Published July 31, 2020 | Version v1
Journal article Open

REPRESENTATION OF ISLAM AND MUSLIMS IN WESTERN FILMS: AN "IMAGINARY" MUSLIM COMMUNITY

Creators

  • 1. Vytautas Magnus University; Kauno kolegija / University of Applied Sciences

Description

This article provides a textual and visual analysis of Hirsi Ali and van Gogh’s controversial short film Submission (2004) and Marc Forster’s The Kite Runner (2007). Emphasis is placed on rhetorical and plot strategies, aimed at reinforcing unproductive Orientalist stereotypes of Islam and Muslims. The aim of this analysis is to find out how Muslims and Islam are presented in Submission and The Kite Runner, based on E. Said's (1978) work “Orientalism” and to identify Theo van Gogh's assassination, influenced public attitudes towards Muslims. The following means are used to reach the aim: to analyze the concept of Orientalism and stereotypes, connections with the media and the influence of popular culture on their expression; to find out the role of the Muslim minority in the process of constructing social reality (stereotypes); to analyze how Muslims and Islam are presented in the films Submission and The Kite Runner.

Summarizing the analysis of the film Submission, it should be noted, that the main character is supposedly portrayed as being oppressed by Islamic culture, who lived in complete isolation, thus reinforcing the negative attitudes and stereotypes in society towards Muslims, especially women. However, the subject of Submission, feminism or the oppression of women was never the main subject of discussion, on the contrary, it was Islamic radicalism, extremism and terrorism. Meanwhile, after analyzing the film The Kite Runner, it should be noted, that the plot reveals stereotypes about Islam and Muslims that exist in both Western and Eastern societies. Oriental characters are portrayed in the film as much lower in morality and values than, for example, Westerners. The film’s episodes emphasize the fanatical consequences of both terrorism and Islamism, and the relationship between the main characters reflects the orientalist culture of Afghanistan.

Files

REPRESENTATION OF ISLAM AND MUSLIMS IN WESTERN FILMS AN “IMAGINARY” MUSLIM COMMUNITY.pdf

Files (425.1 kB)

Additional details

References

  • Said, E. W. (2006). Orientalizmas. Vilnius: Apostrofa.
  • Schweinitz, J. (2011). Film and Stereotype: A Challenge for Cinema and Theory. Columbia University Press, 368.
  • Touzani, M., Hirschman, E. C. (2018). Islam and ideology at the movies: Prototypes, stereotypes, and the political economy. Recherche et Applications En Marketing (English Edition), 34 (2), 5–23. doi: http://doi.org/10.1177/2051570718801719
  • Ramasubramanian, S. (2007). Media-based Strategies to Reduce Racial Stereotypes Activated by News Stories. Journalism Mass Communication Quarterly, 84 (2), 249–264. doi: http://doi.org/10.1177/107769900708400204
  • Arendt, F. (2013). Dose-Dependent Media Priming Effects of Stereotypic Newspaper Articles on Implicit and Explicit Stereotypes. Journal of Communication, 63 (5), 830–851. doi: http://doi.org/10.1111/jcom.12056
  • Blizek, W. L. (2007). The Kite Runner. Journal of Religion & Film, 11 (2).
  • Nelson, S. S. (2008). "Kite Runner' Star's Family Feels Exploited By Studio". All Things Considered. National Public Radio.
  • Eyerman, R. (2008). The Assassination of Theo van Gogh: From Social Drama to Cultural Trauma. Durham and London: Duke University Press. doi: http://doi.org/10.1215/9780822391449
  • Van der Veer, P. (2006). Pim Fortuyn, Theo van Gogh, and the Politics of Tolerance in the Netherlands. Public Culture, 18 (1), 111–124.
  • Hay, D. (1968). Europe: the Emergence of an Idea. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University press, 151.
  • Prakash, G. (1995). Orientalism Now. History and Theory, 34 (3), 199–212. doi: http://doi.org/10.2307/2505621
  • Samiei, M. (2010). Neo-Orientalism? The relationship between the West and Islam in our globalised world. Third World Quarterly, 31 (7), 1145–1160. doi: http://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2010.518749
  • Samiei, M. (2009). Neo-Orientalism? A critical Appraisal of Changing Western Perspectives: Bernard Lewis, John Esposito and Gilles Kepel. University of Westminster, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Languages, 271.
  • Hilton, J. L., von Hippel, W. (1996). Stereotypes. Annual Review of Psychology, 47 (1), 237–271. doi: http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.47.1.237
  • Dovidio, J. F., Hewstone, M., Glick, P., Esses, V. (2010). Prejudice, Stereotyping and Discrimination. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. doi: http://doi.org/10.4135/9781446200919
  • Liebert, R.M., Sprafkin, J. (1988). The Early Window: Effects of Television on Children and Youth. New York: Pergamon, 312.
  • Perse, E. M. (2008). Media Effects and Society. New York: Routledge.
  • Barthes, R. ( 1972). Mythologies. New York: Hill and Wang, 160.
  • Mastro, D., Bryant, J., Oliver, M. B. (2009). Effects of Racial and Ethnic Stereotyping. Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research. Hillsdale: Erlbaum, 325–341. doi: http://doi.org/10.4324/9780203877111-22
  • Shaheen, J. G. (2003). Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 588 (1), 171–193. doi: http://doi.org/10.1177/0002716203588001011
  • Dixon, T. L. (2000). A Social Cognitive Approach to Studying Racial Stereotyping in the Mass Media. African American Research Perspectives, 6 (1), 60–68.
  • Strack, F., Deutsch, R. (2004). Reflective and Impulsive Determinants of Social Behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8 (3), 220–247. doi: http://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0803_1
  • Verkuyten, M., Slooter, L. (2008). Muslim and Non-Muslim Adolescents' Reasoning About Freedom of Speech and Minority Rights. Child Development, 79 (3), 514–528. doi: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01140.x
  • Mutz, D. C., Goldman, S. K. (2010). Mass Media. The SAGE Handbook of Prejudice, Stereotyping and Discrimination, 241–258. doi: http://doi.org/10.4135/9781446200919.n15
  • Gorham, B. W. (1999). Stereotypes in the Media: So What? Howard Journal of Communications, 10 (4), 229–247. doi: http://doi.org/10.1080/106461799246735
  • Lang, K. Lang, G. E. (1968). Politics and Television. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 315.
  • Yinger, J. M., Simpson, G. E. (1985). Racial and Cultural Minorities: An Analysis of Prejudice and Discrimination. New York: Plenum Press, 491. doi: http://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0551-2
  • Tajfel, H., Wilkes, A. L. (1963). Classification and quantitative judgement. British Journal of Psychology, 54 (2), 101–114. doi: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8295.1963.tb00865.x
  • Turner, J. C.; Giles, H. (1981). The Experimental Social Psychology of Intergroup Behavior. Intergroup Behavior. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 66–101.
  • Tajfel, H., Turner, J. C., Worchel, S., Austin, W. G. (1986). The Social Identity Theory of Intergroup Behaviour. Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Chicago: Nelson, 7–24.
  • Hamilton, D. L., (1981). Cognitive Processes in Stereotyping and Intergroup Behavior. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 380. doi: http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315668758
  • Stephan, W. G., Stephan, C. W. (1985). Intergroup Anxiety. Journal of Social Issues, 41 (3), 157–175. doi: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1985.tb01134.x
  • Brown, L. M., Bradley, M. M., Lang, P. J. (2006). Affective reactions to pictures of ingroup and outgroup members. Biological Psychology, 71 (3), 303–311. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2005.06.003
  • Burchardt, T., Le Grand, J., Piachaud, D. (1999). Social Exclusion in Britain 1991-1995. Social Policy & Administration, 33 (3), 227–244. doi: http://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9515.00148
  • Yasmeen, S. (2008). Understanding Muslim Identities: from Perceived Relative Exclusion to Inclusion. Canberra: Dept. of Immigration and Citizenship, Report, 83.
  • Magid, M., Khan, H. (2011). Muslim-Majority and Muslim-Minority Communities in a Global Context. Saban Center at Brookings.The Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, U.S.-Islamic World Forum Papers, 14.
  • Bech, E. (2013). Belonging Here: Inclusion Perceptions and Civic Integration Among Young Minority Adults in Denmark and Sweden. Paper for Presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Danish Political Science Association Vejle, 47.
  • Giddens, A. (2005). Sociologija. Kaunas: Poligrafija ir informatika.
  • Said, E. W. (1981). Covering Islam: how the Media and the Experts Determine how we See the Rest of the World. New York: Pantheon Books, 192.
  • Muneer, I. A. (2004). A Rage Shared by Law: Post-September 11 Racial Violence as Crimes of Passion. California Law Review, 92 (5), 1259–1330. doi: http://doi.org/10.2307/3481418
  • Saloom, R. (2006). You Dropped a Bomb on Me, Denmark – a Legal Examination of the Cartoon Controversy and Response as it Relates to the Prophet Muhammad and Islamic Law. Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion, 8 (1), 1–26.
  • Lowery, S. A., De Fleur, M. L. (1988). Milestones in Mass Communication Research. New York and London: Longman, 448.
  • Gee, J. P. (2005). An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: Theory and Method. New York: Routledge, 176.
  • Bryman, A. (2008). Social Research Methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Diener, E., Crandall, R. (1978). Ethics in Social and Behavioral Research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 266.
  • Hunt, S. (2009). Can the West Read? Western Readers, Orientalist Stereotypes, and the Sensational Response to The Kite Runner. ECLS Student Scholarship, 17.
  • Mohanty, C. T., Lewis, R., Mills, S. (2003). Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourse. Feminist Postcolonial Theory. New York: Routledge, 49–74.
  • Morin, A. (2009). Victimization of Muslim Women inSubmission. Women's Studies in Communication, 32 (3), 380–408. doi: http://doi.org/10.1080/07491409.2009.10162395
  • Ali, A. H. (2006). Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam. New York: Free Press, 208.
  • Higgins, A. (2004). Rude Awakening: A Brutal Killing Opens Dutch Eyes to Threat of Terror. Wall Street Journal.
  • Buruma, I. (2006). Murder in Amsterdam: The death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance. New York: The Penguin Press, 288.
  • Ahmed, L. (1992). Women and Gendering in Islam. New Haven: Yale University Press, 296.
  • Jong, P. (2004). Dutch Fear Loss of Tolerance. BBC News.
  • Vellenga, S. (2008). The Dutch and British Public Debate on Islam: Responses to the Killing of Theo van Gogh and the London Bombings Compared. Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations, 19 (4), 449–471. doi: http://doi.org/10.1080/09596410802337636
  • Punch, M., Cramphorn, C. (2007). The Murder of Theo van Gogh and the Islamic Jihad Division ('Divisie Islamitische Jihad') in the Netherlands. Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 2 (1), 34–53. doi: http://doi.org/10.1080/18335300.2007.9686886
  • Boomgaarden, H. G., de Vreese, C. H. (2007). Dramatic Real-world Events and Public Opinion Dynamics: Media Coverage and its Impact on Public Reactions to an Assassination. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 19 (3), 354–366. doi: http://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/edm012
  • Finseraas, H., Jakobsson, N., Kotsadam, A. (2011). Did the Murder of Theo van Gogh Change Europeans' Immigration Policy Preferences? KYKLOS, 64 (3), 396–409.
  • Jusová, I. (2008). Hirsi Ali and van Gogh's Submission: Reinforcing the Islam vs. Women Binary. Women's Studies International Forum, 31 (2), 148–155. doi: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2008.03.007