Theoretical Understanding of the Construction Process of the Cultural ‘Other’ in News Media
Öz
The purpose of this study is to display the processes of cultural identity construction within the context of the media by including approaches of identity and ‘Othering’, with the aim of developing an understanding of media representations of the cultural boundaries between the ‘Self’ and the ‘Other’. This research adds to existing literature in three different ways. Firstly, the article outlines concepts of identity and ‘Othering’ as well as constructions of cultural identity within the framework of the notion of ‘Othering’. Secondly, it argues that the news media plays an essential role in the construction of the ‘Other’ by setting agendas and framing issues by the manner in which it presents news, and how it treats them. Generally, news media discourses of cultural otherness rely on stereotypical representations, prejudice, and hate speech, due to the cultural differences that reveal the construction of cultural boundaries for the out-group as the culturally inferior ‘Other’ by including or excluding cultural peculiarities, as opposed to the in-group. Finally, this article concludes by suggesting that the concept of ‘Othering’ can be adopted to understand the influence of the media on constructions of cultural identity. Therefore, future research questions regarding media constructions of identity and the cultural ‘Other’ can be formulated on the basis of the theoretical findings in this article.
Anahtar Kelimeler
Identity Construction, Cultural ‘Other’, ‘Othering’, Media Representation, News Media
Kaynakça
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