Internalized Orientalism: Toward a Postcolonial Media Theory and De-Westernizing Communication Research from the Global South

Abstract

Abstract This article applies the concept of internalized orientalism to explain how news representations reflect the power struggles and power relationships within postcolonial nations of the global South through Orientalist discourses. Introducing the concept of internalized orientalism to postcolonial media studies has the potential to de-westernize communication research by depicting the interplays of representations within the South. In this article, I analyze internalized orientalism as a communication theory by studying media representations of the Egyptian revolution in terms of four themes: (a) inability of southern people to rule themselves, (b) religious versus civil state, (c) social conflicts and the patriarchal state, and (d) dehumanization of people and reducing human agency. I argue that internalized orientalism demonstrates how media representations reflect a Western production of knowledge of the global South in the global South, working toward reproducing neocolonial power. At the same time, I argue, internalized orientalism offers a lens for understanding the politics of representations and knowledge production from the South.