Bush versus Bin Laden in Time: reflections on the binary opposition(s
reflections on the binary opposition(s
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- Submited: October 22, 2022
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Published: October 24, 2022
Abstract
This article is based on qualitative research, which structurally analyses commentary
on the September 11 (2001) attacks on America and the divide between the American
administration and the Al-Qaeda network (personified respectively by President George
W. Bush and Osama bin Laden) in Africa editions of Time magazine for a period of six
months following the September 11 (2001) carnage in the United States. The structural
analysis focuses on the identification of the binary oppositions at play, uncovering the
cultural code predominant at Time through its viewpoint and essay columns. It was
found that the cultural code translates into: the United States and the Western World
are the beacons of democracy and freedom, while Islam (more specifically Muslim
fundamentalists) represents authoritarianism, repression and bondage. It appears that
Time in its commentary role in the aftermath of the attacks was an able and willing
partner of the United States administration in predominantly naming the world along
American lines, and attempting through words to impose the named world on adversaries.
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