This website was made with the goal of analyzing and explaining the role of the media in perpetuating Islamophobia. To do so, the media in all different forms will be discussed. This includes: art, literature, film and popular culture. By tracking the trends in the Orientalist discourse, we hope to illuminate the role the media has in perpetuating stereotypes.
What is Islamophobia?
The term “Islamophobia” was first created as a concept in a 1997 Runnymede Trust Report. It is defined as “unfounded hostility towards Muslims, and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims.” (Bazian)
WHAT IS ORIENTALISM?
Orientalism, the book published by Edward Said, describes the concept of orientalism which can be defined as "a way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient's special place in European Western experience" (Said 1).
It is the "style of thought based upon an ontological and epistomological distinction made between the 'Orient' and the 'Occident' " (Said 2).