My research focuses on how Islam and Muslims are portrayed and perceived in the American media in the months and years that followed the September 11 atrocities. The study explores western perceptions about Islam and Muslims, not by attacking or discrediting the stereotypes, but by contextualizing them within their historical, social, religious, and political perspective. I also intend to examine the impact of the European medieval misperceptions of Islam on how Muslims are perceived in a post-9-11 milieu—especially in Christian Evangelical and conservative political discourse. The role of media propaganda in constructing Muslims as the cultural “other” bent on a civilizational clash with the West (as envisioned by Samuel Huntington and Bernard Lewis) and the impact on the global community of Muslims are closely examined in the course of my research. |