An Amazon for Kobane? A Critical Analysis of the Media Discourse on Rehana, a Female Fighter Against the Islamic State
An Amazon for Kobane? A Critical Analysis of the Media Discourse on Rehana, a Female Fighter Against the Islamic State
Author(s): Theresa CHORBACHERSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Semiotics / Semiology, Theoretical Linguistics
Published by: UNIVERSITATEA »ȘTEFAN CEL MARE« SUCEAVA
Keywords: Gender stereotypes; sexist language; gender and media; female fighters; critical discourse analysis;
Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes the online media representation of Rehana, afemale fighter against the Islamic State. By using different theoretical lenses,such as critical discourse analysis and semiotic analysis, Rehana’s portrayal in online articles is deconstructed. Romanticized myths of female fighters havemany times been a feature of (media) narratives on war. However, scholarsargue that female fighters have continuously been framed in narratives whichconform to gender stereotypes instead of challenging those. The same can beobserved in this discourse: Rehana is described as an angel and a glorifiedcounter-player to ruthless Islamic State fighters. Rehana herself however has novoice in this discourse and her individual story and agency is undermined.
- Issue Year: 2013
- Issue No: 5
- Page Range: 103-130
- Page Count: 28
- Language: English