Module Leader: Dr Subarno Chattarji

Credit : 20 Credits

Module Description:

This module looks at the ways in which select media in the United States represents the global war on terror launched after 9/11. It concentrates on debates within and outside the United States. While the war Iraq will be a prime focus of study, connections with terror bombings in Madrid and London will be drawn out to emphasise political, ideological, and media continuities. The corporatization of the Iraq war will be analysed. Throughout the course the discourse of radical, fundamentalist Islam will be examined to focus on questions related to religion and the ‘clash of civilizations’. While mainstream US media will be the locus of information and analysis, representations from outside the US will be analysed. Media analysis will serve as a mode of conceptualising the implications of the war on terror.

Assessment:

Assessment of this module will be a combination of continuous assessment 2 essays (4,000 & 5,000 word) and seminar participation.

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Teaching Sessions:

WEEK 1 and 2:

• Selected readings from the New York Times, The New Republic, The New Yorker, Newsweek, and the Washington Post
• Analysis of print media coverage of the US war on terror, the war in Iraq, the Madrid and London bombings

WEEK 3, 4 and 5

• Lila Rajiva, The Language of Empire: Abu Ghraib and the American Media. Monthly Review Press, 2005
• Subarno Chattarji, ‘Media, poetics and the narrativization of war,’ In Proceedings of the Film and History League Conference entitled ‘War in Film, Television, and History’, edited, Peter C. Rollins, John E. O’Connor, and James R. Knecht (Cleveland, OK.: Film & History Center). August 2005. http://www.filmandhistory.org/
• Aijaz Ahmad, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Imperialism of our Time. New Delhi: Left Word Books, 2006.
• Suman Gupta, The Theory and Reality of Democracy: A Case Study in Iraq. London and New York: Continuum, 2006.

WEEK 6 and 7

• Theodore Dalrymple, ‘The Suicide Bombers Among Us: the 7/7 solution to an insoluble conflict,’ City Journal, Autumn 2005
• Subarno Chattarji, ‘“What is the Spanish word for appeasement?”’ In 21st Century Journalism in India, edited, Nalini Rajan (New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications 2007), pp. 101-115
• Read and discuss two articles – one on the Madrid bombings and one on the London terror attack in July 2005.

WEEK 8 and 9

• Edward Said, Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World. Vintage, 1997.
• Ann Coulter, Godless: the Church of Liberalism. Three Rivers Press, 2007
• Read and ponder two perceptions of the world according to the United States. One analyses how Islam is represented in western, particularly US media. The other criticizes the ‘liberal’ establishment.

 WEEK 10 and 11

• The Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies, Open University Discussion on the Pope’s remarks on Islam: http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/ferguson-centre/discussion-docs/pope-on-islam.htm
• We will look at some media coverage of the Pope’s remarks on Islam and analyse the media output. The Ferguson Centre discussion can serve as a mode of entering some of the issues and debates A comparative perspective will be essential through the course and the related readings will help to enhance such perspectives.

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Reading List:

Selected readings from the New York Times, The New Republic, The New Yorker, Newsweek, and the Washington Post.

 Aijaz Ahmad, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Imperialism of our Time. New Delhi: Left Word Books, 2006.

Subarno Chattarji, ‘Media, poetics and the narrativization of war,’ In Proceedings of the Film and History League Conference entitled ‘War in Film, Television, and History’, edited, Peter C. Rollins, John E. O’Connor, and James R. Knecht (Cleveland, OK.: Film & History Center). August 2005. www.filmandhistory.org  

------. ‘“What is the Spanish word for appeasement?”’ In 21st Century Journalism in India, edited, Nalini Rajan (New Delhi, Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications 2007), pp. 101-115.

Ann Coulter, Godless: the Church of Liberalism. Three Rivers Press, 2007.

Theodore Dalrymple, ‘The Suicide Bombers Among Us: the 7/7 solution to an insoluble conflict,’ City Journal, Autumn 2005.

Suman Gupta, The Theory and Reality of Democracy: A Case Study in Iraq. London and New York: Continuum, 2006.

Lila Rajiva, The Language of Empire: Abu Ghraib and the American Media. Monthly Review Press, 2005.

Edward Said, Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World. Vintage, 1997.

The Ferguson Centre for African and Asian Studies, Open University Discussion on the Pope’s remarks on Islam: http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/ferguson-centre/discussion-docs/pope-on-islam.htm   

 Selected media coverage of the Pope’s remarks.