The Representation of Muslim Women in Non-Islamic Media: A Critical Discourse Analysis Study on Guardian

Providing analytical and social tools, critical discourse analysis (henceforthCDA) can be used to unravel the hidden ideologiesas well as biases in the websof discursive practices involved in texts. In this paper, the van Leeuwen’s (1996)CDA framework is used to analyze an article from a British broadsheet newspaper,the Guardian. To have a more detailed analysis, eleven elements are chosen fromthe comprehensive framework of van Leeuwen. The focus of the study is onthe representation of Muslim women in non-Islamic media, and the reason forwhich this British newspaper is used is that usually European countries have beenaccused of undemocratic behavior towards other ethnics and nationalities, andthe reflection of this behavior is more observable in their media. Besides Muslimwomen, the representation of three other social actors has been analyzed so thata more comprehensive assessment can be achieved. The findings of this studyindicate that Muslim women are depicted as active actors of Muslim community,remarkably determined in their beliefs, and as independent individuals who arein search of the resurrection of women’s identity. Although the Guardian author’stotal depiction of Muslim women is a positive one, she finally concludes that theprevalence of the lack of critical thinking among them is the clearest drawback ofall Muslim women. This last statement shows that although western media by themeans of strategic tools try to depict minorities positively, in adopting such strategiesthey are not completely neutral.