Charlie Hebdo attack and discourses of Muslims in British and Danish newspapers: a cross-cultural critical discourse analysis of four newspapers.

Lawrie, Michelle

Abstract

A perceived shift to the right when representing Muslims in the press in Europe has been evident in recent years. Events such as 9/11, the July 2005 London bombings, broader European discussions and mainstreaming of populist discourses have marked a significant shift in the media focusing on Muslims living in Europe. This paper outlines the discourses used to represent Muslims, via conducting multimodal critical discourse analysis. The paper focuses on the 2015 Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack and cross-culturally compares four newspapers in two countries – the UK and Denmark. Results indicate a recontextualisation of the terrorist attack situating the threat within each country, with newspapers positioned as ‘left’ utilising the same framing and discourses of right leaning newspapers. This situated threat is demonstrated through discourses framing both countries in contrast to Muslim ‘values’. Furthermore, both countries focus on utilising Muslim ‘voices’ who are part of a Star System that are critical of Muslim communities.

Citation

LAWRIE, M. 2019. Charlie Hebdo attack and discourses of Muslims in British and Danish newspapers: a cross-cultural critical discourse analysis of four newspapers. Networking knowledge [online], 12(1): best papers from 2018 Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) postgraduate network conference (MeCCSA PGN 2018): contemporary news discourse around the globe, 5-6 July 2018, Canterbury, UK, pages 23-44. Available from: https://doi.org/10.31165/nk.2019.121.546.

• Journal Article Type: Conference Paper
• Conference Name: 2018 Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) postgraduate network conference (MeCCSA PGN 2018): contemporary news discourse around the globe
• Conference Location: Canterbury, UK
• Acceptance Date: Jul 5, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Aug 31, 2019
• Publication Date: Aug 31, 2019
• Deposit Date: Sep 5, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 8, 2019
• Journal: Networking knowledge: journal of the MeCCSA Postgraduate Network
• Print ISSN: 1755-9944
• Electronic ISSN: 1755-9944
• Publisher: Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 23-44
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.31165/nk.2019.121.546
• Keywords: Media discourse; Muslim representation; Multi-modal critical discourse analysis; Charlie Hebdo; UK; Denmark
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/479648
• Publisher URL: http://ojs.meccsa.org.uk/index.php/netknow/article/view/546