Research Article

Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media

Volume: 6 Number: 1 June 28, 2019
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Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media

Abstract

This analysis looks at images of Kurdish female fighters in social media. It argues that Kurdish female fighters have been objectified by international media and Kurdish politicians, who have realised the public relations value of images, and started to disseminate variegated images of Kurdish female fighters, particularly in the context of the war against DAESH (ISIS). The basic tenets of Edward Said’s thesis remain relevant in orientalist and gendered representations of the actors involved in Syrian civil war, and therefore the study uses orientalism as an analytical tool to critically engage with dominant western depictions of female Kurdish fighters. To this aim, news images of Kurdish female fighters are semiotically analysed using Barthes’ framework as proposed in his seminal work “Mythologies”. The analysis aims to unleash the interrelationship between imagery and international and domestic politics using the concept of post-truth politics. The imagery of Kurdish female fighters is used by Western powers and Kurdish political groups to legitimize their political positions in the prolonged civil war in Syria.


Keywords

Female Kurdish fighters,myth,Semiotics,Roland Barhtes,social media,post-truth

References

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APA
Efe, İ. (2019). Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi, 6(1), 113-132. https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.553306
AMA
1.Efe İ. Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media. TJMES. 2019;6(1):113-132. doi:10.26513/tocd.553306
Chicago
Efe, İbrahim. 2019. “Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media”. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi 6 (1): 113-32. https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.553306.
EndNote
Efe İ (June 1, 2019) Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi 6 1 113–132.
IEEE
[1]İ. Efe, “Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media”, TJMES, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 113–132, June 2019, doi: 10.26513/tocd.553306.
ISNAD
Efe, İbrahim. “Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media”. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi 6/1 (June 1, 2019): 113-132. https://doi.org/10.26513/tocd.553306.
JAMA
1.Efe İ. Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media. TJMES. 2019;6:113–132.
MLA
Efe, İbrahim. “Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media”. Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi, vol. 6, no. 1, June 2019, pp. 113-32, doi:10.26513/tocd.553306.
Vancouver
1.İbrahim Efe. Unravelling A Myth: Emergence of The Myth of Female Kurdish Fighters in Social Media. TJMES. 2019 Jun. 1;6(1):113-32. doi:10.26513/tocd.553306