عنوان

Captives and their monsters: Use of captivity narratives in the construction of the imagined Muslim monster

Number

TL48872

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Captives and their monsters: Use of captivity narratives in the construction of the imagined Muslim monster

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Mary Ellen Stout

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

DeVos, Paula

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

San Diego State University

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2016

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

151

Text of Note

Place of publication: United States, Ann Arbor; ISBN=978-1-339-86281-1

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

M.A.

Discipline of degree

History

Body granting the degree

San Diego State University

Text preceding or following the note

2016

Text of Note

Popular culture and mass media in the United States during times of crisis, anxiety, fear, and emasculated frustration have constructed and perpetuated the Muslim male as the monstrous other in order to regain national masculinity, spur patriotic military action, and justify atrocities that would otherwise be outside the realm of morality and social norms. Monsters historically have been constructed to explain the unknown, the unexplainable, and the intolerable. They mirror societies' greatest fears. Monsters have also been used as a warning to society, as an explanation for an unexplainable creature or human defect, or to incite violence against an enemy. In times of war, the adversary is often presented in the form of the monster to dehumanize the enemy. While this phenomenon has been exacerbated in the aftermath of 9/11, the monstering of Muslims has existed since before the time of the Crusades. Using Jeffrey Cohen's Monster Theory, as well as Michel Foucault's theories on discourse, power, and knowledge and the critical theories of Edward Said, this thesis unveils the power of the media on multiple levels to incite public discourse and use the abject to construct Muslims as the enemy. This research focuses on the use of captivity narratives in the periods surrounding the Barbary Wars, the Iran Hostage Crisis, and the "War on Terror" by print media, art, academics, television news, and movies and reveals that in times of national crisis against the Muslim adversary, U.S. popular culture and mass media constructed the Muslim male as a monster in order incite and justify violence, war, and torture.

Middle Eastern history; American history; Communication; World History

Subject Term

Social sciences;Communication and the arts

Sajjadi, Seyedehparisa

DeVos, Paula

Subdivision

History

San Diego State University

Call Number

1811622514; 10128269

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y