The Politics of Counter-Narratives: Dismantling Islamophobia/Xenophobia in the American Cultural Production

Abstract

Terrorism has become a major problem of the present century which has violently intimidated the whole world. Numerous steps have been undertaken to confront and neutralize it both on the national and the international fronts.9/11 saw its staid incarnation which led to the Wests acrimonious fascination towards it existence. The West has since been in an unassailable war against terrorism and has taken extreme measures to annihilate it, but unfortunately terrorism has tremendously enhanced beyond the proportionate levels. Americas global policies towards the countries like Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan etc. has led to the increasing dissatisfaction among the masses of these countries. Further, Americas retaliation, exploitation and retribution in these countries haveaggravated the already dwindling relations by creating a chasm between the two oft-warring adversaries. The antagonism between these two oft-warring opponents also manifests itself in the totalizing discourses of the West that largely created a demonic image of Islam and the Muslims. 9/11 was a significant event in the West that led to the beginning of unwarranted discourse against Islam and the Muslims. It conventionalized the Orientalists ideology by portraying Islam and the Muslims as enemies of the West. This absurd notion evoked a collective conscience against Muslims by featuring the religion and the individuals as supporting terrorism and barbarism. Such discriminatory predisposition has been manifested world-widely through various images, discourses, speeches, criticisms etc. The paper critically examines such inimical notions that has created fear and paranoia not only among the Muslims but also has led to the generation of Xenophobia and Islamophobia due to the Wests failure to understand Islam and the culture that it assumes ulterior and foreign.