Symbolically Muslim: Media, Hijab, and the West

Abstract

This research examines newspaper reporting to question how the media represented the ideological interests of Western nations concerning symbolic representations of Islam in public following 11 September 2001. Critical discourse analysis is used to examine 72 stories that were published in the New York Times and Washington Post between 2004 and 2006. The stories covered the ban on hijab in France, the debate about niqab in Britain, and veiling by Muslim women in the USA. They show that knowledge about veiling in Western nations must include their national identities as well as their concerns about Muslims’ assimilation/integration and Islamic terrorism. American newspaper media positioned France, Britain, and the USA as ideologically alike in spite of their different framings of religious freedom. Reporting supported the interests, values, and hegemony of the West with representations that created the common sense that Muslim women would not veil in public.