McElroy 1

Austin McElroy
Dr. Kehren
Historical Geography
5/22/17
The Other Islam in the Media

Edward Said wrote Orientalism in 1978 in an attempt to work away from a Eurocentric

model of writing. He looked at how works created what he called othering. His writing was on

the ways that the European or western world pushed what it believed to be right and wrong on

The Orient. The orient was of course a European linguistic social construction that defined the

lands to the east. The Middle East was to Europeans a barbaric land that had to be conquered1.

Said writing was during a time as former colonies were working to find their political identity

and define themselves as nation states. Orientalism offered a subversive criticism of Western

knowledge because it dispelled conventionsand destroyed Western colonial boundaries that

persisted because of Western hegemony2. Said wrote to help former colonies, that had been for

decades defined by their place as a colony, create their own image and break away from imperial

conventions3. Orientalism introduced authors a new way of writing history. The focus was more

on the culture of these places and finding new explanation for historical events by understanding

the players as separate from their colonizers or the colonizers popular perceptions of them.

Saids Orientalism has spawned many works because of its original idea of breaking of

away from understanding how these former colonies and their former colonizers reacted. Instead

the critic fell unto western societies that have normally held what they consider the moral high

ground. Reevaluating these understandings has led many authors to find new ways of

understanding groups. In the article, Edward Said and the Culture of Honour and Shame:

1 Edward W. Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage Books, 2004).

2 Norman Wilson. History in Crisis: Recent Directions in Historiography, (Boston: Pearson, 2014). P. 131-132

3 Wilson, Ibid
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Orientalism and Our Misperceptions of the ArabIsraeli Conflict author Richard Landes argues

that too much of how western society looks at Islamic culture is through a gender studies. But

rather their much to understand more to the Islamic culture4. Using the Arab-Israeli conflict as a

case study the author argues that there is an emphasis on honor in Muslim society. Their honor

society goes back to the medieval Islamic world and means that the defeats inflicted by Israel are

a wrong that need to be righted. The authors say that in Muslim countries no man wishes to

receive charity or pity. He argues that this goes against many liberal politics in the west, who are

misunderstanding the conflict in the Middle East5. Other historians continue to contribute in a

similar way to Landes has. Examining western media has become especially insightful to some

authors how look back on Americas film library and pick apart the orientalists narratives that

some create.

Historian Delia Konzett uses the theory of orientalism to examine World War II films

during Hollywoods golden age. Looking at the films Bataan (1943) and Thirty Seconds Over

Tokyo (1944) argues that we see the orientalism developing in American film narratives6. The

film pulls inspiration from the American defense of the Bataan peninsula from the Japanese army

during World War II. The narrative of the film reinforces popular conception and discourses of

race unto the big screen. The films are not trying to promote any type of social Darwinism since

they include minorities of Hispanics and Blacks in the role of heroes. But the film makes those

characters into caricatures of their race. The films help to create a multiethnic America that is

4 Richard Landes, Edward Said and the Culture of Honour and Shame: Orientalism and Our Misperceptions of the
Arab-Israeli Conflict, Israel Affairs 13, no. 4 (October 2007): 84458.

5 Landes, Ibid

6 Delia Konzett, War and Orientalism in Hollywood Combat Film, Quarterly Review of Film & Video 21, no. 4
(October 2004): 32738.
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easy to understand. These films also to reinforce idea of Americas involvement in Asia. It is the

duty of the American military to spread democracy and freedom to East Asia7. This trend of

spreading democracy will develop more as media beings to take a larger role in the world with

the information boom of the 21st century.

Coeli Fitzpatrick expands on this idea of examining orientalism in film. The article New

Orientalism in Popular Fiction and Memoir: An Illustration of Type brings the discussion of how

modern Islam is seen in a post 9/11 Western media world. Fitzpatrick uses the framework of new

orientalism which employs many of the same problematic formulations as Orientalism, but

differs most significantly in that it relies on native or semi-native narratorsto relate the same

kind of problematic generalizations about a region as classical Orientalism had done8 to

examine novels written by natives that are critical of their home culture. Fitzpatrick points to

novels of Reading Lolita in Tehran (2003), A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007), and In the Rose

Garden of the Martyrs (2005) as good examples of media that follows within new orientalism.

The novels are written by natives of the Islamic world but are very critical of that culture. The

authors have their own beliefs are critical from an insider perspective. Fitzpatrick argues that

western society sees these criticisms and paints the culture to be them9. Or the criticism

reinforces perceived prejudices about the Islamic culture as being repressed, sexist, or

totalitarian. As media continues to change in the 21st at a rapid rate; so too does orientalism

change in its discussion to include new ideas and form of media.

7 Konzett, War and Orientalism in Hollywood Combat Film,.

8 Coeli Fitzpatrick, New Orientalism in Popular Fiction and Memoir: An Illustration of Type, Journal of
Multicultural Discourses 4, no. 3 (November 2009): 245.

9 Fitzpatrick, Ibid
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Mohammad Samiei builds off the Saids theory of orientalism. Samiei tries to build off the

Orientalist ideas of the West vs. East narrative but in using more current trends and examples to

create the idea of neo-orientalism10. Most contemporary social analyses show a consensus

about some basic rudiments of the concept; among them are deterritorialisation and the growth of

interconnectedness11 The author brings in this idea of interconnectedness as one of the most

important development since Said wrote Orientalism in 1979. The civilization is no longer

defined as much by territory but rather are more defined by their culture. The West and Islam

relationship is now more defined by how the cultures interact with one and other. The great

examples of how this shift has happened is in the media (i.e. magazines, newspapers, film, and

television) which has dominated culture and ideas.

In the paper Representing Islam in the age of neo-orientalism: Media, politics and identity,

Mazhar Al-Zoby builds off of neo-orientalism but brings the focus on how Muslim communities

are affected by this new media control of ideas. 12 In the article the author breaks down three

points, first laying out the theory on media hegemony in the United States. Media hegemonic

interpretations produced by the elites/expertsfunction also as a source of power that

reauthorizes their perspectives as objective knowledge.13 Author Al-Zoby then discusses the

theory that neo-orientalism of Islamic culture began in with the end of the Cold War and the First

Gulf War. American media attention began to be more involved with Islamic community as

10 Mohammad Samiei, Neo-Orientalism? The Relationship between the West and Islam in Our Globalised World,
Third World Quarterly 31, no. 7 (October 2010): 114560.

11 Mohammad Samiei, Ibid, P.1148

12 Mazhar Al-Zoby, Representing Islam in the Age of Neo-Orientalism: Media, Politics and Identity, Journal of
Arab & Muslim Media Research 8, no. 3 (September 2015): 21738,

13 Al-Zoby, Representing Islam in the Age of Neo-Orientalism: Media, Politics and Identity, P.221
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military forces were moving on Baghdad. Interviews with so called good Muslims also

followed the rise in attention. This trend increased dramatically after the 9/11 attacks and the

invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. This led to increase in terms that were familiar to the medias

native audience (such as using the term ISIS instead of Daesh).14 The author also contests that in

this neo-orientalist world the media created the conflict in Arab countries to be more about a war

of culture. Neo-orientalism, in this enterprise, becomes the ideological logic in Americas neo-

imperial designs and missions, especially in the Arab and Muslim World. Official and unofficial

American narratives posited an Islamic peril that was not only a political and security obstacle

but a cultural and civilizational one also.15

Various studies and writings have been done on both how western media has portrayed

Islma on the effect that has on both cultures. In a study done to see what types of coverage the

media was giving the Shia and Sunni sects found that how the sects were covered depended on

their association with well-known terror group. The only the publications the researchers studied

were the American Washington Post and the Canadian Global and Mail. The Washington Post

was found to be more negative towards Sunni Islam, which the author speculated was due to the

association with the Al Qaeda. The authors believed Shia Muslims were not viewed in a negative

light due to their popular perception to be the enemy of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein,

and as such this sect was considered to have an important stake in post-Saddam Iraq. 16 This

point provides a small piece of evidence to author Mazhar Al-Zobys claim that the media

14 Al-Zoby, Ibid

15 Al-Zoby, Ibid, P.224

16 Aziz Douai and Sharon Lauricella, The Terrorism Frame in Neo-Orientalism: Western News and the Sunni-
Shia Muslim Sectarian Relations after 9/11, International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics 10, no. 1 (March

2014): P. 18
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pushes the popular image of a good Muslim. The researchers also noted that most statements in

the paper came from government sources. And most articles with Islam in them involved the

war on terror in some way.

The coverage of Islam in the media continues as author Tim Jon Semmerling looks at

how The Atlantic covers orientalism fears of Islamic culture. Seemerling finds that The Atlantic

articles tell of Muslim invasion, future Muslim destruction and murder in America, a Muslim

nuclear attack, and our impending defeat in Iraq17. The articles all supports an idea of evil

Muslims out against western society. Many loose scenarios are created by the authors of the

articles as to how Muslim could attack United States citizens and undermine efforts of trying to

improve understanding of Islamic culture. For example, an article titled Victory without Success

the author criticizes any attempting to under the mindset of Al-Qaeda; for we should be learning

to understand how they think so that we can prevent them from obtaining a nuclear device.

American resources should not be spent on shoe bombers but rather on ensuring the terrorist

cannot vaporize an American city with a nuclear device. A map then follows with details on what

the blast radius would look like if the bomb went off in downtown Chicago 18. This, the author

says, show the intentionality of the editors of the publication. The editors are clearly trying to

create a fear of what could happen and reinforcing in both text and visual. The author argues that

these attempts to create a fear of what Muslims could do is a similar theme in many of the

articles that he writes on.

In Military Orientalism at the Cineplex: A Postcolonial Reading of Zero Dark Thirty

Marouf Hasian examines how the decision of the producers lead to the film Zero Dark Thirty to

17 Tim Jon Semmerling, Those Evil Muslims! Orientalist Fears in the Narratives of the War on Terror, Journal
of Muslim Minority Affairs 28, no. 2 (August 2008): P. 222.

18 Semmerling, Ibid
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put become a film that justifies the use of torture and secretive military strikes to the public. The

author examines the film through with orientalism in mind and finds that American values and

achievement are at put into the limelight in a film that involves a revolving cast of Muslim

actors. Film takes audiences along the journey of killing Osama Bin Laden which is

accomplished through American determinism. The main focus is the American individuals that

come to improve the condition of Pakistan. 19 Hasian argues that Western ideals of hard work,

individual accomplishment, and rebelling against large bureaucracies are all over the film that

glorifies the manhunt of Osama Bin Laden. This film does not stop to ask what good the killing

would do or how those the inhabitants of Pakistan feel about this.

The original concept of Orientalism has adapted and changed over time to include many

new forms of media. It has also developed to bring in new perceptive and ways of understanding

since it was originally written in 1979. Authors have taken on various forms of media in order to

understand how the project orientalist ideals. Some are unintentional understanding; while other

are more fear mongering. Understanding orientalism in media can help both filmmakers and

audience members better interpret media. One area that the writers of this literature missed is

how filmmaking techniques affect the message that is being told. Media is so much more than

the words of an interview or a script. The question that is left is what does the camera angle,

costume design, or set pieces say? How do the symbols used in media relate to orientalism?

19 Marouf A. Hasian, Military Orientalism at the Cineplex: A Postcolonial Reading of Zero Dark Thirty, Critical
Studies in Media Communication 31, no. 5 (December 2014): 46478.
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Bibliography

Al-Zoby, Mazhar. Representing Islam in the Age of Neo-Orientalism: Media, Politics and Identity.
Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research 8, no. 3 (September 2015): 21738.

Douai, Aziz, and Sharon Lauricella. The Terrorism Frame in Neo-Orientalism: Western News and
the Sunni-Shia Muslim Sectarian Relations after 9/11. International Journal of Media &
Cultural Politics 10, no. 1 (March 2014): 724.

Fitzpatrick, Coeli. New Orientalism in Popular Fiction and Memoir: An Illustration of Type.
Journal of Multicultural Discourses 4, no. 3 (November 2009): 24356.

Hasian, Marouf A. Military Orientalism at the Cineplex: A Postcolonial Reading of Zero Dark
Thirty. Critical Studies in Media Communication 31, no. 5 (December 2014): 46478.

Kitamura, Hiroshi. Hollywoods New Orientalism: The Case of Tokyo File 212 (1951). Historical
Journal of Film, Radio & Television 29, no. 4 (December 2009): 50522.

Konzett, Delia. War and Orientalism in Hollywood Combat Film. Quarterly Review of Film &
Video 21, no. 4 (October 2004): 32738.

Landes, Richard. Edward Said and the Culture of Honour and Shame: Orientalism and Our
Misperceptions of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Israel Affairs 13, no. 4 (October 2007): 84458.

Said, Edward W. Orientalism, New York: Vintage Books, 2004.

Samiei, Mohammad. Neo-Orientalism? The Relationship between the West and Islam in Our
Globalised World. Third World Quarterly 31, no. 7 (October 2010): 114560.

Semmerling, Tim Jon. Those Evil Muslims! Orientalist Fears in the Narratives of the War on
Terror. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 28, no. 2 (August 2008): 20723.

Wilson, Norman James. History in Crisis?: Recent Directions in Historiography. Boston: Pearson,
2014.