Reframing the Arabic narratives on Daesh in the English media : the ideological impact
Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
De Gruyter
Abstract
This paper discusses the dynamic role of translators in possibly promoting certain ideologies
and political agendas by presenting stories through the lens of an ideologically laden meta-narrative. It
compares the representation of ‘Daesh’ in the narratives of Arabic editorials and their English translations
published by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). MEMRI is a pro-Israeli organization,
widely cited by leading Western media outlets, especially in the US. The study adopts the narrative theoryinformed
analysis of Baker (2006) as its theoretical framework to examine how narrative is used to legitimize,
normalize, and justify certain actions to the public. The findings suggest that through translation, MEMRI
draws upon the meta-narrative of the War on Terror in furthering its ideologically laden agenda of terrorist
Arabs and Muslims by publishing selective and decontextualized excerpts and mistranslation of concepts
such as Daesh ( داعش ), Jihad ( جهاد ), and Jizya .(جز
Description
CITATION: Hijjo, N. F. M., Kaur, S. & Kadhim, K. A. 2019. Reframing the Arabic narratives on Daesh in the English media : the ideological impact. Open Linguistics, 5:81–93, doi:10.1515/opli-2019-0005.
The original publication is available at https://www.degruyter.com
The original publication is available at https://www.degruyter.com
Keywords
Arabic language -- Translating, Middle East Media Research Institute, Media narratives, Misplaced ideology, Ideology in literature, Translation of narratives, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
Citation
Hijjo, N. F. M., Kaur, S. & Kadhim, K. A. 2019. Reframing the Arabic narratives on Daesh in the English media : the ideological impact. Open Linguistics, 5:81–93, doi:10.1515/opli-2019-0005.