Integrating the theoretical framework of Critical Metaphor Analysis (Charteris-Black 2004, 2011, 2014; Musolff 2004, 2011, 2016) with research on multimodality from a cognitive viewpoint (Bounegru & Forceville 2011; Forceville 2007, 2009; Forceville & Urios-Aparisi 2009; Pinar Sanz 2015), we explore how the topic of the EU migrant crisis is communicated by means of the fortress europe metaphor in the pictorial and multimodal discourse of political cartoons. The data for the analysis consists of political cartoons gathered from various media available online during 2017, which all portray the EU as a fortress with cemented borders – a secluded space, closely guarded and surrounded by walls and fences. Following the methodology suggested by Bounegru and Forceville (2011), we try to show how the multimodally and a metaphorically constructed image of the EU as a fortress appears to be instrumental in conveying a negative axiological value and “the qualities of systematic Othering” (KhosraviNik 2014: 505), thus helping perceive “Others” as a threatening force against which the EU should be fended off. eng 2021 Keywords: Critical Metaphor Analysis, multimodality, political cartoons, migrant crisis, fortress Europe Silaški, Nadežda Đurović, Tatjana info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceProceedings FORTRESS EUROPE UNDER SIEGE: THE REPRESENTATION OF THE EUROPEAN MIGRANT CRISIS IN POLITICAL CARTOONS https://phaidrabg.bg.ac.rs/o:33583 ISBN: 978-86-6065-640-9 Where our languages and cultures meet and mix [Elektronski izvor] : a view from Serbia : selected papers from the research project Languages and Cultures in Time and Space (2011-2019) : electronic edition str. 571-584 application/pdf 839706 bytes Novi Sad : Faculty of Philosophy http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode