Abstract
The post-2011 breakdown of state media authority in Syria exposed a multilayered terrain of competing counter-discourses, in which citizen journalists were positioned as narrators of events on the ground. Conceptualized in this paper as Emerging Syrian Media (ESM), the rapid pluralization of Syria’s media landscape has irrevocably transformed how citizens engage with the discourse disseminated by the al-Assad regime. However, this phenomenon has not been examined through a gender-based approach. Employing a feminist post-structuralist perspective and utilizing subaltern counterpublic theory, this paper examines whether the opening up of a virtual space has enabled the creation of an online feminist counterpublic, through which Syrian women are able to challenge the dominant representations of gender within the Syrian state feminism discourse. A Critical Discourse Analysis of texts produced by two state-affiliated media outlets reveals the intrinsically patriarchal nature of Syrian state feminism, while a narrative analysis of seven interviews with women participating in Emerging Syrian Media explores the ways in which such a discourse is being challenged. Through their performance of ‘active narrator’ identities, production of anti-regime discourses, and participation in women’s discussion groups, all seven women expressed an ability to counter the gender discourse of the regime. The occurrence of such challenges within confined spheres of activity results in the theorizing of a specifically ‘inward-oriented’ online feminist counterpublic within the ESM online space, whereby alternative discourses on gender can be both established and enacted.
Highlights
A gendered approach to examining the substantial shift that has occurred in the Syrian media landscape since the 2011 uprising against President Bashar alAssad remains significantly under-theorized
Employing a feminist post-structuralist perspective and utilizing subaltern counterpublic theory, this paper examines whether the openingup of a virtual space has enabled the creation of an online feminist counterpublic, through which Syrian women are able to challenge the dominant representations of gender within the Syrian state feminism discourse
While an analysis of gender representations within this discourse will form the contextual background for this research, the central focus will be placed upon the lived experiences of women participating in the Emerging Syrian Media’ (ESM) phenomenon and the ways in which they are challenging such representations through an online feminist counterpublic
Summary
A gendered approach to examining the substantial shift that has occurred in the Syrian media landscape since the 2011 uprising against President Bashar alAssad remains significantly under-theorized. Resulting from growing scepticism in the accuracy of government-run news outlets, a media vacuum emerged within Syria, in which ordinary citizens took to the online ‘streets’ to broadcast their stories of the conflict. This research explores the phenomenon of ‘Emerging Syrian Media’ (ESM), the blossoming of predominantly citizen-run, small-scale, independent news outlets within Syria’s online space.. While scholarly attention has far been primarily focused on the credibility, technological, and sectarian debates surrounding ESM, this paper aims to highlight the gendered.
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