Orientalism and the Redesigning of the Other’s Cultural Identity in the Age of Mass Media
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Date
2021
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UNIVERSITY OF ABBES LAGHROUR-KHENCHELA
Abstract
Abstract
Relations between the West and the East have long been interpreted and analyzed within the theoretical framework provided by Edward Said in his book Orientalism , since its first release in 1978 , Orientalism has become an important analytical tool to analyze media representations of Non Western “Other”, this study explores the representation of the East and the redesigning of their cultural identities through the Western mass media , especially the films by taking Orientalism as its theoretical starting point, and how stereotyping became a justification for the Western colonization of the Eastern countries where there is the west as superior, developed, civilized, and in the opposite the East as inferior, undeveloped, uncivilized, exotic, mysterious primitive , and dangerous. The study also shows how the western movies directly and indirectly play the central role in spreading the negative images of Arabs, Muslims and the Middle East in general through the racial stereotypes, Islamophobia and to probe into the way the Americans view the Arabs and Muslims and how these films depict Muslims and Arabs negatively while addressing issues pertained the war and terror especially after the 9/11 attacks.