refugee Studies if the paper is accepted for publication. The corresponding author, whose personal information and undersigned is below, transfers all copyrights of the paper to the Academic at Risk (AAR) Journal of Human Rights and Refugee Studies. The corresponding author declares and undertakes that the paper is original and that she/he is the author or one of the authors of the article. The corresponding author accepts and undertakes to provide permission notices from other copyright holders and materials whose original source is clearly stated when necessary. In addition, the corresponding author accepts and declares that she/he has the authority to perform and execute this task.
The corresponding author declares that:
1. This paper is/was not published in another journal, book, proceedings book, etc.,
2. Before the acceptance or rejection decision is done by the AAR Journal of Human Rights and Refugee Studies, it will not be submitted elsewhere,
3. Copyright permission is obtained for materials that require permission to be published, reproduced and published elsewhere.
By this way, authors transfer all and unlimited publication rights of the aforementioned paper to the Academic at Risk (AAR) Journal of Human Rights and Refugee Studies. The copyright transfer covers the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute the article, including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature.
The corresponding author signs and accepts responsibility for releasing this article on behalf of all co-authors (if exist). After submission of this form signed by the corresponding author, changes of authorship or in the order of the authors listed will not be accepted.
Best regards,
