Producing The New Regressive Left The Case of the Pan-Arab News TV station al-Mayadeen Crone, Christine Publication date: 2017 Document version Other version Document license: CC BY-NC-ND Citation for published version (APA): Crone, C. (2017). Producing The New Regressive Left: The Case of the Pan-Arab News TV station al- Mayadeen. Det Humanistiske Fakultet, Københavns Universitet. Download date: 06. okt.. 2021 PRODUCING THE NEW REGRESSIVE LEFT: THE CASE OF THE PAN-ARAB NEWS TV STATION AL-MAYADEEN Contents Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................. 4 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Dansk resume ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Transliteration and quotations ............................................................................................................... 8 PART I Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 9 My point of departure ................................................................................................................................. 13 My approach (methodology, research design and empirical material) ...................................................... 14 The field and challenge of access ................................................................................................................ 17 Thesis outline ............................................................................................................................................... 20 Ideology, Media and Cultural Production – a theoretical framework ..................................................... 23 New approaches .......................................................................................................................................... 24 The study of ideology in a Middle Eastern context ..................................................................................... 26 The study of mediated ideology – ideology in mass media ........................................................................ 30 Producing ideology through practices and performances – methodological considerations ..................... 32 Nostalgia ...................................................................................................................................................... 35 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 37 Exploring Arab Ideoscapes .................................................................................................................... 39 The formative years ..................................................................................................................................... 41 The Baʻath Party .......................................................................................................................................... 44 SSNP ............................................................................................................................................................. 46 1 Hizbollah – the Islamism of the Left ............................................................................................................ 48 Iran and the export of authoritarianism ...................................................................................................... 50 Internal disagreements and core ideological concepts in the post-2011 Arab ideoscapes ........................ 52 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 57 Exploring Arab Mediascapes ................................................................................................................. 59 The al-Jazeera era ........................................................................................................................................ 59 Religious broadcasting in a secular space? ................................................................................................. 62 Arab mediascape post-2011 ........................................................................................................................ 64 Introducing al-Mayadeen ............................................................................................................................ 67 Financial and political connections .......................................................................................................... 69 The people of al-Mayadeen – staff members and guests ....................................................................... 72 The audience – who, where and how many? .......................................................................................... 74 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 76 PART I The Creation of an Icon: the Case of Jamila Bouhired ............................................................................ 78 The concept of the secular icon .................................................................................................................. 79 The framing of the icon ............................................................................................................................... 81 The worshipping of Bouhired ...................................................................................................................... 83 Celebrating the female fighter .................................................................................................................... 86 Celebrating the golden age ......................................................................................................................... 88 Why Jamila Bouhired? Connecting the past to the present ........................................................................ 91 Changing readings of an icon - ethical dilemmas and moral discrepancies ................................................ 92 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................... 97 Celebrating the Muqawama through Words, Images, and Songs: the Case of Palestine .......................... 99 From hero to victim – and back again ....................................................................................................... 100 Culture as muqawama .............................................................................................................................. 103 The promotion of militant muqawama through art ................................................................................. 107 Ṣumud – you have to be a victim, in order to resist .................................................................................. 110 The bigger picture ...................................................................................................................................... 115 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 117 Re-launching Iltizam through Leftist Cultural Figures: the Case of the Cultural Talk Show Bayt al-Qasid 119 Bayt al-Qasid – a cultural show ................................................................................................................. 121 2 The notion of iltizam – an historical overview .......................................................................................... 123 The use of iltizam in Bayt al-Qasid – or iltizam the Wehbe way ............................................................... 125 Patriotism – the space for emotions and personal sorrows ..................................................................... 128 The progressive ideals – do they leave space for revolutions? Personal dilemmas and ideological ambivalences ............................................................................................................................................. 132 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................. 136 Walking a Tightrope: the Role of Religion ........................................................................................... 138 Religious broadcasting at al-Mayadeen – the shows and the hosts ......................................................... 139 Harrir Aqlak and the legacy of al-Nahda ................................................................................................... 143 Religious pluralism versus sectarianism – and the case of Ajras al-Mashreq ........................................... 147 Two sides of the same coin – and the problem of Saudi Arabia ............................................................... 150 Change or stability ..................................................................................................................................... 153 Conclusion