‘Othering’ of the Orient: A Critical Exploration of Green Zone
Keywords:
Orientalism, Critical Discourse Analysis, Othering, Ideology, Film mediaAbstract
Film media possesses great power due to its function of entertaining the masses. However, entertainment as its sole function has been contested by critics. Its preoccupation with the cultural representation of reality entails its role in disseminating the desired ideologies, opinions, and beliefs among the masses. The lens of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to analyze film media can provide useful insights into the kind of ideologies propagated and to uncover the hidden motives behind them. This research aims to explore the process of Othering, advocated by Edward Said, in the present-day western entertainment media, particularly in Hollywood movies. For this purpose, the movie Green Zone is selected to comprehend how the ideas/ideologies about the East are nurtured by Western movies in the mind of the audience. The present research is qualitative in nature and utilizes van Dijk’s concept of Ideological Square and Daniel Chandler’s notion of semiotics as research tools. The findings propose that the representation of Iraq and her people in the movie are primarily prejudicial. Secondly, western cultural and literary canon(s) defines ‘Other’ in relation to itself, where the ‘Other’ is always inferior to self. The movie highlights the conventional stereotypes existing about the East (in particular Muslims) by portraying it as the ‘Other’ by generalized and biased representation. This analysis of the process of ‘Othering’ and stereotypical representation of Iraq and Iraqis in the movie will contribute to the discourse of postcolonialism and cinema.
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