Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Pakistani Women as Objects of “Fear” and “Othering”:

Pakistani Women as Objects of “Fear” and “Othering”: The study uses Said’s concept of Orientalism and van Dijks concept of socio-cognitive processes to analyze the framing of Pakistani Muslim women in the newsmagazine Time from 1998-2002. A critical discourse analysis of the selected articles of the magazine follows Fairclough’s and van Dijk’s guidelines. It uncovers how in a particular socio-political context, stereotyped images of Pakistani Muslim women were framed to project “superior American” ideals of “tolerance” and “democracy,” as against the “intolerant,” “undemocratic” values of Muslim as “others.” It also argues how in the process of “othering” Pakistan and particularly its youth are framed as intolerant, and source of fear. Keywords critical discourse analysis, Orientalism, Muslim women, othering, Pakistan, neo-Orientalism Muslims living in Australia, through instances of racism and Introduction negative stereotyping. She argues that dailies of Australia are After 9/11, and to some extent even before 9/11, though less responsible in fanning the religious racism which is faced by saliently, the discourses on terrorism, in the war against ter- Australian Muslims on daily basis. In the symbolic represen- ror, have been of a global battle between “Us” and “them,” as tation of Muslim women and veil, Australian media is con- “Us” the West and the “other” as Muslims. The “other” have sidered to represent the ideological interests of Western become the objects of fear, concern, and suspicion. The nations (Byng, 2010). Western values of “democracy” and “freedom” are framed as American news media is also held responsible for often superior ones as compared with the “others” religious values. oversimplifying and decontextualizing foreign affairs issues This has promoted a collective identity of “Us” as the vic- to the American public ignoring native symbolism (Fahmy, tims and “them” as the objects of fear and suspicion (Aly, 2004). The U.S. press has shown an obsession with the veil 2005). Though, overtly the politicians assert that the “war on of Muslim women. Their roles are narrowly constructed and terror” is not against Islam and Muslim, by inference projected in the print media of the United States (Falah, Muslims are identified as objects of threat. Islam is consid- 2005). Roushanzamir (2004) argues that the American press’ ered as a real challenge to the alleged Judeo-Christian heri- prevailing mode of referring to Iranian women has been tage of Europe. Islamophobia is considered to be just not reduced to the symbol of “chador,” evoking violence and simple hostility against Islam but as a possible threat to repressed sexuality, reactionary social practices, and reli- European-Western values as against Islamic values which gious fanaticism. This image proves to be an effective might come as a consequence to multicultural contacts method of capturing the attention of American readers. The (Marranci, 2004). popular American mainstream media also predominantly In recent years, marred by racism and ethnocentrism, the associates the veil of Muslim women with oppression attitudes toward Muslims and especially toward Muslim (Bullock, 2000; Fazaeli, 2007). The Orientalist representa- women have become harsher in the media. The image of tion of Muslim women in veil and “burqa” enhances their Muslim women as submissive, oppressed, and backward is construction of identities as oppressed and backward (Mehdi, constructed and reinforced by the Western mass media 1994; Zine, 2006), who is in need of the West to liberate and (Darvishpour, 2003; Macdonald, 2003; Siddiqui, 1997). The rescue her (Mishra, 2007). media is also considered to be the most frequently cited “place” of racism and abuse of Arab and Muslim Australians (Poynting & Noble, 2004). There has been a gradual shift University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan from anti-Asian and anti-Arab to anti-Muslim feeling after Corresponding Author: 9/11 in Britain and Australia (Poynting & Mason, 2007). Bushra H. Rahman, Assistant Professor, Institute of Communication Imtoual (2005) argues that Australian print media has created Studies, University of the Punjab, 194 Shadman 2, Lahore 54000, Pakistan. an atmosphere of hostility and negativity toward Islam and Email: bushrajk@gmail.com This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License Creative Commons CC BY: (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm). 2 SAGE Open Likewise, in the case of Afghan women, the need to pro- Theoretical Frameworks tect the Afghan women was apparent in the media text. This Orientalism and Neo-Orientalism tradition draws much of its rhetorical force from discourses of imperialism (Eide, 2004; Klaus & Kassel, 2005; Stabile & Orientalism is the ethnocentric vision which dominates cur- Kumar, 2005), and usually the stories about their oppression rent representations of Islam, which are reductive and pre- is not due to their culture (Abu-Lughod, 2013). Analyses dominantly negative. It argues that only a few stereotypes are show that the issue of “burqa” was so dominantly covered in offered, Muslims are homogenized as backward, irrational, the media that it marginalized the coverage of Afghan wom- unchanging fundamentalists, threatening manipulative en’s other social and economic issues like education and misogynists who use their faith for political and personal refugee situation (Fahmy, 2004; Fisk, 2004). Even the treat- gain. They are characterized with having politically unstable ment of political women of Pakistan in the U.S.-based inter- governments and movements (Poole, 2002). national media was quite different from the non-political The underline assumption of the theory of Orientalism is women of Pakistan. Pakistani women are mostly portrayed that the superior West (“Us”) has to assist and govern the in the oppressed context whereas women politicians were inferior Orient. This is however not an overt practice in mod- portrayed to be emancipated by adopting Western liberal ide- ern times, rather it has been done in subtle ways. The minds als. Over a period of time, the Muslim woman has acquired of the “others” are managed through text and talk. Such mind the image of someone who needs to be “freed” and thus management is not always bluntly manipulative. On the con- requires the West to play the knight in shining armor to liber- trary, dominance is enacted and reproduced by subtle, rou- ate her from the constraints of the religion, particularly veil tine, everyday forms of text and talk that appear natural and (Rahman, 2010). quite “acceptable.” This idea is sold to the Orient to get will- This academic endeavor is to understand how the con- ing acceptance from the Orient to accept the superiority of struction of identity, in the present case Pakistani Muslim Western liberal thought (Said, 2003). Said (2001) maintains women, is bound up with ideological bias and power. The that Orientalism has led the West to see Islamic culture as objective is to uncover how systematically, in a particular static in time and place, giving the West a sense of its own historical and socio-political context, stereotype images of cultural and intellectual superiority. Muslim women are framed in the U.S. magazines. The concept of Orientalism has been revisited by some In this context, the present study is the critical discourse scholars in the light of the concept of globalization which analysis (CDA) of how the image of Pakistani Muslim includes the concept for “deterritorialization” and “intercon- women was portrayed in the U.S. magazine, Time, to frame nectedness” (Scheuerman, 2014). These concepts explain the Western ideals as “superior” ones against Islamic ones? that in today’s world, any event in any part of the world also How, in the selected articles in the Time magazine, the images has an effect on other parts of the world. Hence, if anything of Pakistani women were framed as a source of threat or fear happens to “others” also affect the “Us.” This has led to the to the Western ideals of “tolerance” and “liberalism”? belief that Orientalism as an ideology now belongs to a period of history which is behind us, and we are now moving “beyond Orientalism.” The sharp divide between Occident Rationale for Selecting Newsmagazine and Orient is now outdated. Time However, it is also naive to think that the preconditions Reason for selecting newsmagazine in the study is that responsible for the Orientalist discourses are no longer in newsmagazines are considered to be one of the most suc- place. In fact, the divide between West and Islam still exists cessful “new” magazine formulas, or genre. The newsmaga- in new forms and is shaping new paradigm which is called zines compete with the newspapers and existing magazines “neo-Orientalism” (Samiei, 2009). It reflects that Islam and very directly, providing extensive news coverage and com- democracy are not compatible (Samiei, 2009). Islam is mentary. Time magazine is chosen as it is a mainstream, essentialized as the basic reason for the division. Dag Tuastad U.S.-based, prestigious international publication which has (2003) considers portrayal of the Muslims and Arabs in the one of the largest circulation of any newsmagazine. media as “new barbarism.” According to him, this new bar- Furthermore, it represents one of the main opinion leader barism ignores the political and economic interests in the roles in the United States and abroad. Its target audience local contexts and focuses on the political violence as a direct consists of educated and relatively well-off people who have result of deep-rooted cultural factors which spring out from an important decision-making role in American and global Islam. According to Tuastad, the waves of neo-Orientalism society. Its image is that of serious, objective, and in-depth and new barbarism has further divided the West and Islam, coverage of international and domestic affairs, often serving and serve the hegemonic strategies to justify the continuous as a reference on political and business information (Erjavec, political and economic invasion on the Muslim countries 2004). (Tuastad, 2003). Rahman 3 Hellmich further argues that the academic scholarship is media. He elaborates that at one level of analysis, opinions restricted due to oversimplification of Islamic thought. In the and ideologies involve beliefs or mental representations and process of oversimplification of the complexities of Islam, so the approach therefore first takes cognitive perspective. the issues of Islam and Muslims are misunderstood and mis- On the second level, the ideologies and opinions of media are represented (Hellmich, 2008). His contention is that in neo- usually not personal but social, institutional, or political. Orientalism, the local and specific regional movements of This requires an account in terms of social or societal struc- Muslims are all squashed in trying to explain them in one tures. He integrates both approaches into one socio-cognitive homogeneous discourse of Islamist terrorism. All the move- theory that deals with shared social representations and their ments in any Muslim country are considered to be enemies acquisition and uses in social contexts. Further to examine of civilized world. The followers are considered to be “crazy ideologically based opinions in subtle textual expression, the madmen” following an irrational ideology (p. 111). socio-cognitive approach is embedded in a discourse analyti- cal approach. Van Dijk’s (2001) socio-cognitive approach corresponds Theory of Media Hegemony with Said’s analysis of the Orientalist (Western Scholar of the Orientalism may further be enmeshed with the concept of Orient). According to Said, the analysis of the Orientalist is hegemony. In common usage, hegemony means domination also a very effective tool to study Orientalism. Said maintains or rule by one state or nation over another. Rules are based on that the Orientalist is all present in his discussions of the Orient overt power and at times covert power. Hegemony is more and the Orient itself is absent. And the Orientalist’s interpre- subtle and pervasive power delineator (Berger, 2005). Mass tive activity is thus is as a “superior judge, a learned man.” media perpetuates the hegemony of the ruling class through To examine how the superior “Us” discourses of the ideology. Ideology in this context means a view of the world United States are hidden while framing the images of or social reality which is manufactured and manipulated for Pakistani Muslim women, the researcher uses the socio-cog- specific purposes. nitive interface theory projected by van Dijk. According to Orientalism and neo-Orientalism corresponds with the the framework sketched by van Dijk (adapted to the research- concept of hegemony by sharing the assumption of a supe- er’s requirement of the study), a non-Muslim, Westerner rior “Us” who has to assist and govern the inferior Orient. (male/female) media practitioner while framing a Pakistani This is however not an overt practice in modern times, rather woman keeps in mind the perceived picture of her, Islam, it has been done in subtle ways. This idea has to be sold to the and his or her own personal opinions. He or she then frames Orient to get willing acceptance from the Orient to accept the her in that context which is largely biased in the oriental superiority of Western liberal thought. discourse. Thus theory of media hegemenoy maintains that the These socio-cognitive processes, with underlying racist media reinforce the “dominant ideology” as being normal or discourse production, may be largely unintentional as inten- simply acceptable. It is not realized that the “dominant ideol- tionality is irrelevant in establishing whether discourses or ogy” is in fact a distorted view that has been created to suit other acts may be interpreted as being racist (van Dijk, 2004). the needs or interests of the few. The majority gets a strongly However, these processes of ideological construction are warped view of the world that reinforces the interests of also imbued with power relations, as those who own the those in power at the expense of the majority. The ideologi- structures have the power to represent society according to cal work lies in the patterns within the media texts. Ideas and their norms and values. attitudes that are routinely included in the media become part These theoretical frameworks helps me to deconstruct the of the legitimate public debate. “taken-for-granted” superior “Us” concepts of the United The concept of “dominance” as defined by van Dijk States imbedded in the text while positioning Pakistani (2001) is the exercise of social power by elites, institutions, Muslim women as potentially dangerous. The analysis is or groups that result in social inequality, including political, focused on how they are predominantly represented in terms cultural, class, ethnic, racial, and gender inequality. It is at of socio-cultural differences and how the representation of this crucial point where in hegemony or dominance and Pakistani cultural norms that deviate from dominant norms CDAs merge. As managing the minds of others is essentially and values of the West are demonized and magnified and a function of text and talk, such mind management is not failings of the West are ignored or mitigated (van Dijk, always bluntly manipulative. On the contrary, dominance 1998). Furthermore, it tries to unfold how in the selected may be enacted and reproduced by subtle, routine, everyday articles in overt and covert ways the images of Muslim forms of text and talk that appear natural and quite “accept- Pakistani women are framed to disparage the Islamic values able” (p. 301). against the “superior” the US ideals? Socio-Cognitive Theory CDA: Framework for Analyzing Media Discourse Van Dijk (2001) uses socio-cognitive theory to understand The approach to discourse analysis followed in the study is the complex relation of the three: ideology, opinion, and the CDA of Fairclough and van Dijk. CDA has produced 4 SAGE Open majority of the research into media discourse during the In the written text, I have looked into the headlines, the 1980s and 1990s, and has more or less become the standard overall theme, and the linguistic choices and analyzed how framework for studying the media texts within European lin- the superior “in-group” and inferior “out-group” identities guistics and discourse studies (Bell & Garret, 2001; Wodak, were established in the articles and were given prominence. 2004). CDA is best viewed as a shared perspective encom- With subtle ordering and hierarchization of voices, the dif- passing a range of approaches rather than as just one school ference between the two is maintained. The prominence of thought. According to van Dijk (2001), CDA aims to know given to the two positions was seen by looking into the how exactly the power is exhibited by the powerful speakers beginning, middle, and the end of the article apart from or groups. And if they thus are able to persuade or otherwise assessing the space given to each position. influence their audiences, and which discursive structures Attention was paid to the surrounding features of the posi- and strategies are involved in that process. tion represented in the text. Is the framing done in a subtle To Fairclough (1995), the concept of discourse is to refer manner or is blatantly manipulative? For example, I looked to spoken or written language usage and Fairclough further into the reporting verbs which questioned the credibility of extends it to include other types of semiotic activity, that is, the voice being represented. The way the writer of the article activity that produces meaning, such as visual images (pho- referred to the sources without referring to the context or tography, film, video, etc.) and non-verbal communication. position of the source. To him, language use in any text is simultaneously represen- Similarly, I have looked into the semantic moves—when tative of social identities, social relations, and systems of sometimes one clause may express a proposition that realizes knowledge and belief. one strategy and the next clause is a proposition that realizes Message in the media is expressed not only linguistically the other strategy—typically called “disclaimers” (van Dijk, but also through a visual arrangement of marks on a page. 2001, p. 39). Any form of text analysis that ignores this will not be able to For the analysis of the representation of the two positions, account for all the meanings expressed in texts. In this regard, I point out what was excluded, what is explicit and what is the work of Kress and van Leeuwen (2001) is significant. implicit, and what is foregrounded and what is backgrounded. The writers have considered that layout involves different Through this process, I have tried to look into how the text signifying systems, all serving to structure the text, to bring presupposes a position—what was left unsaid but taken as a the various elements of the page. Along with this, the work given. Presuppositions are what French discourse analysts of Fiske (1982) is used as a guideline for visuals analysis. It call “preconstructed” elements in a text, elements which is said that even if the images are not staged, they still need have been constructed elsewhere in other texts (Fairclough, to be selected in a frame. These selections of the frames then 1995). The unsaid, the presupposed, is of particular impor- shape the interpretation of the world (Fahmy, 2004). tance in ideological analysis. Ideologies are generally embedded within the implicit meaning of a text rather than being explicit. Methodology Similarly, the analyses include the propositions made in From a preliminary analysis, it was concluded that a small the text through lexical choices, syntactic structure of a sen- sample of issues would result in an unfair representation of tence. The strategy of polarization—positive in-group Muslim women coverage. Throughout the selected period, description and negative out-group description—has the fol- stories or pictures of Pakistani Muslim women were distrib- lowing abstract evaluative structure, which is called the ideo- uted in various proportions. If random samples were taken, logical square. If the ideological square is applied, one may the risk of missing important instances of their coverage expect that the “Our” in this case is “American” and “Their” would have been high; therefore, every issue of Time from (Muslim Pakistani woman) will in general tend to be January 1979 till December 2002 was chosen to isolate any described at a lower, more specific level, with many detailed coverage on non-political Pakistani Muslim women as seen propositions. The opposite will be true for “Our bad actions” by average reader. and “their good ones”; which if described at all will be I first carefully examined the Table of Contents for each described in rather general, abstract, and hence distanced issue of Time and browsed through every page to ensure that terms without giving much detail (van Dijk, 2001, p. 33). no coverage on Pakistani Muslim women was missed. Then I have also analyzed the pictures at denotative level, the I selected those items from the entire newsmagazine which first order of signification. Each sign is treated like a phrase had reference of Pakistani women either in the text or in the in a sentence. Second order of signification is in the light of picture. myth and connotation. Along with this, the captions, their To answer the research questions about how the American position, and the type-face, which all underline the connota- ideals were projected as “superior ones” as compared with tions, are also analyzed. Barthes uses the term anchorage to Islamic “inferior ones” using the image of a Pakistani Muslim describe the function of the words used as captions for pho- woman, I analyzed the written text, pictures, and the layout. tographs. This tells us simply what the photograph is of, and Rahman 5 Table 1. Year-Wise Coverage of Pakistani Muslim Women in the Time Magazine (N = 10). Year Image of Muslim Pakistani women 1998 3 2001 2 2002 5 Table 2. Reference of Muslim Pakistani Women in Time Magazine 1979-2002 (N = 10). Reference Frequency % picture only 1 10 text and picture 5 50 Whole story on Muslim women 4 40 thus helps us to locate it accurately within our experience of the world. At the second order, then the words direct the reader to understand the picture in a particular way. They tell the reader, sometimes why the photograph was considered worth taking and frequently how we should read it. They direct the reader toward what Stuart Hall has called a “pre- ferred meaning.” Framing Muslim Pakistani Women The quantitative findings show that in the Time magazine Figure 1. Yes to nukes: Activists gather in Karachi to press from 1998 till 2002 from the total of 57 articles on Pakistan Pakistan to set off its own explosions. which had a reference of Pakistani women, 47 articles were on women politicians, particularly of Ms. Benazir Bhutto, In this article, there is no reference of Pakistani women in the first woman prime minister of Pakistan. Only 10 articles the text. The general theme of the whole article is that how had reference of non-political Pakistani Muslim women. In dangerous it would be for Pakistan to have an atomic bomb. the year 2002, 5 articles were on her and 3 articles appeared In Figure 1, Muslim women in “burqa” (head to toe gar- in the Time Magazine in the year 1998, the year in which ment) are demanding to go nuclear. This demand from the Pakistan tested its first nuclear bomb (Table 1). The increased women who are wearing “burqa,” who are addressed as coverage in the year 2002 can be explained in the context “activists” in the caption, conveys the message that the reli- that after 9/11 the coverage on Muslim world had generally gious women “fanatics” are demanding to go “nuclear” and increased and so was the case with Pakistani women. reinforcing their image as a symbol of potential threat and Further quantitative findings show (Table 2) that out of 10 fear. articles, 1 article did not have any reference of Pakistani The protest paradigm is rooted in the notion that woman in the text but only had her pictures. Four articles media acts as agents of social control, particularly when were exclusively on her. Five articles contained both her ref- the protest group opposes the status quo by attempting to erence in the picture and in the text. For CDA, keeping in change current conditions, norms, and policies. So mind the political context of the years 1998 and 2002, I have depending on the contexts, the more a group deviates selected two articles from these 2 years. One article contains from the status quo regarding its goals, the more likely only a picture of a Pakistani women and the other is the the media will act to marginalize or deplore the group. In whole story on a Pakistani Muslim woman. the present case, protest group of Pakistani Muslim women in burqa is regarded as a deviant group, which Excerpt I challenges the status quo of Western notions of liberal society. The text or picture is considered to be threaten- 1st June, 1998 (Time) ing when the image of Muslim women is used to depict Title: To Test or Not To Test 6 SAGE Open “rising Islamic fundamentalism” demanding nuclear which is explained in the text. In other words, this image of explosion. Muslim women at the top of the article is used as metonymy, According to Kress and van Leeuwen (2001), the elements that is, the meaning can be applied to the whole of Pakistan, (pictures/news story) placed at the top of the page are consid- and it is a reflection of what is happening in Pakistan. The ered to be as “ideal” and those placed at the bottom as the picture signifies that women in burqa are violent and emo- “real.” For something to be ideal means that it is presented as tional, a symbol to be afraid of. The combination of this image the idealized or generalized essence of information. The plac- with an atomic bomb further accentuates the proposition that ing of the picture at the top signifies generalized information, women of Pakistan are a threat to the world peace. Excerpt II 9th September, 2002 (Time) The Muslim Teen Title: MTV or the Muezzin by Tim Mcgirk photographs by Kate Brooks Figure 2. At home in a suburb of Lahore, Pakistan. This story was published exactly a year after the 9/11 of “intolerance” and militancy. The article argues how in the tragedy. Taliban’s government was toppled, and whatever process of “othering,” Pakistan was framed as intolerant, and resistance the United States was facing at that time was from a source of fear. the “Taliban’s who had taken safe haven in Pakistan.” The macro-proposition of the article is apparent in the Though, Pakistan was a strong ally of United States in the title, “MTV or the Muezzin”—a clash between West and war against terrorism, Pakistan was still looked at with sus- Islam, which is depicted in the two symbols MTV, a music picion. This article argues that using an image of a Pakistani Channel, and a Muezzin, a man who calls for prayers (Figure young girl, in an overt and covert manner, Pakistan was pro- 2). This contrast is also one of the popular discourses of the jected as a threat to the U.S. ideals of “tolerance,” “peace,” West about Islam as a religion which stands against all the and “democracy.” This is done by framing Islam as a religion symbols of Western form of entertainment especially music. Rahman 7 This title is further qualified by the topic title at the top “The Muslim Teen” in white font next to the red box. The red color next to the Muslim teen signifies a threat from the Muslim teen. A substantial proportion of media output consists of nar- ratives. One obvious reason why narratives are so prominent in the media is that the very notion of reporting centrally involves recounting past events, that is, telling the story of what happened, and much of media output consists of or includes reports. Journalists don’t get people to see things and to act in certain ways, and aim to entertain. The concept of story suggests this multiplicity of purpose, in that one nor- mally thinks of stories as forms of entertainment and diver- sion, and often fictional rather than factual. Claude Levi-Strauss identified the importance of opposition in the development of narrative structures. He argues stories move from one stage to another by positioning a conflict between two opposing elements or qualities that characters have to resolve. This clash of binary oppositions organizes the narra- tive (Izadi & Saghaye-Biria, 2007). There are two facets of a narrative, one is the actual story, a basic and chronologically ordered series of events includ- ing the participants involved in them; and second is the pre- sentation, the way in which the story is realized and organized as a particular text. The selected article also, in a story form, moves from one stage to another by two elements, West and Islam. The picture of a young girl, who apparently is not a strict follower of Islam, as she is wearing sleeveless dress, is a posed image contributing to the main theme of the article. The way she is positioned and the caption are of main inter- est. The impression in the picture is that she is standing in her house and the backdrop is of the Badshahi Masjid, which is situated in the walled city of Lahore, a very congested, Figure 3. CULTURE CLASH: Spider-Man brightens the café lower-middle class of the city, but from the text and the way where Sana, in red, and her friends hangout in Lahore. she is dressed, it shows that she belongs to an elite society of Pakistan and elite in Lahore does not live in this part of the city. in a fast-food restaurant. In the backdrop, a big poster of The full-page size of the picture and the mid-shot asks for Spider-Man is very prominent. The caption says “CULTURE direct attention of the reader to establish empathy with the CLASH: Spider-Man brightens the café where Sana, in red, image. The pensive look of Sana compels the reader to and her friends hangout in Lahore.” It is also a posed image develop a feeling of involvement. When the caption of the to reinforce the theme of the article. The picture when under- picture is combined with the picture, “At home in a suburb of stood with the caption indicates that though there is a “cul- Lahore, Pakistan,” it reinforces the main theme of the article ture clash,” the “Spider-Man” symbolizing one culture that Sana is at home in Pakistan where Masjid (Mosque) brightens the café, establishing the superiority of U.S. cul- plays an important role. Masjid signifies the theocratic nature ture as against the one where she is living. Spider-Man is also of the country. The contrast of the Masjid is with her dress, an American icon of good against the evil. The presupposi- which is a sleeveless red shirt and casually worn “dupatta” tion in the caption is that had there been no Spider-Man, the (kind of a scarf, an integral part of a typical Pakistani dress café would have been a dull one. This picture of the girls shalwar and kameez), that reinforces the main proposition of sitting under this poster also signifies how the American life- the article where a young Pakistani Muslim woman is in a style dominates the lives of the young girls of Pakistan. dilemma to choose between her “belief” and the West, as the Another interesting feature of this picture is the highlighted presupposition is that the two are in contrast to each other. quote right under the picture. It states “This was hypocrisy. In the second picture (Figure 3), Sana is sitting with her Why is an Afghan’s life worth any less than American’s?” friends, who apparently belong to the same class, This highlighted quote performs two functions: one it 8 SAGE Open Table 3. The Presuppositions of Good and Bad in the Selected The story is set with the Sana’s mothers annoyed com- Text of the Newsmagazine Time. ment, “identity crisis,” who is trying to take an afternoon nap in the midst of “scratchy voice of a muezzin” who is “reviv- Good Bad ing his loud speaker for the afternoon prayer call.” The prop- Western clothing Purdah osition is that the mother is trying to avoid the sound and the Secularism Religion muezzin is “reviving” the “call for prayers,” a symbol for TV Quran religious revivalism. And Sana is in midst of these two oppo- MTV Muezzin site worlds which is apparently quite normal. However a Marriage by choice Arranged marriage turning point comes on September 11, when soon after the America Home “dissolving towers” Muslims were targeted and she had to Fight in Afghanistan Fight against Americans in Afghanistan call her brother in the United States to inquire if he was alright. mitigates the effect of the counter discourse in the form of a Sana believes she has earned the right to think of herself as a quote of Sana placed right under Sana’s picture where she citizen of the world—she has been to the U.S. and has expansive herself is leading two lives. And second, it establishes the tolerant outlook on global affairs. But it has been sorely tested reason for the growing intolerance in the Pakistani society this year, she comes from a line of Punjabi soldiers (her mother The article uses a narrative style to show the binary oppo- is the daughter of a famous army general, her father an economist) and she inherited the dark, piercing eyes of a hunter, sites in the story. The article starts with the everyday routine an a stoic determination she would need in the months after of Sana, which is “typical” of an elite-class routine. The sym- Sept. 11, when she felt caught between Islam and America, the bols used in the first paragraph show that Sana’s lifestyle has two worlds she loves. Rising Islamic militancy in Pakistan made a lot of American influence. The rest of the analysis will her question the roots of her faith, but America’s Military trace how the discourses of the superior “Us” and inferior response to the New York City and Washington attacks made her “them” are located in the article. profoundly disillusioned. “America wanted vengeance by killing Throughout the article, the binary opposites on which the Afghans,” she says, her voice quavering at first—as if she is story narrative revolves are reflected in Table 3. It is interest- uncertain how forthright to be with an American visitor—then ing to note how religious symbols are in the category of bad gaining strength and fluency. “That was wrong. Those Afghans and all the symbols of United States are considered to be were just as innocent as the poor people who died in the World good or superior. Trade towers,” she says. MTV or the Muezzin The presupposition is that United States is the champion of the “tolerant outlook on global affairs.” As Sana has been Just home from school on an ordinary afternoon, Sana Shah, 16, to the United States, she has developed a “tolerant outlook.” plops down her books, shakes out her hair and heads upstairs to She is caught between the two worlds she loves. Notice the watch some TV. She switches the set in her parents’ to Roswell use of binary opposites here: one is Islam and the other is and kicks her younger brother and sister off the couch. “Teenage America. It is not Pakistan and America. It is one faith against identity crises,” grumbles her mother, who is trying to nap on another country. In other words, one can see the implicit the bed. “What nonsense.” proposition, that whatever Islam stands for is the opposite of what America stands for. Also notice that for the “rising This comforting after-school scene could be happening Islamic militancy” no cause is given whereas, the America’s anywhere in America, but outside the bedroom window, wild military response is a reaction to the Islamic militancy. The green parrots are feasting on berries in a Jammun tree, and from phrase rising “Islamic Militancy” also presupposes that mili- a distance comes the scratchy voice of a muezzin revving his loudspeaker for the afternoon prayer call. Sana and her family tancy is inherent in Islam and it is on the rise, making Sana live in a wealthy suburb of Lahore, Pakistan, where her satellite question the “roots of her faith.” television pulls in the standard Pakistani and American fare: MTV, friends, syrupy Pakistani romances, a few minutes of The day after Sept. 11, Sana wanted to wear something special— Oprah until something better comes along. But a year ago, the something defiant—to school. So she pulled on a T shirt that images stopped being such a laugh. said SEEDS OF PEACE. An essay she had written in the spring of 2001 about the plight of Lahore’s street kids had won her a On Sep. 11, Sana and her mother watched the little TV by the trip in August to a Maine camp sponsored by a New York group bed in numb horror. First the dissolving towers, then the furious called Seeds of Peace, which brings together young people from retaliation: Muslim-owned shops in the US being trashed and war-torn regions around the world. “Before going to camp, I burned, Arab-looking cabbies dragged from their cars and was scared. I didn’t want to associate with Jews and Hindus,” beaten. “We were both in shock,” recalls Sana who telephoned recalls Sana. “But we all became good friends.” Swimming in her brother, a student in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that first night to the lake and talking around the campfire late at night, they found make sure he was O.K. that the anger they had brought with them from the war zones Rahman 9 seemed to melt away. When she returned home, not many of her How first others “loved” Osama and then how she includes classmates sympathized with her change of heart. In Pakistan, herself to be in favor of Osama. A contradiction in what she Jews and Hindus were supposed to be the enemy. believed in and what she was showing “for there was a change of heart” after coming from the Seeds of Peace camp. On September 12, it was even worse: Sana still believed in At the camp, the Jews and Hindus had all become “good peace, but few others in her school did. “They’d grab at my T friends.” But back home, not many of class mates “sympa- shirt and say, ‘Is this the peace you made at that fancy camp?’” thized with her change of heart,” as in Pakistan, Jews and she says. “They kept throwing that in my face, and it made me Hindus were supposed to be the enemy. So it is the United want to cry.” States which brought the enemies together otherwise “back home” there is enmity. It was pandemonium that day inside the all-girl Lahore The love for Osama as indicated in the article could not Grammar School, one of the country’s most prestigious places of have been possible, for in Pakistan, girls belonging to such learning. Its curriculum is liberal and Western oriented; its an elite school, which has “liberal” and “Western orientated” students, the daughters of Pakistan’s elite, look upon the U.S. as a second home, a place where relatives routinely find success. curriculum, can’t possibly have “loved” Osama—as he was associated with the Talibans in Afghanistan and Talibans due These are kids who should love America but don’t. After the to their “oppressive” measures toward women were very towers fell, their loyalties were firmly with Osama bin Laden. unpopular in Pakistan, particularly in the class to which Sana “There were girls in my class who loved him,” says Sana. “We belonged. It is hard to accept that girls of this class would all thought Osama was a champion of downtrodden Muslims.” accept Osama as a “champion of downtrodden Muslims.” One fails to understand how author inferred that Osama Between classes, the girls passed around magazines with bin enjoyed such a reputation with them. Laden photographs swooned over his “soulful” eyes. They saw The time sequence context in the article seems manipu- him as a man who walked away from his air-conditioned palace lated for the next day on 12th September when Sana went to to live in a cave in Afghanistan to avenge the wrongs committed school there was a strong reaction against Americans. One against Muslims. “He was our Robin Hood” Sana. “Some of my fails to understand how this is possible for the United States friends defended Bin Laden, because they thought he . . . had decided to attack Afghanistan not the next day but much (missing text) out the bombings, while others thought the U.S. was accusing him unjustly.” Sana belonged to the latter camp. later. The story indicates that there was an immediate hate for America and love for Osama. This contradiction is also The proposition is that though she is for “peace,” after apparent in the text that follows it, in the next paragraph it is 9/11 things are very confusing for her. The dilemma that she mentioned that the decision of the United States to bomb is in after 9/11 is depicted through the shirt she has worn Afghanistan was in October. immediately after the incident. Particular reference to New In October, as the U.S. began Afghan-bombing campaign, public York group called Seeds of Peace also symbolizes that New opinion in Pakistan turned against America, Sana did too. At York stands for peace. And because she has been part of the spotlights near the Lahore, bazaar, she saw vendors have Bin camp, she also believes in peace. Not only this, she is a Laden shirts and posters. She watched protesters spill into the champion of peace for one, she has been to America; second, street and though she didn’t buy the Bin Laden’s paraphernalia she belongs to an educated family; and third, she is studying or attend the Bin Laden’s demonstrations, she found herself in a school which has a “liberal and Western oriented associating with him. “This was hypocrisy. Why is an Afghan’s curriculum.” life worth any less that American’s?” she asks. She felt revengeful The proposition is that on 9/11, even in all girls’ most at the U.S. air strikes, which left hundreds of Afghans dead and prestigious school of Pakistan, there was an uproar and thousands wounded. One of Sana’s class mates, Noami Jamal, chaos. The presupposition is that, it is a prestigious school told how her father, a doctor had tended an Afghan woman in for it has a “liberal and Western oriented” curriculum. So labor who had a piece of shrapnel the size of a spear tip lodged in her from an exploding U.S. bomb. The doctor was able to save these kids “look upon the U.S. as second home” as “a place the mother but not her newborn baby. where relatives routinely find success.” These kids should also “love America” for America welcomes them and is Suddenly, to Sana, America went as being the “next best thing to responsible for their success. The implication is, see how on home” as her mother put it, to being an arrogant bully. Lahore the one side America is benevolent and on the other side, Grammar School affected by the wave of Islamic radicalism. look at “them,” they hate America. They “grab” her shirt, More girls appeared in the class wearing a hijab, the Islamic signifying the aggressive attitude of the girls of her school. head scarf and a few even donned the full head to toe burqa. The sentence “After the towers fell, their loyalties were “Imagine, “says Sana, “burqa in this heat.” In the commons as firmly with Osama bin Laden” indicate that they did not far from the teacher’s eye, these girls tried to draw other students sympathize with the victims of 9/11 but with the person who to their interpretation of the Koran. They stare at girls who wore is responsible for it. Notice the shift in the pronouns of what nail polish. Sana bridled at these wannabe jihadis. “Religion is Sana says, “There were girls,” “We all thought Osama.” something personal to me,” she said “I don’t like it when people 10 SAGE Open tell me what to do—or what to believe.” Sana’s parents are help the Taliban fight the Americans. Their accounts shatter the tolerant but pious, and their example kept her grounded and impression, widely held in the U.S., that it was only ill educated helped resist the radical’s taunts at school. “Parents,” she says fanatics who propped up the regime. Though many Taliban “don’t force me to pray but if I let it slide for a week or read the fighters were like that, among the recruits were also droves of Koran, I feel like I’m losing connection with God.” Pakistanis who know America firsthand, wore American jeans, listened to American rap music, and had American friends—but nonetheless saw Afghanistan as Islam’s battleground against the The proposition is that the U.S. attack on Afghanistan is dark forces. One student says she knows an M.I.T graduate who provoking Muslims especially Muslim girls to “Islamic radi- signed up with the Taliban.” Last I heard, he was in the trenches calism.” And wearing of “hijab” and burqa are signs of Islamic around Mazar-i-Sharif,” the student says. “That was many radicalism. The ridicule of the “burqa” is apparent with Sana’s months back. His family is worried sick.” comment, “Imagine, burqa in this heat.” The secular discourse of “religion” as personal is apparent through her quote. Her The information that the educated elite all have their rela- apparent dislike for the ones who wear burqa is also indicated tives “crossed into Afghanistan” and helping the Taliban is through an indirect quote as “wannabe jihadis.” Notice how an indication of the growing alarming situation in Pakistan. the intolerance of the girls toward those wearing nail polish is This statement is further qualified by stating that the “impres- ridiculed and the intolerance of Sana toward girls wearing sion widely held in the U.S.” is very naïve for it is just not the burqa is justified in the secular discourse: “I don’t like it when “ill-educated” but the “Pakistani’s who knew American first- people tell me what to do—or what to believe.” hand” are also the ones who see Afghanistan as Islam’s bat- The statement, “Sana’s parents are tolerant but pious . . . ” tleground against the “dark force.” Notice how the lexical is an interesting example of disclaimer. Stating that although choice of ill-educated is used instead of uneducated or less her parents are “pious,” they are still “tolerant.” Is the author educated. Hence, the people who are fighting in Afghanistan trying to say that pious people are usually not tolerant and are “ill educated fanatics,” indicating that the fight against here we see an exception? Usually one says he/she is pious the United States in Afghanistan is fought by the misled. The and tolerant. May be author is trying to avoid the word reli- reference to the educated Pakistanis going to Afghanistan is gious. Also it is the tolerant behavior of her parents that also a warning to the readers that don’t trust the Pakistanis keeps her “grounded” not the piousness. even if they are “M.I.T graduates” or wore “American jeans” or listened to “American rap music,” and had “American friends.” Notice how in the sentence “American” is repeated Counter Discourse thrice to give emphasis on the American superior lifestyle. Sana and her friends remain angry at the U.S. for its treatment The wearing of jeans and listening to music and having of Muslims since 9/11. “Once the shock subsides” Sana says, “a American friends is something to take pride in normal course lot of us the Trade Center bombings and makes the U.S. more of life. The proposition of the author is well complemented aware of what is going on in the world, of the frustrations that by the quote in the end where the M.I.T graduate has signed Muslims feel over Palestine, Kashmir, Kosovo.” She is sitting up with the Taliban and “his family is worried sick,” indicat- with some of her friends in the quiet of the school library, surrounded by the works of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and ing that the youth are taking this step without the consent of Thomas Jefferson. “And what’s so great about these American their parents. values that they’re trying to impose on us?”says Amara Maksood, a vivacious prelaw student. “Is it really liberty? I Counter Discourse watched Oprah the other day. She was talking to pregnant 13-year-old girls who was unmarried, I’m glad I don’t have In November, Sana was invited back to New York by Seeds of those complications in my life.” Peace, and reluctantly, she decides to go. “On CNN and Fox News I kept hearing how Islam was a violent religion, but it’s “That’s right, “says Noami, who wants to study medicine. not, and I felt I had to explain that,” she says. She felt “Americans talk about protecting women’s rights, but have you apprehensive landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport. seen the George Michael video where he has these women on At Customs, which she had always sailed through before, she leashes like dogs? Give me a burqa any day.” was herded into a line with people who, she says were a “little darker. They made the men stand with their hands in the air, and As pointed out by Fairclough, the oppositional discourse they checked every little thing in the bags—and mine too.” White people were being waved through. “I felt bad. Fine let is either omitted altogether or backgrounded by positioning them search, but search everybody, no matter what their skin them in one paragraph in the middle of the report. In the pres- color is,” she says. ent instance, the counter discourse is backgrounded by plac- ing it in the middle of the article. The impact of this counter This is the second paragraph in the whole article that has discourse is also mitigated in the following paragraph. counter discourse. This is also placed in the middle of the article to mitigate its effect. It is preceded by the following As the students talk, it becomes clear that nearly everyone in the paragraph. group has a relative or friend who crossed into Afghanistan to Rahman 11 The dilemma continues: of systems such as Orientalism; to produce such work which would assist readers to make use of Said’s work and produce Sana’s group visited the attack site in lower Manhattan, “the new studies of their own that would illuminate the historical remains like withered old flower,” she remembers, “ It was experience of Muslims and other in a generous and enabling scary, I kept looking at these giant cranes lifting away the rubble mode. and thinking that there were bodies inside, all mangled up, I The study was conducted to examine how systematically, couldn’t take it any longer, I ran way, crying?” Sana wept again, in a particular historical and socio-political context, images and couldn’t stop her tears, at a religious service where she met of Pakistani Muslim women were framed as a threat to the Connie Taylor, whose son, an equity trader, had died in the American lifestyle. It also examined how her image was attack. Later, in a long, soulful email, Sana tried to describe her used to project the Western ideals as “superior” against the experiences to other Seeds of Peace alumni: “I just hope and Islamic ones. For the purpose, from every issue of Time from pray that in light of what’s happening in the world, someday we January 1979 till December 2002, articles either having a materialize this dream of peace for the whole world,” But the battle lines had been drawn. “I got such angry responses,” she Pakistani Muslim woman’s picture or her reference in the says. “An Egyptian boy said Americans deserved it, and an text or the whole article were selected. It was found that in American kid insulted us Muslims.” the year 1998 when Pakistan had its first nuclear test, the number of articles with Pakistani Muslim women’s reference After Sana saw ground zero with her own eyes, her romantic had increased. And second, just after 9/11, in the year 2002, view of bin Laden began to harden. “At first I couldn’t believe coverage on them increased. Hence, two articles from these that he was behind these gruesome attacks,” she says. But the 2 years were selected for the CDA. video gloating over the destruction, turned Sana against him, CDA illustrates that the discursive formations on Muslim “He thought he was a savior of Muslims, but he was warped and Pakistani women were of derogatory “others.” The American wrong,” she says. lifestyle values were considered as “superior” as against the Pakistani lifestyle. In the selected articles, symbol of veil Sana still feels trapped between worlds. Her green SEEDS OF was used either as a symbol of ridicule or of growing Islamic PEACE T shirt has faded, but she still wears it stubbornly, “fundamentalism.” This symbol was also used to frame during those days in Maine before the fall, where she laughed and swam with Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Christian kids, peace Islam as “radical” and “extremist” religion. The proposition seemed to shimmer just above the lake, she can’t see it so easily of the selected articles was that there is an inherent conflict any more. between the United States and Islam. Presupposition has been that America is tolerant in its outlook whereas Islam, She is still a moderate citizen of the world, and she still believes due to its militancy, is intolerant. The American education in peace, but as Islamic militancy spreads in Pakistan, she promotes peace, and the “ill educated” talk of America as an feels she is being forced to take a side. And she doesn’t think she enemy. Furthermore, Islam creates confusion for the edu- can choose America’s. cated Muslim youth, and there is a danger that they will opt for Islamic militancy instead of American liberal values. The love–hate relationship of the young Pakistani’s for Although, there was counter discourse of criticism on the United States is indicated in the passage which is now American society’s discrimination against Muslims and tilting toward hate. In the end, an understood presupposition crime against women, this was insignificant and was miti- is that in Pakistan, “as Islamic militancy spreads,” it is the gated by the surrounding paragraphs. Islamic militancy which will affect the feeling of a “moder- I put forward this proposition that the asymmetrical rela- ate citizen of the World.” Notice the absence of the American tions in the discourse, of superior “Us” and inferior “others” militancy in the last concluding paragraph, which is also the as in case of Pakistani women may be “intentional or unin- cause of her confusion. It is the Islamic militancy which will tentional,” and is creating and fostering divisions. I propose, eventually compel her to be away from her present position through this study on Pakistani Muslim women, that deep- as a “moderate citizen of the world.” A sign of danger, so be rooted myths about Islam, which are responsible for the way on guards against growing Islamic militancy in Pakistan. Muslims in general and Muslim women in particular, that are framed in the media should be unraveled, this might be an effective way through which one can minimize the confron- Conclusion tation. I understand that an average reader cannot discern the This humble effort was made to further the work of Said hidden discourses of superior “Us” and inferior “Others” and (2001) on Orientalism, and to study the historical dynamics gradually absorb the hidden values in the text, that is why it of the experiences of the East and the West at certain point in becomes the responsibility of the media practitioner to be time. The objective was not to play up “the conflict of East more vigilant about the socio-cognitive processes that are and West,” and not an affirmation of warring and hopelessly involved while they are framing others. antithetical identities (p. 339). The objective was, as Said’s An attempt should be made to address the questions—the critique intended, to liberate intellectuals from the shackles sources of confrontation and conflict between the West and 12 SAGE Open Islam; the reasons for the perception of Islam as a threat to Eide, E. (2004).Warfare and dual vision in media discourse. In S. A. Nohrstedt & R. Ottosen (Eds.), U.S. and the others: Global the West and of the West as a threat to the Muslim world; and media images on “the war on terror” (pp. 7-22). Goteborg, the nature of Islamic fundamentalism. Making Islam oppo- Sweden: Nordicom Goteborg University. site of West means that Islam is the opposite of all what the Erjavec, K. (2004). The Newsweek war on terrorism. In S. A. West stands for and vice versa. I argue that we must move Nohrstedt & R. Ottosen (Eds.), U.S. and the others: Global beyond a monolithic worldview that sees Muslims and media images on “the war on terror” (pp. 93-106). Goteborg, Muslim world as a unity. It should be appreciated in its diver- Sweden: Nordicom Goteborg University. sity and complexity. So far “Orientals were rarely seen or Fahmy, S. (2004). Picturing Afghan women: A content analy- looked at; they were seen through, analyzed not as citizens or sis of AP wire photographs during the Taliban regime and even people, but as problems to be solved or confined or—as after the fall of the Taliban regime. International Journal for colonial powers openly coveted their territory—taken over” Communication Studies, 66, 91-112. (Said, 2001, p. 207). What is required is to make an effort to Fairclough, N. (1995). Media discourse. London, England: Edward understand each other. We need to examine the socio-reli- Arnold. gious and political circumstances which lead to the negative Falah, G.-W. (2005). The visual representation of Muslim/Arab images of Islam and particularly of Muslim women. women in daily newspapers in the United States. In G.-W. Falah & C. Nagel (Eds.), Geographies of Muslim women: My analysis provides more support for the Orientalism Gender, religion, and space (pp. 300-320). New York, NY: idea that for a new vision to grow, more substantial and sys- Guilford Press. temic change may need to occur at many levels in the Western Fazaeli, R. (2007). Contemporary Iranian feminism: Identity, society. Media analysts need to look in detail, as propounded rights and interpretations. Muslim World Journal of Human by van Dijk, how social ideologies are framing the everyday Rights, 4(1). Retrieved from http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ practices of social actors like media personnel and, con- mwjhr.2007.4.1/mwjhr.2007.4.1.1118/mwjhr.2007.4.1.1118. versely, how ideologies about Muslim women and Islam are xml being formed and changing through the everyday interaction Fisk, R. (2004). My beating by refugees is a symbol of the hatred and discourse of members in societal contexts of group rela- and fury of this filthy war (A report from Kila Abdullah after tions and institutions like the media. Afghan border ordeal). In S. A. Nohrstedt & R. Ottosen (Eds.), U.S. and the others: Global media images on “the war on Declaration of Conflicting Interests terror” (pp. 51-55). Goteborg, Sweden: Nordicom Goteborg University. The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect Fiske, J. (1982). Introduction to communication studies. London, to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. England: Routledge. Hellmich, C. (2008). Creating the ideology of Al Qaeda: From Funding hypocrites to Salafi-Jihadists. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, The author(s) received no financial support for the research and/or 31, 111-124. authorship of this article. Imtoual, A. S. (2005). Religious racism and the media: Representations of Muslim women in the Australian print References media. Outskirts, 13. Retrieved from http://www.outskirts.arts. uwa.edu.au/volumes/volume-13/imtoual Abu-Lughod, L. (2013). Do Muslim women need saving? Izadi, F., & Saghaye-Biria, H. (2007). A discourse analysis of elite Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. American newspaper editorials: The case of Iran’s nuclear pro- Aly, A. (2005). The AtmosFEAR of terror: Australian Muslims gram. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 31, 140-165. as objects of fear and othering. In Racism in the new world Klaus, E., & Kassel, S. (2005). The way as a way of legitimization. order: Realities of colour, culture and identity (pp. 22- Journalism, 6, 335-355. 28). Queensland, Australia: Multicultural and Community Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Front pages: (The critical) Development, University of the Sunshine Coast. Retrieved analysis of newspaper layout. In A. Bell & P. Garrett (Eds.), from http://researcho-nline.jcu.edu.au/17905/2/17905_Gopal Approaches to media discourse (pp. 186-219). Oxford, UK: krishan_%26_Babacan_2006_front_pages.pdf Blackwell. Bell, A., & Garret, P. (2001).The discourse structures of news sto- Macdonald, M. (2003). Exploring media discourse. London, ries. In A. Bell & P. Garrett (Eds.), Approaches to media dis- England: Arnold. course (pp. 22-63). Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of Berger, A. A. (2005). Media analysis techniques. Thousand Oaks, civilisations theory: Rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and CA: SAGE. Religion, 5, 105-117. Bullock, K. (2000). Challenging media representations of the Mehdi, M. (1994). A Western invention of Arab womanhood: The veil: Contemporary Muslim women’s re-veiling movement. “oriental” female. In H. Afshar (Ed.), Women in the Middle American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 17(3), 22-53. East: Perceptions, realities and struggles for liberation Byng, M. D. (2010). Symbolically Muslim: Media, hijab, and the (pp. 18-58). London, England: The McMillan Press. West. Critical Sociology, 36, 109-129. Mishra, S. (2007). Saving Muslim women and fighting Muslim Darvishpour, M. (2003). “Islamic feminism”: Compromise or men: Analysis of representations in The New York Times. challenge to feminism. Retrieved from http://www2.sociology. Global Media Journal, 6(11), Article 1. su.se/home/Darvishpour/Islamicfeminism.pdf. Rahman 13 Poole, E. (2002). Reporting Islam: Media representation of British Siddiqui, M. A. (1997). Islam, Muslims and media myths and reali- Muslims. London, England: I. B Tauris. ties. Chicago, IL: NAAMPS Publications. Poynting, S., & Mason, V. (2007). The resistible rise of Stabile, C. A., & Kumar, D. (2005). Unveiling imperialism: Media, Islamophobia anti-Muslim racism in the UK and Australia gender, and the war on Afghanistan. Media, Culture & Society, before 11 September 2001. Journal of Sociology, 43, 61-86. 27, 765-782. Poynting, S., & Noble, G. (2004). Living with racism: The experi- Tuastad, D. (2003). Neo-orientalism and the new barbarism thesis: ence and reporting by Arab and Muslim Australians of discrim- Aspects of symbolic violence in the Middle East conflict (s). ination, abuse and violence since 11 September 2001 (Report Third World Quarterly, 24, 591-599. to The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission). van Dijk, T. A. (1998). Critical discourse analysis. Retrieved from Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/ http://www.hum.uva.nl/~teun/cda.htm isma-listen-independent-research van Dijk, T. A. (2001). Opinions and ideologies in the press. In Rahman, B. H. (2010). Analysis of Muslim Pakistani political A. Bell & P. Garrett (Eds.), Approaches to media discourse women in Time and Newsweek, 1979-2002. Journal of Media (pp. 21-63). Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Studies, 25(1), 50-65. van Dijk, T. A. (2004). Principles of critical discourse analysis. In Roushanzamir, E. L. (2004). Chimera veil of: “Iranian woman” and M. Wetherell, S. Taylor, & S. J. Yates (Eds.), Discourse theory processes of U.S. textual commodification: How U.S. print media and practice (pp. 300-317). London, England: SAGE. represent Iran. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 28, 9-28. Wodak, R. (2004).Critical discourse analysis. In C. Seale, G. Gobo, Said, E. W. (2001). Orientalism. New Delhi, India: Penguin Books. J. F. Gubrium, & D. Silverman (Eds.), Qualitative research Said, E. W. (2003).The clash of definitions. In E. Qureshi & M. practice (pp. 197-214). London, England: SAGE. A. Sells (Eds.), The new crusades: Constructing the Muslim Zine, J. (2006). Unveiled sentiments: Gendered Islamophobia and enemy (pp. 68-87). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. experiences of veiling among Muslim girls in a Canadian Samiei, M. (2009). Neo-Orientalism? A critical appraisal of chang- Islamic school. Equity & Excellence in Education, 39, ing western perspectives: Bernard Lewis, John Esposito and 239-252. Gilles Kepel (Doctoral thesis). University of Westminster, Author Biography London, England. Retrieved from http://westminsterresearch. wmin.ac.uk/8495/1/Mohammad_SAMIEI_ADDED.pdf Bushra H. Rahman is an assistant professor in the Institute of Scheuerman, W. (2014). Globalization. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Communication Studies, University of the Punjab. Her areas of Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Summer ed.). Retrieved interest are feminism, Islamic feminism, critical discourse analysis, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/globalization/ and media ethics. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png SAGE Open SAGE

Pakistani Women as Objects of “Fear” and “Othering”:

SAGE Open , Volume 4 (4): 1 – Nov 23, 2014

Loading next page...
 
/lp/sage/pakistani-women-as-objects-of-fear-and-othering-AFv2JyiuTS

References (51)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
Copyright © 2022 by SAGE Publications Inc, unless otherwise noted. Manuscript content on this site is licensed under Creative Commons Licenses.
ISSN
2158-2440
eISSN
2158-2440
DOI
10.1177/2158244014556990
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The study uses Said’s concept of Orientalism and van Dijks concept of socio-cognitive processes to analyze the framing of Pakistani Muslim women in the newsmagazine Time from 1998-2002. A critical discourse analysis of the selected articles of the magazine follows Fairclough’s and van Dijk’s guidelines. It uncovers how in a particular socio-political context, stereotyped images of Pakistani Muslim women were framed to project “superior American” ideals of “tolerance” and “democracy,” as against the “intolerant,” “undemocratic” values of Muslim as “others.” It also argues how in the process of “othering” Pakistan and particularly its youth are framed as intolerant, and source of fear. Keywords critical discourse analysis, Orientalism, Muslim women, othering, Pakistan, neo-Orientalism Muslims living in Australia, through instances of racism and Introduction negative stereotyping. She argues that dailies of Australia are After 9/11, and to some extent even before 9/11, though less responsible in fanning the religious racism which is faced by saliently, the discourses on terrorism, in the war against ter- Australian Muslims on daily basis. In the symbolic represen- ror, have been of a global battle between “Us” and “them,” as tation of Muslim women and veil, Australian media is con- “Us” the West and the “other” as Muslims. The “other” have sidered to represent the ideological interests of Western become the objects of fear, concern, and suspicion. The nations (Byng, 2010). Western values of “democracy” and “freedom” are framed as American news media is also held responsible for often superior ones as compared with the “others” religious values. oversimplifying and decontextualizing foreign affairs issues This has promoted a collective identity of “Us” as the vic- to the American public ignoring native symbolism (Fahmy, tims and “them” as the objects of fear and suspicion (Aly, 2004). The U.S. press has shown an obsession with the veil 2005). Though, overtly the politicians assert that the “war on of Muslim women. Their roles are narrowly constructed and terror” is not against Islam and Muslim, by inference projected in the print media of the United States (Falah, Muslims are identified as objects of threat. Islam is consid- 2005). Roushanzamir (2004) argues that the American press’ ered as a real challenge to the alleged Judeo-Christian heri- prevailing mode of referring to Iranian women has been tage of Europe. Islamophobia is considered to be just not reduced to the symbol of “chador,” evoking violence and simple hostility against Islam but as a possible threat to repressed sexuality, reactionary social practices, and reli- European-Western values as against Islamic values which gious fanaticism. This image proves to be an effective might come as a consequence to multicultural contacts method of capturing the attention of American readers. The (Marranci, 2004). popular American mainstream media also predominantly In recent years, marred by racism and ethnocentrism, the associates the veil of Muslim women with oppression attitudes toward Muslims and especially toward Muslim (Bullock, 2000; Fazaeli, 2007). The Orientalist representa- women have become harsher in the media. The image of tion of Muslim women in veil and “burqa” enhances their Muslim women as submissive, oppressed, and backward is construction of identities as oppressed and backward (Mehdi, constructed and reinforced by the Western mass media 1994; Zine, 2006), who is in need of the West to liberate and (Darvishpour, 2003; Macdonald, 2003; Siddiqui, 1997). The rescue her (Mishra, 2007). media is also considered to be the most frequently cited “place” of racism and abuse of Arab and Muslim Australians (Poynting & Noble, 2004). There has been a gradual shift University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan from anti-Asian and anti-Arab to anti-Muslim feeling after Corresponding Author: 9/11 in Britain and Australia (Poynting & Mason, 2007). Bushra H. Rahman, Assistant Professor, Institute of Communication Imtoual (2005) argues that Australian print media has created Studies, University of the Punjab, 194 Shadman 2, Lahore 54000, Pakistan. an atmosphere of hostility and negativity toward Islam and Email: bushrajk@gmail.com This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License Creative Commons CC BY: (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm). 2 SAGE Open Likewise, in the case of Afghan women, the need to pro- Theoretical Frameworks tect the Afghan women was apparent in the media text. This Orientalism and Neo-Orientalism tradition draws much of its rhetorical force from discourses of imperialism (Eide, 2004; Klaus & Kassel, 2005; Stabile & Orientalism is the ethnocentric vision which dominates cur- Kumar, 2005), and usually the stories about their oppression rent representations of Islam, which are reductive and pre- is not due to their culture (Abu-Lughod, 2013). Analyses dominantly negative. It argues that only a few stereotypes are show that the issue of “burqa” was so dominantly covered in offered, Muslims are homogenized as backward, irrational, the media that it marginalized the coverage of Afghan wom- unchanging fundamentalists, threatening manipulative en’s other social and economic issues like education and misogynists who use their faith for political and personal refugee situation (Fahmy, 2004; Fisk, 2004). Even the treat- gain. They are characterized with having politically unstable ment of political women of Pakistan in the U.S.-based inter- governments and movements (Poole, 2002). national media was quite different from the non-political The underline assumption of the theory of Orientalism is women of Pakistan. Pakistani women are mostly portrayed that the superior West (“Us”) has to assist and govern the in the oppressed context whereas women politicians were inferior Orient. This is however not an overt practice in mod- portrayed to be emancipated by adopting Western liberal ide- ern times, rather it has been done in subtle ways. The minds als. Over a period of time, the Muslim woman has acquired of the “others” are managed through text and talk. Such mind the image of someone who needs to be “freed” and thus management is not always bluntly manipulative. On the con- requires the West to play the knight in shining armor to liber- trary, dominance is enacted and reproduced by subtle, rou- ate her from the constraints of the religion, particularly veil tine, everyday forms of text and talk that appear natural and (Rahman, 2010). quite “acceptable.” This idea is sold to the Orient to get will- This academic endeavor is to understand how the con- ing acceptance from the Orient to accept the superiority of struction of identity, in the present case Pakistani Muslim Western liberal thought (Said, 2003). Said (2001) maintains women, is bound up with ideological bias and power. The that Orientalism has led the West to see Islamic culture as objective is to uncover how systematically, in a particular static in time and place, giving the West a sense of its own historical and socio-political context, stereotype images of cultural and intellectual superiority. Muslim women are framed in the U.S. magazines. The concept of Orientalism has been revisited by some In this context, the present study is the critical discourse scholars in the light of the concept of globalization which analysis (CDA) of how the image of Pakistani Muslim includes the concept for “deterritorialization” and “intercon- women was portrayed in the U.S. magazine, Time, to frame nectedness” (Scheuerman, 2014). These concepts explain the Western ideals as “superior” ones against Islamic ones? that in today’s world, any event in any part of the world also How, in the selected articles in the Time magazine, the images has an effect on other parts of the world. Hence, if anything of Pakistani women were framed as a source of threat or fear happens to “others” also affect the “Us.” This has led to the to the Western ideals of “tolerance” and “liberalism”? belief that Orientalism as an ideology now belongs to a period of history which is behind us, and we are now moving “beyond Orientalism.” The sharp divide between Occident Rationale for Selecting Newsmagazine and Orient is now outdated. Time However, it is also naive to think that the preconditions Reason for selecting newsmagazine in the study is that responsible for the Orientalist discourses are no longer in newsmagazines are considered to be one of the most suc- place. In fact, the divide between West and Islam still exists cessful “new” magazine formulas, or genre. The newsmaga- in new forms and is shaping new paradigm which is called zines compete with the newspapers and existing magazines “neo-Orientalism” (Samiei, 2009). It reflects that Islam and very directly, providing extensive news coverage and com- democracy are not compatible (Samiei, 2009). Islam is mentary. Time magazine is chosen as it is a mainstream, essentialized as the basic reason for the division. Dag Tuastad U.S.-based, prestigious international publication which has (2003) considers portrayal of the Muslims and Arabs in the one of the largest circulation of any newsmagazine. media as “new barbarism.” According to him, this new bar- Furthermore, it represents one of the main opinion leader barism ignores the political and economic interests in the roles in the United States and abroad. Its target audience local contexts and focuses on the political violence as a direct consists of educated and relatively well-off people who have result of deep-rooted cultural factors which spring out from an important decision-making role in American and global Islam. According to Tuastad, the waves of neo-Orientalism society. Its image is that of serious, objective, and in-depth and new barbarism has further divided the West and Islam, coverage of international and domestic affairs, often serving and serve the hegemonic strategies to justify the continuous as a reference on political and business information (Erjavec, political and economic invasion on the Muslim countries 2004). (Tuastad, 2003). Rahman 3 Hellmich further argues that the academic scholarship is media. He elaborates that at one level of analysis, opinions restricted due to oversimplification of Islamic thought. In the and ideologies involve beliefs or mental representations and process of oversimplification of the complexities of Islam, so the approach therefore first takes cognitive perspective. the issues of Islam and Muslims are misunderstood and mis- On the second level, the ideologies and opinions of media are represented (Hellmich, 2008). His contention is that in neo- usually not personal but social, institutional, or political. Orientalism, the local and specific regional movements of This requires an account in terms of social or societal struc- Muslims are all squashed in trying to explain them in one tures. He integrates both approaches into one socio-cognitive homogeneous discourse of Islamist terrorism. All the move- theory that deals with shared social representations and their ments in any Muslim country are considered to be enemies acquisition and uses in social contexts. Further to examine of civilized world. The followers are considered to be “crazy ideologically based opinions in subtle textual expression, the madmen” following an irrational ideology (p. 111). socio-cognitive approach is embedded in a discourse analyti- cal approach. Van Dijk’s (2001) socio-cognitive approach corresponds Theory of Media Hegemony with Said’s analysis of the Orientalist (Western Scholar of the Orientalism may further be enmeshed with the concept of Orient). According to Said, the analysis of the Orientalist is hegemony. In common usage, hegemony means domination also a very effective tool to study Orientalism. Said maintains or rule by one state or nation over another. Rules are based on that the Orientalist is all present in his discussions of the Orient overt power and at times covert power. Hegemony is more and the Orient itself is absent. And the Orientalist’s interpre- subtle and pervasive power delineator (Berger, 2005). Mass tive activity is thus is as a “superior judge, a learned man.” media perpetuates the hegemony of the ruling class through To examine how the superior “Us” discourses of the ideology. Ideology in this context means a view of the world United States are hidden while framing the images of or social reality which is manufactured and manipulated for Pakistani Muslim women, the researcher uses the socio-cog- specific purposes. nitive interface theory projected by van Dijk. According to Orientalism and neo-Orientalism corresponds with the the framework sketched by van Dijk (adapted to the research- concept of hegemony by sharing the assumption of a supe- er’s requirement of the study), a non-Muslim, Westerner rior “Us” who has to assist and govern the inferior Orient. (male/female) media practitioner while framing a Pakistani This is however not an overt practice in modern times, rather woman keeps in mind the perceived picture of her, Islam, it has been done in subtle ways. This idea has to be sold to the and his or her own personal opinions. He or she then frames Orient to get willing acceptance from the Orient to accept the her in that context which is largely biased in the oriental superiority of Western liberal thought. discourse. Thus theory of media hegemenoy maintains that the These socio-cognitive processes, with underlying racist media reinforce the “dominant ideology” as being normal or discourse production, may be largely unintentional as inten- simply acceptable. It is not realized that the “dominant ideol- tionality is irrelevant in establishing whether discourses or ogy” is in fact a distorted view that has been created to suit other acts may be interpreted as being racist (van Dijk, 2004). the needs or interests of the few. The majority gets a strongly However, these processes of ideological construction are warped view of the world that reinforces the interests of also imbued with power relations, as those who own the those in power at the expense of the majority. The ideologi- structures have the power to represent society according to cal work lies in the patterns within the media texts. Ideas and their norms and values. attitudes that are routinely included in the media become part These theoretical frameworks helps me to deconstruct the of the legitimate public debate. “taken-for-granted” superior “Us” concepts of the United The concept of “dominance” as defined by van Dijk States imbedded in the text while positioning Pakistani (2001) is the exercise of social power by elites, institutions, Muslim women as potentially dangerous. The analysis is or groups that result in social inequality, including political, focused on how they are predominantly represented in terms cultural, class, ethnic, racial, and gender inequality. It is at of socio-cultural differences and how the representation of this crucial point where in hegemony or dominance and Pakistani cultural norms that deviate from dominant norms CDAs merge. As managing the minds of others is essentially and values of the West are demonized and magnified and a function of text and talk, such mind management is not failings of the West are ignored or mitigated (van Dijk, always bluntly manipulative. On the contrary, dominance 1998). Furthermore, it tries to unfold how in the selected may be enacted and reproduced by subtle, routine, everyday articles in overt and covert ways the images of Muslim forms of text and talk that appear natural and quite “accept- Pakistani women are framed to disparage the Islamic values able” (p. 301). against the “superior” the US ideals? Socio-Cognitive Theory CDA: Framework for Analyzing Media Discourse Van Dijk (2001) uses socio-cognitive theory to understand The approach to discourse analysis followed in the study is the complex relation of the three: ideology, opinion, and the CDA of Fairclough and van Dijk. CDA has produced 4 SAGE Open majority of the research into media discourse during the In the written text, I have looked into the headlines, the 1980s and 1990s, and has more or less become the standard overall theme, and the linguistic choices and analyzed how framework for studying the media texts within European lin- the superior “in-group” and inferior “out-group” identities guistics and discourse studies (Bell & Garret, 2001; Wodak, were established in the articles and were given prominence. 2004). CDA is best viewed as a shared perspective encom- With subtle ordering and hierarchization of voices, the dif- passing a range of approaches rather than as just one school ference between the two is maintained. The prominence of thought. According to van Dijk (2001), CDA aims to know given to the two positions was seen by looking into the how exactly the power is exhibited by the powerful speakers beginning, middle, and the end of the article apart from or groups. And if they thus are able to persuade or otherwise assessing the space given to each position. influence their audiences, and which discursive structures Attention was paid to the surrounding features of the posi- and strategies are involved in that process. tion represented in the text. Is the framing done in a subtle To Fairclough (1995), the concept of discourse is to refer manner or is blatantly manipulative? For example, I looked to spoken or written language usage and Fairclough further into the reporting verbs which questioned the credibility of extends it to include other types of semiotic activity, that is, the voice being represented. The way the writer of the article activity that produces meaning, such as visual images (pho- referred to the sources without referring to the context or tography, film, video, etc.) and non-verbal communication. position of the source. To him, language use in any text is simultaneously represen- Similarly, I have looked into the semantic moves—when tative of social identities, social relations, and systems of sometimes one clause may express a proposition that realizes knowledge and belief. one strategy and the next clause is a proposition that realizes Message in the media is expressed not only linguistically the other strategy—typically called “disclaimers” (van Dijk, but also through a visual arrangement of marks on a page. 2001, p. 39). Any form of text analysis that ignores this will not be able to For the analysis of the representation of the two positions, account for all the meanings expressed in texts. In this regard, I point out what was excluded, what is explicit and what is the work of Kress and van Leeuwen (2001) is significant. implicit, and what is foregrounded and what is backgrounded. The writers have considered that layout involves different Through this process, I have tried to look into how the text signifying systems, all serving to structure the text, to bring presupposes a position—what was left unsaid but taken as a the various elements of the page. Along with this, the work given. Presuppositions are what French discourse analysts of Fiske (1982) is used as a guideline for visuals analysis. It call “preconstructed” elements in a text, elements which is said that even if the images are not staged, they still need have been constructed elsewhere in other texts (Fairclough, to be selected in a frame. These selections of the frames then 1995). The unsaid, the presupposed, is of particular impor- shape the interpretation of the world (Fahmy, 2004). tance in ideological analysis. Ideologies are generally embedded within the implicit meaning of a text rather than being explicit. Methodology Similarly, the analyses include the propositions made in From a preliminary analysis, it was concluded that a small the text through lexical choices, syntactic structure of a sen- sample of issues would result in an unfair representation of tence. The strategy of polarization—positive in-group Muslim women coverage. Throughout the selected period, description and negative out-group description—has the fol- stories or pictures of Pakistani Muslim women were distrib- lowing abstract evaluative structure, which is called the ideo- uted in various proportions. If random samples were taken, logical square. If the ideological square is applied, one may the risk of missing important instances of their coverage expect that the “Our” in this case is “American” and “Their” would have been high; therefore, every issue of Time from (Muslim Pakistani woman) will in general tend to be January 1979 till December 2002 was chosen to isolate any described at a lower, more specific level, with many detailed coverage on non-political Pakistani Muslim women as seen propositions. The opposite will be true for “Our bad actions” by average reader. and “their good ones”; which if described at all will be I first carefully examined the Table of Contents for each described in rather general, abstract, and hence distanced issue of Time and browsed through every page to ensure that terms without giving much detail (van Dijk, 2001, p. 33). no coverage on Pakistani Muslim women was missed. Then I have also analyzed the pictures at denotative level, the I selected those items from the entire newsmagazine which first order of signification. Each sign is treated like a phrase had reference of Pakistani women either in the text or in the in a sentence. Second order of signification is in the light of picture. myth and connotation. Along with this, the captions, their To answer the research questions about how the American position, and the type-face, which all underline the connota- ideals were projected as “superior ones” as compared with tions, are also analyzed. Barthes uses the term anchorage to Islamic “inferior ones” using the image of a Pakistani Muslim describe the function of the words used as captions for pho- woman, I analyzed the written text, pictures, and the layout. tographs. This tells us simply what the photograph is of, and Rahman 5 Table 1. Year-Wise Coverage of Pakistani Muslim Women in the Time Magazine (N = 10). Year Image of Muslim Pakistani women 1998 3 2001 2 2002 5 Table 2. Reference of Muslim Pakistani Women in Time Magazine 1979-2002 (N = 10). Reference Frequency % picture only 1 10 text and picture 5 50 Whole story on Muslim women 4 40 thus helps us to locate it accurately within our experience of the world. At the second order, then the words direct the reader to understand the picture in a particular way. They tell the reader, sometimes why the photograph was considered worth taking and frequently how we should read it. They direct the reader toward what Stuart Hall has called a “pre- ferred meaning.” Framing Muslim Pakistani Women The quantitative findings show that in the Time magazine Figure 1. Yes to nukes: Activists gather in Karachi to press from 1998 till 2002 from the total of 57 articles on Pakistan Pakistan to set off its own explosions. which had a reference of Pakistani women, 47 articles were on women politicians, particularly of Ms. Benazir Bhutto, In this article, there is no reference of Pakistani women in the first woman prime minister of Pakistan. Only 10 articles the text. The general theme of the whole article is that how had reference of non-political Pakistani Muslim women. In dangerous it would be for Pakistan to have an atomic bomb. the year 2002, 5 articles were on her and 3 articles appeared In Figure 1, Muslim women in “burqa” (head to toe gar- in the Time Magazine in the year 1998, the year in which ment) are demanding to go nuclear. This demand from the Pakistan tested its first nuclear bomb (Table 1). The increased women who are wearing “burqa,” who are addressed as coverage in the year 2002 can be explained in the context “activists” in the caption, conveys the message that the reli- that after 9/11 the coverage on Muslim world had generally gious women “fanatics” are demanding to go “nuclear” and increased and so was the case with Pakistani women. reinforcing their image as a symbol of potential threat and Further quantitative findings show (Table 2) that out of 10 fear. articles, 1 article did not have any reference of Pakistani The protest paradigm is rooted in the notion that woman in the text but only had her pictures. Four articles media acts as agents of social control, particularly when were exclusively on her. Five articles contained both her ref- the protest group opposes the status quo by attempting to erence in the picture and in the text. For CDA, keeping in change current conditions, norms, and policies. So mind the political context of the years 1998 and 2002, I have depending on the contexts, the more a group deviates selected two articles from these 2 years. One article contains from the status quo regarding its goals, the more likely only a picture of a Pakistani women and the other is the the media will act to marginalize or deplore the group. In whole story on a Pakistani Muslim woman. the present case, protest group of Pakistani Muslim women in burqa is regarded as a deviant group, which Excerpt I challenges the status quo of Western notions of liberal society. The text or picture is considered to be threaten- 1st June, 1998 (Time) ing when the image of Muslim women is used to depict Title: To Test or Not To Test 6 SAGE Open “rising Islamic fundamentalism” demanding nuclear which is explained in the text. In other words, this image of explosion. Muslim women at the top of the article is used as metonymy, According to Kress and van Leeuwen (2001), the elements that is, the meaning can be applied to the whole of Pakistan, (pictures/news story) placed at the top of the page are consid- and it is a reflection of what is happening in Pakistan. The ered to be as “ideal” and those placed at the bottom as the picture signifies that women in burqa are violent and emo- “real.” For something to be ideal means that it is presented as tional, a symbol to be afraid of. The combination of this image the idealized or generalized essence of information. The plac- with an atomic bomb further accentuates the proposition that ing of the picture at the top signifies generalized information, women of Pakistan are a threat to the world peace. Excerpt II 9th September, 2002 (Time) The Muslim Teen Title: MTV or the Muezzin by Tim Mcgirk photographs by Kate Brooks Figure 2. At home in a suburb of Lahore, Pakistan. This story was published exactly a year after the 9/11 of “intolerance” and militancy. The article argues how in the tragedy. Taliban’s government was toppled, and whatever process of “othering,” Pakistan was framed as intolerant, and resistance the United States was facing at that time was from a source of fear. the “Taliban’s who had taken safe haven in Pakistan.” The macro-proposition of the article is apparent in the Though, Pakistan was a strong ally of United States in the title, “MTV or the Muezzin”—a clash between West and war against terrorism, Pakistan was still looked at with sus- Islam, which is depicted in the two symbols MTV, a music picion. This article argues that using an image of a Pakistani Channel, and a Muezzin, a man who calls for prayers (Figure young girl, in an overt and covert manner, Pakistan was pro- 2). This contrast is also one of the popular discourses of the jected as a threat to the U.S. ideals of “tolerance,” “peace,” West about Islam as a religion which stands against all the and “democracy.” This is done by framing Islam as a religion symbols of Western form of entertainment especially music. Rahman 7 This title is further qualified by the topic title at the top “The Muslim Teen” in white font next to the red box. The red color next to the Muslim teen signifies a threat from the Muslim teen. A substantial proportion of media output consists of nar- ratives. One obvious reason why narratives are so prominent in the media is that the very notion of reporting centrally involves recounting past events, that is, telling the story of what happened, and much of media output consists of or includes reports. Journalists don’t get people to see things and to act in certain ways, and aim to entertain. The concept of story suggests this multiplicity of purpose, in that one nor- mally thinks of stories as forms of entertainment and diver- sion, and often fictional rather than factual. Claude Levi-Strauss identified the importance of opposition in the development of narrative structures. He argues stories move from one stage to another by positioning a conflict between two opposing elements or qualities that characters have to resolve. This clash of binary oppositions organizes the narra- tive (Izadi & Saghaye-Biria, 2007). There are two facets of a narrative, one is the actual story, a basic and chronologically ordered series of events includ- ing the participants involved in them; and second is the pre- sentation, the way in which the story is realized and organized as a particular text. The selected article also, in a story form, moves from one stage to another by two elements, West and Islam. The picture of a young girl, who apparently is not a strict follower of Islam, as she is wearing sleeveless dress, is a posed image contributing to the main theme of the article. The way she is positioned and the caption are of main inter- est. The impression in the picture is that she is standing in her house and the backdrop is of the Badshahi Masjid, which is situated in the walled city of Lahore, a very congested, Figure 3. CULTURE CLASH: Spider-Man brightens the café lower-middle class of the city, but from the text and the way where Sana, in red, and her friends hangout in Lahore. she is dressed, it shows that she belongs to an elite society of Pakistan and elite in Lahore does not live in this part of the city. in a fast-food restaurant. In the backdrop, a big poster of The full-page size of the picture and the mid-shot asks for Spider-Man is very prominent. The caption says “CULTURE direct attention of the reader to establish empathy with the CLASH: Spider-Man brightens the café where Sana, in red, image. The pensive look of Sana compels the reader to and her friends hangout in Lahore.” It is also a posed image develop a feeling of involvement. When the caption of the to reinforce the theme of the article. The picture when under- picture is combined with the picture, “At home in a suburb of stood with the caption indicates that though there is a “cul- Lahore, Pakistan,” it reinforces the main theme of the article ture clash,” the “Spider-Man” symbolizing one culture that Sana is at home in Pakistan where Masjid (Mosque) brightens the café, establishing the superiority of U.S. cul- plays an important role. Masjid signifies the theocratic nature ture as against the one where she is living. Spider-Man is also of the country. The contrast of the Masjid is with her dress, an American icon of good against the evil. The presupposi- which is a sleeveless red shirt and casually worn “dupatta” tion in the caption is that had there been no Spider-Man, the (kind of a scarf, an integral part of a typical Pakistani dress café would have been a dull one. This picture of the girls shalwar and kameez), that reinforces the main proposition of sitting under this poster also signifies how the American life- the article where a young Pakistani Muslim woman is in a style dominates the lives of the young girls of Pakistan. dilemma to choose between her “belief” and the West, as the Another interesting feature of this picture is the highlighted presupposition is that the two are in contrast to each other. quote right under the picture. It states “This was hypocrisy. In the second picture (Figure 3), Sana is sitting with her Why is an Afghan’s life worth any less than American’s?” friends, who apparently belong to the same class, This highlighted quote performs two functions: one it 8 SAGE Open Table 3. The Presuppositions of Good and Bad in the Selected The story is set with the Sana’s mothers annoyed com- Text of the Newsmagazine Time. ment, “identity crisis,” who is trying to take an afternoon nap in the midst of “scratchy voice of a muezzin” who is “reviv- Good Bad ing his loud speaker for the afternoon prayer call.” The prop- Western clothing Purdah osition is that the mother is trying to avoid the sound and the Secularism Religion muezzin is “reviving” the “call for prayers,” a symbol for TV Quran religious revivalism. And Sana is in midst of these two oppo- MTV Muezzin site worlds which is apparently quite normal. However a Marriage by choice Arranged marriage turning point comes on September 11, when soon after the America Home “dissolving towers” Muslims were targeted and she had to Fight in Afghanistan Fight against Americans in Afghanistan call her brother in the United States to inquire if he was alright. mitigates the effect of the counter discourse in the form of a Sana believes she has earned the right to think of herself as a quote of Sana placed right under Sana’s picture where she citizen of the world—she has been to the U.S. and has expansive herself is leading two lives. And second, it establishes the tolerant outlook on global affairs. But it has been sorely tested reason for the growing intolerance in the Pakistani society this year, she comes from a line of Punjabi soldiers (her mother The article uses a narrative style to show the binary oppo- is the daughter of a famous army general, her father an economist) and she inherited the dark, piercing eyes of a hunter, sites in the story. The article starts with the everyday routine an a stoic determination she would need in the months after of Sana, which is “typical” of an elite-class routine. The sym- Sept. 11, when she felt caught between Islam and America, the bols used in the first paragraph show that Sana’s lifestyle has two worlds she loves. Rising Islamic militancy in Pakistan made a lot of American influence. The rest of the analysis will her question the roots of her faith, but America’s Military trace how the discourses of the superior “Us” and inferior response to the New York City and Washington attacks made her “them” are located in the article. profoundly disillusioned. “America wanted vengeance by killing Throughout the article, the binary opposites on which the Afghans,” she says, her voice quavering at first—as if she is story narrative revolves are reflected in Table 3. It is interest- uncertain how forthright to be with an American visitor—then ing to note how religious symbols are in the category of bad gaining strength and fluency. “That was wrong. Those Afghans and all the symbols of United States are considered to be were just as innocent as the poor people who died in the World good or superior. Trade towers,” she says. MTV or the Muezzin The presupposition is that United States is the champion of the “tolerant outlook on global affairs.” As Sana has been Just home from school on an ordinary afternoon, Sana Shah, 16, to the United States, she has developed a “tolerant outlook.” plops down her books, shakes out her hair and heads upstairs to She is caught between the two worlds she loves. Notice the watch some TV. She switches the set in her parents’ to Roswell use of binary opposites here: one is Islam and the other is and kicks her younger brother and sister off the couch. “Teenage America. It is not Pakistan and America. It is one faith against identity crises,” grumbles her mother, who is trying to nap on another country. In other words, one can see the implicit the bed. “What nonsense.” proposition, that whatever Islam stands for is the opposite of what America stands for. Also notice that for the “rising This comforting after-school scene could be happening Islamic militancy” no cause is given whereas, the America’s anywhere in America, but outside the bedroom window, wild military response is a reaction to the Islamic militancy. The green parrots are feasting on berries in a Jammun tree, and from phrase rising “Islamic Militancy” also presupposes that mili- a distance comes the scratchy voice of a muezzin revving his loudspeaker for the afternoon prayer call. Sana and her family tancy is inherent in Islam and it is on the rise, making Sana live in a wealthy suburb of Lahore, Pakistan, where her satellite question the “roots of her faith.” television pulls in the standard Pakistani and American fare: MTV, friends, syrupy Pakistani romances, a few minutes of The day after Sept. 11, Sana wanted to wear something special— Oprah until something better comes along. But a year ago, the something defiant—to school. So she pulled on a T shirt that images stopped being such a laugh. said SEEDS OF PEACE. An essay she had written in the spring of 2001 about the plight of Lahore’s street kids had won her a On Sep. 11, Sana and her mother watched the little TV by the trip in August to a Maine camp sponsored by a New York group bed in numb horror. First the dissolving towers, then the furious called Seeds of Peace, which brings together young people from retaliation: Muslim-owned shops in the US being trashed and war-torn regions around the world. “Before going to camp, I burned, Arab-looking cabbies dragged from their cars and was scared. I didn’t want to associate with Jews and Hindus,” beaten. “We were both in shock,” recalls Sana who telephoned recalls Sana. “But we all became good friends.” Swimming in her brother, a student in Ann Arbor, Michigan, that first night to the lake and talking around the campfire late at night, they found make sure he was O.K. that the anger they had brought with them from the war zones Rahman 9 seemed to melt away. When she returned home, not many of her How first others “loved” Osama and then how she includes classmates sympathized with her change of heart. In Pakistan, herself to be in favor of Osama. A contradiction in what she Jews and Hindus were supposed to be the enemy. believed in and what she was showing “for there was a change of heart” after coming from the Seeds of Peace camp. On September 12, it was even worse: Sana still believed in At the camp, the Jews and Hindus had all become “good peace, but few others in her school did. “They’d grab at my T friends.” But back home, not many of class mates “sympa- shirt and say, ‘Is this the peace you made at that fancy camp?’” thized with her change of heart,” as in Pakistan, Jews and she says. “They kept throwing that in my face, and it made me Hindus were supposed to be the enemy. So it is the United want to cry.” States which brought the enemies together otherwise “back home” there is enmity. It was pandemonium that day inside the all-girl Lahore The love for Osama as indicated in the article could not Grammar School, one of the country’s most prestigious places of have been possible, for in Pakistan, girls belonging to such learning. Its curriculum is liberal and Western oriented; its an elite school, which has “liberal” and “Western orientated” students, the daughters of Pakistan’s elite, look upon the U.S. as a second home, a place where relatives routinely find success. curriculum, can’t possibly have “loved” Osama—as he was associated with the Talibans in Afghanistan and Talibans due These are kids who should love America but don’t. After the to their “oppressive” measures toward women were very towers fell, their loyalties were firmly with Osama bin Laden. unpopular in Pakistan, particularly in the class to which Sana “There were girls in my class who loved him,” says Sana. “We belonged. It is hard to accept that girls of this class would all thought Osama was a champion of downtrodden Muslims.” accept Osama as a “champion of downtrodden Muslims.” One fails to understand how author inferred that Osama Between classes, the girls passed around magazines with bin enjoyed such a reputation with them. Laden photographs swooned over his “soulful” eyes. They saw The time sequence context in the article seems manipu- him as a man who walked away from his air-conditioned palace lated for the next day on 12th September when Sana went to to live in a cave in Afghanistan to avenge the wrongs committed school there was a strong reaction against Americans. One against Muslims. “He was our Robin Hood” Sana. “Some of my fails to understand how this is possible for the United States friends defended Bin Laden, because they thought he . . . had decided to attack Afghanistan not the next day but much (missing text) out the bombings, while others thought the U.S. was accusing him unjustly.” Sana belonged to the latter camp. later. The story indicates that there was an immediate hate for America and love for Osama. This contradiction is also The proposition is that though she is for “peace,” after apparent in the text that follows it, in the next paragraph it is 9/11 things are very confusing for her. The dilemma that she mentioned that the decision of the United States to bomb is in after 9/11 is depicted through the shirt she has worn Afghanistan was in October. immediately after the incident. Particular reference to New In October, as the U.S. began Afghan-bombing campaign, public York group called Seeds of Peace also symbolizes that New opinion in Pakistan turned against America, Sana did too. At York stands for peace. And because she has been part of the spotlights near the Lahore, bazaar, she saw vendors have Bin camp, she also believes in peace. Not only this, she is a Laden shirts and posters. She watched protesters spill into the champion of peace for one, she has been to America; second, street and though she didn’t buy the Bin Laden’s paraphernalia she belongs to an educated family; and third, she is studying or attend the Bin Laden’s demonstrations, she found herself in a school which has a “liberal and Western oriented associating with him. “This was hypocrisy. Why is an Afghan’s curriculum.” life worth any less that American’s?” she asks. She felt revengeful The proposition is that on 9/11, even in all girls’ most at the U.S. air strikes, which left hundreds of Afghans dead and prestigious school of Pakistan, there was an uproar and thousands wounded. One of Sana’s class mates, Noami Jamal, chaos. The presupposition is that, it is a prestigious school told how her father, a doctor had tended an Afghan woman in for it has a “liberal and Western oriented” curriculum. So labor who had a piece of shrapnel the size of a spear tip lodged in her from an exploding U.S. bomb. The doctor was able to save these kids “look upon the U.S. as second home” as “a place the mother but not her newborn baby. where relatives routinely find success.” These kids should also “love America” for America welcomes them and is Suddenly, to Sana, America went as being the “next best thing to responsible for their success. The implication is, see how on home” as her mother put it, to being an arrogant bully. Lahore the one side America is benevolent and on the other side, Grammar School affected by the wave of Islamic radicalism. look at “them,” they hate America. They “grab” her shirt, More girls appeared in the class wearing a hijab, the Islamic signifying the aggressive attitude of the girls of her school. head scarf and a few even donned the full head to toe burqa. The sentence “After the towers fell, their loyalties were “Imagine, “says Sana, “burqa in this heat.” In the commons as firmly with Osama bin Laden” indicate that they did not far from the teacher’s eye, these girls tried to draw other students sympathize with the victims of 9/11 but with the person who to their interpretation of the Koran. They stare at girls who wore is responsible for it. Notice the shift in the pronouns of what nail polish. Sana bridled at these wannabe jihadis. “Religion is Sana says, “There were girls,” “We all thought Osama.” something personal to me,” she said “I don’t like it when people 10 SAGE Open tell me what to do—or what to believe.” Sana’s parents are help the Taliban fight the Americans. Their accounts shatter the tolerant but pious, and their example kept her grounded and impression, widely held in the U.S., that it was only ill educated helped resist the radical’s taunts at school. “Parents,” she says fanatics who propped up the regime. Though many Taliban “don’t force me to pray but if I let it slide for a week or read the fighters were like that, among the recruits were also droves of Koran, I feel like I’m losing connection with God.” Pakistanis who know America firsthand, wore American jeans, listened to American rap music, and had American friends—but nonetheless saw Afghanistan as Islam’s battleground against the The proposition is that the U.S. attack on Afghanistan is dark forces. One student says she knows an M.I.T graduate who provoking Muslims especially Muslim girls to “Islamic radi- signed up with the Taliban.” Last I heard, he was in the trenches calism.” And wearing of “hijab” and burqa are signs of Islamic around Mazar-i-Sharif,” the student says. “That was many radicalism. The ridicule of the “burqa” is apparent with Sana’s months back. His family is worried sick.” comment, “Imagine, burqa in this heat.” The secular discourse of “religion” as personal is apparent through her quote. Her The information that the educated elite all have their rela- apparent dislike for the ones who wear burqa is also indicated tives “crossed into Afghanistan” and helping the Taliban is through an indirect quote as “wannabe jihadis.” Notice how an indication of the growing alarming situation in Pakistan. the intolerance of the girls toward those wearing nail polish is This statement is further qualified by stating that the “impres- ridiculed and the intolerance of Sana toward girls wearing sion widely held in the U.S.” is very naïve for it is just not the burqa is justified in the secular discourse: “I don’t like it when “ill-educated” but the “Pakistani’s who knew American first- people tell me what to do—or what to believe.” hand” are also the ones who see Afghanistan as Islam’s bat- The statement, “Sana’s parents are tolerant but pious . . . ” tleground against the “dark force.” Notice how the lexical is an interesting example of disclaimer. Stating that although choice of ill-educated is used instead of uneducated or less her parents are “pious,” they are still “tolerant.” Is the author educated. Hence, the people who are fighting in Afghanistan trying to say that pious people are usually not tolerant and are “ill educated fanatics,” indicating that the fight against here we see an exception? Usually one says he/she is pious the United States in Afghanistan is fought by the misled. The and tolerant. May be author is trying to avoid the word reli- reference to the educated Pakistanis going to Afghanistan is gious. Also it is the tolerant behavior of her parents that also a warning to the readers that don’t trust the Pakistanis keeps her “grounded” not the piousness. even if they are “M.I.T graduates” or wore “American jeans” or listened to “American rap music,” and had “American friends.” Notice how in the sentence “American” is repeated Counter Discourse thrice to give emphasis on the American superior lifestyle. Sana and her friends remain angry at the U.S. for its treatment The wearing of jeans and listening to music and having of Muslims since 9/11. “Once the shock subsides” Sana says, “a American friends is something to take pride in normal course lot of us the Trade Center bombings and makes the U.S. more of life. The proposition of the author is well complemented aware of what is going on in the world, of the frustrations that by the quote in the end where the M.I.T graduate has signed Muslims feel over Palestine, Kashmir, Kosovo.” She is sitting up with the Taliban and “his family is worried sick,” indicat- with some of her friends in the quiet of the school library, surrounded by the works of Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and ing that the youth are taking this step without the consent of Thomas Jefferson. “And what’s so great about these American their parents. values that they’re trying to impose on us?”says Amara Maksood, a vivacious prelaw student. “Is it really liberty? I Counter Discourse watched Oprah the other day. She was talking to pregnant 13-year-old girls who was unmarried, I’m glad I don’t have In November, Sana was invited back to New York by Seeds of those complications in my life.” Peace, and reluctantly, she decides to go. “On CNN and Fox News I kept hearing how Islam was a violent religion, but it’s “That’s right, “says Noami, who wants to study medicine. not, and I felt I had to explain that,” she says. She felt “Americans talk about protecting women’s rights, but have you apprehensive landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport. seen the George Michael video where he has these women on At Customs, which she had always sailed through before, she leashes like dogs? Give me a burqa any day.” was herded into a line with people who, she says were a “little darker. They made the men stand with their hands in the air, and As pointed out by Fairclough, the oppositional discourse they checked every little thing in the bags—and mine too.” White people were being waved through. “I felt bad. Fine let is either omitted altogether or backgrounded by positioning them search, but search everybody, no matter what their skin them in one paragraph in the middle of the report. In the pres- color is,” she says. ent instance, the counter discourse is backgrounded by plac- ing it in the middle of the article. The impact of this counter This is the second paragraph in the whole article that has discourse is also mitigated in the following paragraph. counter discourse. This is also placed in the middle of the article to mitigate its effect. It is preceded by the following As the students talk, it becomes clear that nearly everyone in the paragraph. group has a relative or friend who crossed into Afghanistan to Rahman 11 The dilemma continues: of systems such as Orientalism; to produce such work which would assist readers to make use of Said’s work and produce Sana’s group visited the attack site in lower Manhattan, “the new studies of their own that would illuminate the historical remains like withered old flower,” she remembers, “ It was experience of Muslims and other in a generous and enabling scary, I kept looking at these giant cranes lifting away the rubble mode. and thinking that there were bodies inside, all mangled up, I The study was conducted to examine how systematically, couldn’t take it any longer, I ran way, crying?” Sana wept again, in a particular historical and socio-political context, images and couldn’t stop her tears, at a religious service where she met of Pakistani Muslim women were framed as a threat to the Connie Taylor, whose son, an equity trader, had died in the American lifestyle. It also examined how her image was attack. Later, in a long, soulful email, Sana tried to describe her used to project the Western ideals as “superior” against the experiences to other Seeds of Peace alumni: “I just hope and Islamic ones. For the purpose, from every issue of Time from pray that in light of what’s happening in the world, someday we January 1979 till December 2002, articles either having a materialize this dream of peace for the whole world,” But the battle lines had been drawn. “I got such angry responses,” she Pakistani Muslim woman’s picture or her reference in the says. “An Egyptian boy said Americans deserved it, and an text or the whole article were selected. It was found that in American kid insulted us Muslims.” the year 1998 when Pakistan had its first nuclear test, the number of articles with Pakistani Muslim women’s reference After Sana saw ground zero with her own eyes, her romantic had increased. And second, just after 9/11, in the year 2002, view of bin Laden began to harden. “At first I couldn’t believe coverage on them increased. Hence, two articles from these that he was behind these gruesome attacks,” she says. But the 2 years were selected for the CDA. video gloating over the destruction, turned Sana against him, CDA illustrates that the discursive formations on Muslim “He thought he was a savior of Muslims, but he was warped and Pakistani women were of derogatory “others.” The American wrong,” she says. lifestyle values were considered as “superior” as against the Pakistani lifestyle. In the selected articles, symbol of veil Sana still feels trapped between worlds. Her green SEEDS OF was used either as a symbol of ridicule or of growing Islamic PEACE T shirt has faded, but she still wears it stubbornly, “fundamentalism.” This symbol was also used to frame during those days in Maine before the fall, where she laughed and swam with Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Christian kids, peace Islam as “radical” and “extremist” religion. The proposition seemed to shimmer just above the lake, she can’t see it so easily of the selected articles was that there is an inherent conflict any more. between the United States and Islam. Presupposition has been that America is tolerant in its outlook whereas Islam, She is still a moderate citizen of the world, and she still believes due to its militancy, is intolerant. The American education in peace, but as Islamic militancy spreads in Pakistan, she promotes peace, and the “ill educated” talk of America as an feels she is being forced to take a side. And she doesn’t think she enemy. Furthermore, Islam creates confusion for the edu- can choose America’s. cated Muslim youth, and there is a danger that they will opt for Islamic militancy instead of American liberal values. The love–hate relationship of the young Pakistani’s for Although, there was counter discourse of criticism on the United States is indicated in the passage which is now American society’s discrimination against Muslims and tilting toward hate. In the end, an understood presupposition crime against women, this was insignificant and was miti- is that in Pakistan, “as Islamic militancy spreads,” it is the gated by the surrounding paragraphs. Islamic militancy which will affect the feeling of a “moder- I put forward this proposition that the asymmetrical rela- ate citizen of the World.” Notice the absence of the American tions in the discourse, of superior “Us” and inferior “others” militancy in the last concluding paragraph, which is also the as in case of Pakistani women may be “intentional or unin- cause of her confusion. It is the Islamic militancy which will tentional,” and is creating and fostering divisions. I propose, eventually compel her to be away from her present position through this study on Pakistani Muslim women, that deep- as a “moderate citizen of the world.” A sign of danger, so be rooted myths about Islam, which are responsible for the way on guards against growing Islamic militancy in Pakistan. Muslims in general and Muslim women in particular, that are framed in the media should be unraveled, this might be an effective way through which one can minimize the confron- Conclusion tation. I understand that an average reader cannot discern the This humble effort was made to further the work of Said hidden discourses of superior “Us” and inferior “Others” and (2001) on Orientalism, and to study the historical dynamics gradually absorb the hidden values in the text, that is why it of the experiences of the East and the West at certain point in becomes the responsibility of the media practitioner to be time. The objective was not to play up “the conflict of East more vigilant about the socio-cognitive processes that are and West,” and not an affirmation of warring and hopelessly involved while they are framing others. antithetical identities (p. 339). The objective was, as Said’s An attempt should be made to address the questions—the critique intended, to liberate intellectuals from the shackles sources of confrontation and conflict between the West and 12 SAGE Open Islam; the reasons for the perception of Islam as a threat to Eide, E. (2004).Warfare and dual vision in media discourse. In S. A. Nohrstedt & R. Ottosen (Eds.), U.S. and the others: Global the West and of the West as a threat to the Muslim world; and media images on “the war on terror” (pp. 7-22). Goteborg, the nature of Islamic fundamentalism. Making Islam oppo- Sweden: Nordicom Goteborg University. site of West means that Islam is the opposite of all what the Erjavec, K. (2004). The Newsweek war on terrorism. In S. A. West stands for and vice versa. I argue that we must move Nohrstedt & R. Ottosen (Eds.), U.S. and the others: Global beyond a monolithic worldview that sees Muslims and media images on “the war on terror” (pp. 93-106). Goteborg, Muslim world as a unity. It should be appreciated in its diver- Sweden: Nordicom Goteborg University. sity and complexity. So far “Orientals were rarely seen or Fahmy, S. (2004). Picturing Afghan women: A content analy- looked at; they were seen through, analyzed not as citizens or sis of AP wire photographs during the Taliban regime and even people, but as problems to be solved or confined or—as after the fall of the Taliban regime. International Journal for colonial powers openly coveted their territory—taken over” Communication Studies, 66, 91-112. (Said, 2001, p. 207). What is required is to make an effort to Fairclough, N. (1995). Media discourse. London, England: Edward understand each other. We need to examine the socio-reli- Arnold. gious and political circumstances which lead to the negative Falah, G.-W. (2005). The visual representation of Muslim/Arab images of Islam and particularly of Muslim women. women in daily newspapers in the United States. In G.-W. Falah & C. Nagel (Eds.), Geographies of Muslim women: My analysis provides more support for the Orientalism Gender, religion, and space (pp. 300-320). New York, NY: idea that for a new vision to grow, more substantial and sys- Guilford Press. temic change may need to occur at many levels in the Western Fazaeli, R. (2007). Contemporary Iranian feminism: Identity, society. Media analysts need to look in detail, as propounded rights and interpretations. Muslim World Journal of Human by van Dijk, how social ideologies are framing the everyday Rights, 4(1). Retrieved from http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ practices of social actors like media personnel and, con- mwjhr.2007.4.1/mwjhr.2007.4.1.1118/mwjhr.2007.4.1.1118. versely, how ideologies about Muslim women and Islam are xml being formed and changing through the everyday interaction Fisk, R. (2004). My beating by refugees is a symbol of the hatred and discourse of members in societal contexts of group rela- and fury of this filthy war (A report from Kila Abdullah after tions and institutions like the media. Afghan border ordeal). In S. A. Nohrstedt & R. Ottosen (Eds.), U.S. and the others: Global media images on “the war on Declaration of Conflicting Interests terror” (pp. 51-55). Goteborg, Sweden: Nordicom Goteborg University. The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect Fiske, J. (1982). Introduction to communication studies. London, to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. England: Routledge. Hellmich, C. (2008). Creating the ideology of Al Qaeda: From Funding hypocrites to Salafi-Jihadists. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, The author(s) received no financial support for the research and/or 31, 111-124. authorship of this article. Imtoual, A. S. (2005). Religious racism and the media: Representations of Muslim women in the Australian print References media. Outskirts, 13. Retrieved from http://www.outskirts.arts. uwa.edu.au/volumes/volume-13/imtoual Abu-Lughod, L. (2013). Do Muslim women need saving? Izadi, F., & Saghaye-Biria, H. (2007). A discourse analysis of elite Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. American newspaper editorials: The case of Iran’s nuclear pro- Aly, A. (2005). The AtmosFEAR of terror: Australian Muslims gram. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 31, 140-165. as objects of fear and othering. In Racism in the new world Klaus, E., & Kassel, S. (2005). The way as a way of legitimization. order: Realities of colour, culture and identity (pp. 22- Journalism, 6, 335-355. 28). Queensland, Australia: Multicultural and Community Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (2001). Front pages: (The critical) Development, University of the Sunshine Coast. Retrieved analysis of newspaper layout. In A. Bell & P. Garrett (Eds.), from http://researcho-nline.jcu.edu.au/17905/2/17905_Gopal Approaches to media discourse (pp. 186-219). Oxford, UK: krishan_%26_Babacan_2006_front_pages.pdf Blackwell. Bell, A., & Garret, P. (2001).The discourse structures of news sto- Macdonald, M. (2003). Exploring media discourse. London, ries. In A. Bell & P. Garrett (Eds.), Approaches to media dis- England: Arnold. course (pp. 22-63). Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Marranci, G. (2004). Multiculturalism, Islam and the clash of Berger, A. A. (2005). Media analysis techniques. Thousand Oaks, civilisations theory: Rethinking Islamophobia. Culture and CA: SAGE. Religion, 5, 105-117. Bullock, K. (2000). Challenging media representations of the Mehdi, M. (1994). A Western invention of Arab womanhood: The veil: Contemporary Muslim women’s re-veiling movement. “oriental” female. In H. Afshar (Ed.), Women in the Middle American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 17(3), 22-53. East: Perceptions, realities and struggles for liberation Byng, M. D. (2010). Symbolically Muslim: Media, hijab, and the (pp. 18-58). London, England: The McMillan Press. West. Critical Sociology, 36, 109-129. Mishra, S. (2007). Saving Muslim women and fighting Muslim Darvishpour, M. (2003). “Islamic feminism”: Compromise or men: Analysis of representations in The New York Times. challenge to feminism. Retrieved from http://www2.sociology. Global Media Journal, 6(11), Article 1. su.se/home/Darvishpour/Islamicfeminism.pdf. Rahman 13 Poole, E. (2002). Reporting Islam: Media representation of British Siddiqui, M. A. (1997). Islam, Muslims and media myths and reali- Muslims. London, England: I. B Tauris. ties. Chicago, IL: NAAMPS Publications. Poynting, S., & Mason, V. (2007). The resistible rise of Stabile, C. A., & Kumar, D. (2005). Unveiling imperialism: Media, Islamophobia anti-Muslim racism in the UK and Australia gender, and the war on Afghanistan. Media, Culture & Society, before 11 September 2001. Journal of Sociology, 43, 61-86. 27, 765-782. Poynting, S., & Noble, G. (2004). Living with racism: The experi- Tuastad, D. (2003). Neo-orientalism and the new barbarism thesis: ence and reporting by Arab and Muslim Australians of discrim- Aspects of symbolic violence in the Middle East conflict (s). ination, abuse and violence since 11 September 2001 (Report Third World Quarterly, 24, 591-599. to The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission). van Dijk, T. A. (1998). Critical discourse analysis. Retrieved from Retrieved from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/ http://www.hum.uva.nl/~teun/cda.htm isma-listen-independent-research van Dijk, T. A. (2001). Opinions and ideologies in the press. In Rahman, B. H. (2010). Analysis of Muslim Pakistani political A. Bell & P. Garrett (Eds.), Approaches to media discourse women in Time and Newsweek, 1979-2002. Journal of Media (pp. 21-63). Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Studies, 25(1), 50-65. van Dijk, T. A. (2004). Principles of critical discourse analysis. In Roushanzamir, E. L. (2004). Chimera veil of: “Iranian woman” and M. Wetherell, S. Taylor, & S. J. Yates (Eds.), Discourse theory processes of U.S. textual commodification: How U.S. print media and practice (pp. 300-317). London, England: SAGE. represent Iran. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 28, 9-28. Wodak, R. (2004).Critical discourse analysis. In C. Seale, G. Gobo, Said, E. W. (2001). Orientalism. New Delhi, India: Penguin Books. J. F. Gubrium, & D. Silverman (Eds.), Qualitative research Said, E. W. (2003).The clash of definitions. In E. Qureshi & M. practice (pp. 197-214). London, England: SAGE. A. Sells (Eds.), The new crusades: Constructing the Muslim Zine, J. (2006). Unveiled sentiments: Gendered Islamophobia and enemy (pp. 68-87). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. experiences of veiling among Muslim girls in a Canadian Samiei, M. (2009). Neo-Orientalism? A critical appraisal of chang- Islamic school. Equity & Excellence in Education, 39, ing western perspectives: Bernard Lewis, John Esposito and 239-252. Gilles Kepel (Doctoral thesis). University of Westminster, Author Biography London, England. Retrieved from http://westminsterresearch. wmin.ac.uk/8495/1/Mohammad_SAMIEI_ADDED.pdf Bushra H. Rahman is an assistant professor in the Institute of Scheuerman, W. (2014). Globalization. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Communication Studies, University of the Punjab. Her areas of Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Summer ed.). Retrieved interest are feminism, Islamic feminism, critical discourse analysis, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/globalization/ and media ethics.

Journal

SAGE OpenSAGE

Published: Nov 23, 2014

Keywords: critical discourse analysis; Orientalism; Muslim women; othering; Pakistan; neo-Orientalism

There are no references for this article.