Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T23:57:16.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - The Construction of Threat of “Islamist Terrorism” in German Newspapers

from Part I - Conflict Discourse in Newspaper Reporting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2022

By
Enis Bicer ,
Lina Brink  and
Alejandra Nieves Camacho
Edited by
Innocent Chiluwa
Innocent Chiluwa
Affiliation:
Covenant University, Nigeria
Get access

Summary

Media discourse about Islamist terrorism can be understood as an important source for the construction of meaning and reality. This chapter aims to explore the different meanings of threat constituted by the media discourse about Islamist terrorism. Additionally, it seeks to shed light on the role of anti-Muslim stereotypes and racism in the discursive construction of meaning and knowledge. Therefore, this study examines the discourse on three terrorist events from the years 2015 and 2016 gathered from four major German newspapers. By applying the Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD), the findings reveal three interpretive schemes about threats associated with Islamist terrorism and their different references to anti-Muslim stereotypes and racism.

Keywords

Discourse analysissociology of knowledge approach to discourseIslamist terrorismthreatanti-Muslim racismconstruction of meaningmedia coverage
Type
Chapter
Information
Discourse, Media, and Conflict
Examining War and Resolution in the News
 , pp. 47 - 68
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adoni, Hanna, and Mane, Sherrill. 1984. “Media and the Social Construction of Reality: Toward an Integration of Theory and Research.” Communication Research 11(3): 323–340. DOI: 10.1177/009365084011003001.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahmed, Saifuddin, and Matthes, Jörg. 2017. “Media representation of Muslims and Islam from 2000 to 2015: A Meta-Analysis.” International Communication Gazette 79(3): 219–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, Christopher. 2010. Islamophobia. Farnham: Ashgate.Google Scholar
Ates, Seref. 2006. “Das Islambild in den Medien nach dem 11. September 2001.” In Massenmedien, Migration und Integration. Herausforderungen für Journalismus und politische Bildung, ed. by Butterwegge, Christoph and Hentges, Gudrun, 153–172. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Attia, Iman. 1994. “Antiislamischer Rassismus: Stereotypen – Erfahrungen – Machverhältnisse.” In Aus der Werkstatt: Anti-rassistische Praxen. Konzepte, Erfahrungen, Forschung, ed. by Jäger, Siegfried, 210–228. Duisburg: DISS.Google Scholar
Attia, Iman. 2009. Die “westliche Kultur” und ihr Anderes. Bielefeld: Transcript.Google Scholar
Attia, Iman, Häusler, Alexander, and Shooman, Yasemin. 2014. Antimuslimischer Rassismus am rechten Rand. Münster: Unrast-Verlag.Google Scholar
Attia, Iman, Köbsell, Swantje, and Prasad, Nivedita (eds.). 2015. Dominanzkultur Reloaded. Neue Texte zu gesellschaftlichen Machtverhältnissen und ihren Wechselwirkungen. Bielefeld: Transcript (Sozialtheorie).Google Scholar
Bayrakli, Enes, and Hafez, Farid (eds.). 2019. European Islamophobia Report 2018. Available online at www.islamophobiaeurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/EIR_2018.pdf.Google Scholar
Benz, Wolfgang. 2012. “Vorurteile gegen Muslime – Feindbild Islam.” In Vorurteile: Ursprünge, Formen, Bedeutung, ed. by Pelinka, Anton, 205–220. Berlin: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Benz, Wolfgang. 2017. “Antiislamische Diskriminierung.” In Handbuch Diskriminierung, ed. by Scherr, Albert, El-Mafaalani, Aladin, and Yüksel, Gökçen, 511–527. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, Peter L., and Luckmann, Thomas. 1967. The Social Construction of Reality. A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge. New York: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
Bock, Andreas M. 2017. “Islamistischer Terrorismus. Die konstruierte Bedrohung.” Zeitschrift für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik 10(2): 245–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brunner, Claudia. 2011. Wissensobjekt Selbstmordattentat. Epistemische Gewalt und okzidentalistische Selbstvergewisserung in der Terrorismusforschung. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.Google Scholar
Chermak, Steven M., and Gruenewald, Jeffrey. 2006. “The Media’s Coverage of Domestic Terrorism.” Justice Quarterly 23(4): 428–461. DOI: 10.1080/07418820600985305.Google Scholar
Cinnirella, Marco. 2012. “Think ‘Terrorist’, Think ‘Muslim’? Social-Psychological Mechanisms Explaining Anti-Islamic Prejudice.” In Islamophobia in the West. Measuring and Explaining Individual Attitudes, ed. by Helbling, Marc, 179–189. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Corbin, Juliet M., and Strauss, Anselm. 2015. Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory, 4th ed. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
El-Menouar, Yasemin. 2019. “Der Islam im Diskurs der Massenmedien in Deutschland.” In Antimuslimischer Rassismus und Islamfeindlichkeit, ed. by Uçar, Bülent and Kassis, Wassilis, 169–184. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.Google Scholar
Fekete, Liz. 2009. A Suitable Enemy. Racism, Migration and Islamophobia in Europe. London: Pluto.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel (ed.). 1982. I, Pierre Rivière, Having Slaughtered My Mother, My Sister, and My Brother. a Case of Parricide in the 19th Century. Reprint New York 1975. Lincoln, NE : University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Galtung, Johan, and Ruge, Mari Holmboe. 1965. “The Structure of Foreign News.” Journal of Peace Research 2(1): 64–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafez, Farid. 2012. “Islamophobie und die deutschen Bundestagsparteien: Eine Analyse vom 27. Oktober 2009 bis 9. Juni 2011.” In Verhärtete Fronten: Der schwere Weg zu einer vernünftigen Islamkritik, ed. by Schneiders, Thorsten Gerald, 57–67. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.Google Scholar
Hafez, Farid. 2019. “Antimuslimischer Rassismus und Islamophobie: Worüber sprechen wir?” In Antimuslimischer Rassismus und Islamfeindlichkeit, ed. by Uçar, Bülent, and Kassis, Wassilis, 57–76. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hafez, Kai, and Sabrina, Schmidt. 2015. Die Wahrnehmung des Islams in Deutschland. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung.Google Scholar
Hall, Stuart. 1992. “The West and the Rest: Discourse and Power.” In Formations of Modernity, ed. by Hall, Stuart and Gieben, Bram, 275–320. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Helbling, Marc (ed.). 2012. Islamophobia in the West. Measuring and Explaining Individual Attitudes. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ide, Tobias. 2018. “Using SKAD to Investigate Cooperation and Conflict over Water Resources.” In The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse. Investigating the Politics of Knowledge and Meaning-Making, ed. by Keller, Reiner, Hornidge, Anna-Katharina, and Schünemann, Wolf J., 237–253. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jaspal, Rusi, and Cinnirella, Marco. 2010. “Media Representations of British Muslims and Hybridised Threats to Identity.” Contemporary Islam 4(3): 289–310. DOI: 10.1007/s11562-010-0126-7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jirschitzka, Jens, Haußecker, Nicole, and Frindte, Wolfgang. 2010. “IV Mediale Konstruktion II: Die Konstruktion des Terrorismus im deutschen Fernsehen – Ergebnisdarstellung und Interpretation.” In Inszenierter Terrorismus, ed. by Frindte, Wolfgang and Haußecker, Nicole, 81–119. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kearns, Erin, Betus, Allison, and Lemieux, Anthony. 2019. “Why Do Some Terrorist Attacks Receive More Media Attention Than Others?” Justice Quarterly 36(6): 985–1022.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, Reiner. 2011. “The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse (SKAD).” Human Studies 34(1): 43–65.Google Scholar
Keller, Reiner. 2012. “Entering Discourses: A New Agenda for Qualitative Research and Sociology of Knowledge.” Qualitative Sociology Review 8(2): 46–75.Google Scholar
Keller, Reiner. 2013. Doing Discourse Research. An Introduction for Social Scientists. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, Reiner. 2018. “The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse. An Introduction.” In The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse: Investigating the Politics of Knowledge and Meaning-Making, ed. by Keller, Reiner, Hornidge, Anna-Katharina, and Schünemann, Wolf J., 16–47. Abingdon: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pfetsch, Barbara, Eilders, Christiane, Neidhardt, Friedhelm, and Stephanie, Grübl. 2004. “Das ‘Kommentariat’: Rolle und Status einer Öffentlichkeitselite.” In Die Stimme der Medien. Pressekommentare und politische Öffentlichkeit in der Bundesrepublik, ed. by Eilders, Christiane, Neidhardt, Friedhelm, and Pfetsch, Barbara, 39–73. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.Google Scholar
Poole, Elizabeth. 2002. Reporting Islam. Media Representations of British Muslims. London: Tauris.Google Scholar
Rommelspacher, Birgit. 1995. Dominanzkultur: Texte zu Fremdheit und Macht. Berlin: Orlanda.Google Scholar
Said, Edward W. 1981. Covering Islam. How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World, 1st ed. New York: Pantheon Books.Google Scholar
Said, Edward W. 1985. “Orientalism Reconsidered.” Cultural Critique 1: 89–107. DOI: 10.2307/1354282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Said, Edward W. 2003. Orientalism. Reprinted with a new Preface. London: Penguin.Google Scholar
Schmid, Alex P. 2011. “The definition of terrorism.” In The Routledge Handbook of Terrorism Research, ed. by Schmid, Alex P., 39–98. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Shooman, Yasemin. 2014. “ … weil ihre Kultur so ist”. Narrative des antimuslimischen Rassismus. Bielefeld: Transcript.Google Scholar
Soyer, François. 2013. “Faith, Culture and Fear. Comparing Islamophobia in Early Modern Spain and Twenty-First-Century Europe.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 36(3): 399–416. DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2013.734383.Google Scholar
Strauss, Anselm, and Corbin, Juliet. 1996. Grounded Theory: Grundlagen qualitativer Sozialforschung. Weinheim: Beltz.Google Scholar
Trautmann, Sebastian. 2006. “‘Terrorismus und Islamismus’ als Medienthema. Neue Bedeutungslinien im öffentlichen Diskurs zur Politik der Inneren Sicherheit.” In Massenmedien, Migration und Integration. Herausforderungen für Journalismus und politische Bildung, ed. by Butterwegge, Christoph, and Hentges, Gudrun, 141–151. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuman, Joseph S. 2010. Communicating Terror. The Rhetorical Dimensions of Terrorism, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
VERBI Software. 2019. MAXQDA 2020 [computer software]. Berlin, Germany: VERBI Software. Available from maxqda.com.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×