Palestinian Representation in the Mediated Public Sphere
Subsequent Statement of Responsibility
Dunn, Elizabeth
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
Indiana University
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2020
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item
101
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
M.A.
Body granting the degree
Indiana University
Text preceding or following the note
2020
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
The realities and experiences of the Palestinian refugees in the public sphere paradoxically waver between hyper-visibility and invisibility. Largely excluded from the public sphere- inclusion in which is increasingly decided by the "mediatization" of public spaces-Palestinians are creating new, counterpublic spaces to combat historically biased narratives of Palestinians which are perpetuated by global media. Palestinian media aims to inform, but the burgeoning practice of creating documentaries and other consumable, entertaining media-along with the advent of social media-is fueling the creation of both a Palestinian news industry and an entertainment industry that better represents the political and social agency of Palestinians. Though the notion of a Palestinian nation is certainly not new, the ways in which that narrative is being portrayed has changed with the increasing popularity of using media to document the reality of the Israeli occupation, locally circulate information, and advertise globally. Palestinian media spaces produce counter-narratives to the global media narrative, which utilizes a calculated but incomplete portrayal of Palestinians and Palestinian politics. This paper seeks to address the following: 1) Can alternative media created by Palestinians create a true counterpublic? and 2) Does such a counterpublic seek to refute a global narrative of Palestinians or rather is it a valiant attempt to complicate the politics of a subaltern group? In this thesis, I draw attention to the agency of Palestinians in using media to create a new national narrative, gain international attention, and assert legitimacy in the, now mediated, transnational public sphere.