Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Representation of Iraqis in Hollywood Iraq war films: a multimodal critical discourse study Aljubouri, Atheer Award date: 2020 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? 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Oct. 2021 Bangor University DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Representation of Iraqis in Hollywood Iraq war films: a multimodal critical discourse study Aljubouri, Atheer Award date: 2020 Awarding institution: Bangor University Link to publication General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 28. May. 2020 REPRESENTATION OF IRAQIS IN HOLLYWOOD IRAQ WAR FILMS: A MULTIMODAL CRITICAL DISCOURSE STUDY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS AND ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By ATHEER A. R. ALJUBOURI, BA, MA SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES, LITERATURES AND LINGUISTICS COLLEGE OF ARTS, HUMANITIES AND BUSINESS BANGOR UNIVERSITY MAY 2019 I Abstract In the wake of the 9-11 terrorists' attacks in New York City in 2003, Iraq has been referred to as the main supporter of those 'villains' who committed the atrocity. It is the US media that took part in demonising Iraq through a great deal of misconception and misrepresentation (Chomsky, 2003). Accordingly, the 2003 Gulf War was launched against Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein, America's major menace at that time, to help the helpless persecuted Iraqis, the very people who underwent some 13-year-old devastating economic sanctions (Resolution 1483 -UN Security Council). In order to tackle this misconception of facts and misrepresentation of Iraq and Iraqis, which we find notoriously unfair, this study is going to provide some insight into showing how the state of affairs can be institutionally distorted in order to affect the audiences' views through the medium of films. By focusing on written texts, Critical Discourse studies have not paid sufficient attention to textual Multimodality and left it almost unattended. This study will attempt to underline the Iraq War films as Multimodal analysable data. Succeeding its Vietnam predecessor, the Iraq War Films have become a distinctive genre used by Hollywood, the California-based giant film maker. From 1996-2014, Hollywood has produced about fifteen films on the Gulf wars that befell Iraq in 1991 (Operation Desert Storm) and 2003 (Operation Iraqi Freedom). The series of films started with Edward Zwick’s Courage Under Fire (1996) and ended, to the time of launching this study, with Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper (2014). The present study has only chosen three films to be analysed by adopting a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis framework. This Multimodal analysis will provide a relatively comprehensive toolkit to tackle the many semiotic resources films build upon in order to support their story line. In addition to exploring the various filmic semiotic resources, the multimodal type of analysis used in this study will have a critical nature to probe how the Iraqi identity is represented in the milieu of the selected films, taking into consideration that critical discourse studies have understudied the concept of identity and ideology in films. Moreover, this framework is going to employ a cognitive approach in analysing different scenes excerpted from the selected films. The interdisciplinary cognitive quality the adopted framework enjoys will definitely enhance the critical nature of the study per se. I Acknowledgements Achieving a PhD is not an easy task at all, it is rather a trip which requires painstaking attention and perseverance. My experience with PhD would not have brought success if it were not for the aid and support of several people. Firstly, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude towards my supervisor Dr Christopher C. Shank for his genuine opinions, worthwhile understanding, and valuable remarks. I do appreciate the times Dr Shank has spent to advise me and put me on the right path. Thanks are extended to Professor Nathan Abrams who really contributed to pushing this study forward at the very beginning of the PhD journey. Secondly, I am quite indebted to my sponsor, the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MOHESR), without their support this study would not have been achieved at all. I would also like to thank the London-based Iraqi Cultural Attaché for all the help they have given me throughout the PhD programme. Thirdly, I feel quite obliged to the immense and infinite spiritual and tangible support with which I was overwhelmed by my parents and my dearest sister, Dr Abeer Aljubouri; to their matchless help I am so indebted. Finally, I do appreciate the heartfelt encouragement and assistance I have received from my friends; Dr Mohammed H. Muhi, Professor Ahmed Q. Abed, Dr Thulfiqar Al-Tahmazi, Mr Salah Al-Bahadily, Dr Haider H. Katea, Dr Saher Al-Ahmer, Dr Yousef Al-Dunainawi, Dr Ali Al-Jeezani, in addition to the faculty members of the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Bangor University during the process of writing this thesis. II Table of Contents List of tables ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…XIV List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..XVI List of abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………………………………XVIII I. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..1 1.1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………….........1 1.2. Statement of the problem …………………………………………………………………………2 1.3. Rationales of the study ……………………………………………………………………………..3 1.4. Research questions …………………………………………………………………………………..5 1.5. Structure of thesis …………………………………………………………………………………….6 II. Orientalism and the construction of stereotyped Otherness …………………………………..8 2.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………...8 2.2. British and European Orientalism ……………………………………………………………8 2.2.1. The Islamic nature of the Orient ………………………………………………….11 2.3. American Orientalism and the white man's burden …………………………………...12 2.4. Orientalism and the history of Western intervention in Iraq.…...…………………15 2.5. Orientalism, hegemony, and institutional discourse ………………………………….16 2.6. The force of representation ……………………………………………………………………. 18 2.7. Hollywood as an institution: an overview …………………………………………………19 2.8. Identity construction and social actors analysis ………………………………………...25 2.8.1. Identity categorization ……………………………………………………………… 25 2.8.1.1. Stereotyping ………………………………………………………………..26 2.8.1.2. Inclusion and exclusion of identity ………………………………...28 2.9. Summary ………………………………………………………………………………………...….29 VII III. Multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA) ……………………………………………………30 3.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………..30 3.2. Critical linguistics …………………………………………………………………………………..36 3.3. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) ………………………………………………………….…32 3.3.1. Aims of CDA ……………………………………………………………………………...34 3.3.2. Discourse ………………………………………………………………………………….34 3.3.3. Text ……………………………………………………………………………………….....36 3.3.4. Ideology, power, and institutions ……………………………………………….37 3.4. Multimodality: an overview …………………………………………………………………….43 3.4.1. Defining multimodality ……………………………………………………………..45 3.4.2. Mode versus media …………………………………………………………………...46 3.4.3. MCDA and social semiotics ………………………………………………………..49 3.5. Summary ……………………………………………………………………………………………….51 IV. A multidisciplinary approach to the analysis of film: Methodology …………………….52 4.1. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………..52 4.2. Previous studies ………………………………………………………………………………….53 4.3. Film theory …………………………………………………………………………………………57 4.4. MCDA as an Interdisciplinary Approach …………………………………………………60 4.5. Nature of Data …………………………………………………………………………………….61 4.5.1. Three Kings (1999) ………………………………………………………………..63 4.5.2. The Hurt Locker (2008) …………………………………………………………64 4.5.3. American Sniper (2014) ….......................................................................64 4.6. Data Selection …………………………………………………………………………………….64 4.7. Methodology and Data Analysis …………………………………………………………..68 4.7.1. Thematic