The Discursive Strategies of the Neo-Orientalist Discourse

Abstract

The notion of neo-orientalism is usually considered as the new-millennium manifestations of the traditional 18th century orientalism. Unlike the traditional one which mainly focused on India during and after the colonization era, it is generally associated with the confrontation between the West and the Arabic-Islamic world after the dramatic event of the 11th of September in the US. This study is based on the Discourse Historical Approach (DHA) of Ruth Wodak as a model of analysis in examining the neo-orientalist discourse. A collection of research studies, newspaper articles, and interviews performed by thirteen western prominent authors have been selected as the data of the study. They were classified into three groups of pioneers, supporters, and academics according to their influence in the western intelligentsia and media in addition to the nature of their works. The study has proved that the neo-orientalist discourse of the pioneers and their supporters uses a highly-intensified language charged with racism, provocation, and Islamophobia with occasional hate speech. The neo-orientalist discourse of the academics, on the other hand, was found to be more objective, judicious, and encouraging with a clearly-mitigated language.

Keywords

• Neo-orientalism
• Discourse Historical Approach (DHA)
• Islam
• the West