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The Portrayal and Punishment of Terrorists in Western Media

Playing the Villain

  • Book
  • © 2019

Overview

Authors:
  1. Christiana Spens

    1. School of International Relations, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK

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  • Develops an integrated method of intervisuality
  • Examines scapegoating and narrative closure
  • Shows how neo-Orientalism manifests in media portrayals of terrorists

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vii
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  2. Introduction

    • Christiana Spens
    Pages 1-35

  3. Towards a Theory of Scapegoating, Catharsis and Narrative Closure

    • Christiana Spens
    Pages 37-64

  4. Towards a Method of Intervisuality

    • Christiana Spens
    Pages 65-117

  5. A Genealogy of the Terrorist in Western Culture

    • Christiana Spens
    Pages 119-164

  6. Portrayals of Terrorists

    • Christiana Spens
    Pages 165-218

  7. Conclusion

    • Christiana Spens
    Pages 219-230

  8. Back Matter

    Pages 231-253
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Keywords

About this book

This book explores how terrorists have been portrayed in the Western media, and the wider ideological and social functions of those representations. Developing a theory of scapegoating related to narrative closure, as well as an integrated, genealogical method of intervisuality, the book proposes a new way of thinking about how political images achieve power and influence the public. By connecting modern portrayals of terrorists (post-9/11) with historical and fictional images of villains from Western cultural history, the book argues that the portrayal and punishment of terrorists in the Western media implicitly perpetuates neo-Orientalist attitudes. It also explains that by repeating these narrative patterns through a ritual of scapegoating, Western media coverage of terrorists partakes in a social process that uses punishment, dehumanization and colonialist ideas to purge the iconic ‘villain’, so as to build national unity and sustain hegemonic power following crisis.

Authors and Affiliations

  • School of International Relations, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK

    Christiana Spens

About the author

Christiana Spens is the author of Shooting Hipsters: Rethinking Dissent for the Age of PR, and writes for Prospect, Art Quarterly, Studio International and The New Strategist on politics, art and visual culture. She is also a founder and director of Truth Tellers, a research centre focused on art, trauma and international relations.

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