Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- DEDICATION
- Introduction
- 1 Media: The Bridge to Globalization
- 2 The Arab Journalistic Field
- 3 Journalism as a Beacon for Democracy
- 4 The Dichotomy of the Public/Private Sphere
- 5 Global Media, Global Public Sphere?
- 6 Truth Martyrs
- 7 Arab Journalism as an Academic Discipline
- Conclusion
- Notes
- References
- Index
1 - Media: The Bridge to Globalization
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- DEDICATION
- Introduction
- 1 Media: The Bridge to Globalization
- 2 The Arab Journalistic Field
- 3 Journalism as a Beacon for Democracy
- 4 The Dichotomy of the Public/Private Sphere
- 5 Global Media, Global Public Sphere?
- 6 Truth Martyrs
- 7 Arab Journalism as an Academic Discipline
- Conclusion
- Notes
- References
- Index
Summary
Do globalization and Arab culture represent an oxymoron? Judging by the typical image of a sheikh carrying a cell phone, or the contradictory images of a belly dancer vis-à-vis a religious fundamentalist, it may be argued that Arab societies need to undergo a renewed search for identity, exemplified by a general inability to hybridize a Western signifier with a native signified in a meaningful way.
Hybridity, then, can pose a threat to traditional values, particularly with the sweeping trends of consumerism, which turned the veil, for one, into a fashion business. Thus, several shopping centers have been established in Cairo, for instance, catering for the new “liberal veiled women,” much to the irritation of traditional Muslim preachers.
Western signifiers have also penetrated the Islamists' world, as we see more and more of them adopting a modern high-tech lifestyle, as, for instance, in Turkey:
As can be observed in the Turkish context, not only are Islamists using the latest model of Macintosh computers, writing best-selling books, becoming part of the political and cultural elite, winning elections, and establish private universities, but they are also carving out new public space, affirming new public visibilities, and inventing new Muslim lifestyles and subjectivities.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Modern Arab JournalismProblems and Prospects, pp. 9 - 41Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2007