scholarly journals Reframing the Arabic Narratives on Daesh in the English Media: The Ideological Impact

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-93
Author(s):  
Nael F. M. Hijjo ◽  
Surinderpal Kaur ◽  
Kais Amir Kadhim

AbstractThis paper discusses the dynamic role of translators in possibly promoting certain ideologies and political agendas by presenting stories through the lens of an ideologically laden meta-narrative. It compares the representation of ‘Daesh’ in the narratives of Arabic editorials and their English translations published by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). MEMRI is a pro-Israeli organization, widely cited by leading Western media outlets, especially in the US. The study adopts the narrative theoryinformed analysis of Baker (2006) as its theoretical framework to examine how narrative is used to legitimize, normalize, and justify certain actions to the public. The findings suggest that through translation, MEMRI draws upon the meta-narrative of the War on Terror in furthering its ideologically laden agenda of terrorist Arabs and Muslims by publishing selective and decontextualized excerpts and mistranslation of concepts such as Daesh (داعش), Jihad (جهاد), and Jizya (جزية).

Author(s):  
Nael F. M. Hijjo ◽  
Ali Almanna

Abstract Many an ethically minded translator would think twice or thrice prior to translating an ideologically loaded text as they need to reflect the encoded ideologies of the original narrative in the target narrative. Yet, some translators decide, for different reasons, to undermine and challenge the narratives in question, thus applying various reframing strategies to superimpose certain directionality on the original narratives. This paper, therefore, examines the English translations of the Arabic editorials on Daesh (ISIS), published by the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) that has a large impact on the US policy and the public. In this paper, we explain how media translation contributes to (re)framing the current civil war in Syria on the one hand, and how this promotes the narrative of ‘Arab and Muslim terrorists’ on the other. The study finds that by relying on the narrativity feature of selective appropriation, MEMRI extensively employs the textual reframing tools, i.e., addition and omission, thus promoting different narratives of the civil war. We propose that rival narratives could be circulated through translation where the translators reframe the original narratives and reconstruct the embedded narrativity features that, in turn, renegotiate the original arguments.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 797-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne Suldovsky ◽  
Asheley Landrum ◽  
Natalie Jomini Stroud

In an era where expertise is increasingly critiqued, this study draws from the research on expertise and scientist stereotyping to explore who the public considers to be a scientist in the context of media coverage about climate change and genetically modified organisms. Using survey data from the United States, we find that political ideology and science knowledge affect who the US public believes is a scientist in these domains. Our results suggest important differences in the role of science media attention and science media selection in the publics “scientist” labeling. In addition, we replicate previous work and find that compared to other people who work in science, those with PhDs in Biology and Chemistry are most commonly seen as scientists.


Author(s):  
Rowland Atkinson ◽  
Sarah Blandy

This chapter considers the meaning and importance of more psychological aspects of the private home. Homeownership has been argued to provide us with a deep sense of security of being in troubled times, when trust in community has been lost. Psychoanalytic and sociological theories of consumption practices are used here to examine the role of psychic development as it occurs within the home. Two functions of the home in particular are examined here, illustrated through fairy stories, fiction and films. First, the home's role as a bridge or mediator to the public world outside the home, meaning that a child's preparation for the outside world is largely dependent on parental perceptions of risk and insecurity. Second, the private (fearful) world inside what Freud termed the unheimlich home, hiding dreadful secrets. The current emphasis on control of outsiders' access to the home, and the developing culture of respecting others' homes as entirely private places, may make the home a domestic prison for its less powerful residents: women and children. Feminist analyses of the development of gender roles in the home and data on domestic violence show the dark underbelly of the sanctified private home. Although some homes are havens, others can be the site of domestic slavery and even more disturbing examples of power and abuse, such as Fred West, and the imprisonment of Fritzl's daughter in Austria and Jaycee Dugard in the US.


2020 ◽  
pp. 217-230
Author(s):  
Philip Garnett ◽  
Sarah M. Hughes

In this chapter, Garnett and Hughes focus on the role of big data in accessing information from public inquiries. Looking at the Chelsea Manning court martial in the US and the Leveson Inquiry in the UK, they argue that the manner in which information pertaining to inquiries is made public is, at best, unsatisfactory. They propose a variety of means to make this information more accessible and hence more transparent to the public through employing big data techniques.


Author(s):  
Piers Robinson

This chapter examines the relevance of media and public opinion to our understanding of foreign policy and international politics. It first considers whether public opinion influences foreign policy formulation, as argued by the pluralist model, or whether the public are politically impotent, as argued by the elite model. It then explores whether the media can influence foreign policy formulation, as argued by the pluralist model, or whether the media are fundamentally subservient to the foreign policy process, as argued by the elite model. It also integrates these competing arguments with theoretical frames used in the study of international relations: namely, realism, liberalism, and critical approaches (including constructivism and post-structuralism). The chapter concludes by discussing contemporary debates concerning organized persuasive communication and the ‘war on terror’.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Müller

Much of the academic debate surrounding the War on Terror focuses on presidential power after 9/11. In this context, the role of the US Congress in directing the outcome of national security policies is often overlooked. This book illustrates how Congress played a key role in the War on Terror during Barack Obama’s presidency. Instead of arguing that Congress was a compliant bystander and incapable of making successful counterterrorism policy, the legislative branch did more than hand the president a blank check. In using an innovative data set on congressional debates and policymaking, the book shows that the interaction between congressional entrepreneurs and senior committee/party leaders determined the outcome of controversial policies, including drone warfare, Guantanamo and the NSA’s mass surveillance activities.


1986 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-335 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Adler

The recent reemergence of the private sector in urban transit, as well as private-sector-like behavior in the public sector, are manifestations of profound political and fiscal crises that are reshaping the service and institutional structure of the US transit industry, These crises developed as coalitions of competing place-based activists sought to deploy transit investments as strategic weapons to gain location advantages, The history and politics of transit in the intensely competitive Los Angeles metropolitan area illuminate these dynamics, especially the continuing conflict between downtown Los Angeles and outlying business centers on the issues of rail rapid transit and the role of the regional bus transit agency. Privatization and institutional fragmentation, facilitated in Los Angeles by passage of a transit sales tax in 1980, are the strategies of choice for outlying business centers, just as region-wide agencies and radial rail rapid transit systems have been downtown initiatives.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mordechai Chaziza

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Israel in 1992, their relations have warmed up and developed rapidly in diverse areas. This study offers a new theoretical framework, strategic hedging behavior, for analyzing Sino-Israel relations, in order to understand the nature and scope of the hedging relationship between China and Israel. What impact will China’s hedging relationship with Israel have on Washington’s dominance in the Middle East region? The study asserts that this relationship is limited to economics and technology, and China’s relations with Israel cannot replace Israel’s strategic and special relationship with the US. However, the future of the hedging relationship countries is highly sensitive to the evolution of US–China relations in the Middle East and other areas.


2006 ◽  
Vol 80 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
Timothy S. Chin

Analyses the novel 'Brown girl, brownstones' (1959) by Paule Marshall. Author argues that this novel offers a complex and nuanced understanding of how Caribbean migration impacts upon cultural identity, and how this cultural identity is dynamically produced, rather than static. He describes how the novel deals with Barbadian migrants to the US in the 1930s and 1940s, and further elaborates on how through this novel Marshall problematizes common dichotomies, such as between the public and the private, and between racial (black) and ethnic (Caribbean) identity. Furthermore, he indicates that Marshall through her representation of the Barbadian community, foregrounds the central role of women in the production of Caribbean identity in the US. In this, he shows, Bajan women's talk from the private sphere is very important. Further, the author discusses how the Barbadian identity is broadened to encompass Caribbean and African Americans in the novel, thus creating transnational black diaspora connections, such as by invoking James Baldwin and Marcus Garvey.


10.2196/19145 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. e19145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles E Basch ◽  
Corey H Basch ◽  
Grace C Hillyer ◽  
Christie Jaime

Background Effective community mitigation through voluntary behavior change is currently the best way to reduce mortality caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This study builds on our prior study based on the scientific premise that YouTube is one of the most effective ways to communicate and mobilize the public in community mitigation to reduce exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Objective Because of the rapidly changing nature of YouTube in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a follow-up study to document how coverage of preventive behaviors for effective community mitigation has changed. Methods A successive sampling design was used to compare coverage of behaviors to mitigate community transmission of COVID-19 in the 100 most widely viewed YouTube videos in January 2020 and March 2020. Results Videos in the January and March samples were viewed >125 million times and >355 million times, respectively. Fewer than half of the videos in either sample covered any of the prevention behaviors recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but many covered key prevention behaviors and were very widely viewed. There were no videos uploaded by entertainment television in the January sample, but this source comprised the majority of videos and garnered the majority of cumulative views in the March sample. Conclusions This study demonstrates the incredible reach of YouTube and the potential value of partnership with the entertainment industry for communicating and mobilizing the public about community mitigation to reduce mortality from the COVID-19 viral pandemic.


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