Countering Islamophobia through Webcomics on Instagram

Fawzy, Dwimay and A.Manaf, Aini Maznina and Tengku Azzman, Tengku Siti Aisha (2021) Countering Islamophobia through Webcomics on Instagram. In: ANPOR-APCA Annual Conference, 14th December 2021, Bangkok, Thailand. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The widespread use of social media is directly proportional to the widespread practice of spreading Islamophobia in the digital realm, especially in Western societies whose understanding of Islam or Muslims is primarily based on negative media stereotypes. Various efforts were made, including from Muslim groups who counter against these negative stereotypes through social media and form of counter-narrative. One of them is the Instagram account @yesimhotinthis, which conveys a message about countering Islamophobia from an Egyptian-American Muslim perspective through the format of autobiographical webcomics. The approach taken is different from mainstream comics, which are mostly superhero themed. This study analyses how countering Islamophobia is represented and how Instagram is used to counter Islamophobia. Using Stuart Hall’s Representation Theory as a theoretical framework, this study conducts a content analysis of seven webcomics of @yesimhotinthis Instagram. The results indicated that representation of countering Islamophobia is more emphasized on the aspect of equality and highlighting similarities between Muslims and non-Muslims in social aspects. In addition, Instagram is utilized by adjusting the relations between webcomics and its captions, giving the impression that although Islamophobia is countered in a casual way, it is still a serious problem. The implications of the study on the representation theory are also discussed.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Plenary Papers)
Additional Information:	Virtual conference
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Counterculture; Instagram; Islamophobia; Multimodal Analysis; Webcomics
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Kulliyyahs/Centres/Divisions/Institutes (Can select more than one option. Press CONTROL button):	Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences > Department of Communication Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences
Depositing User:	Aini Maznina A.Manaf
Date Deposited:	04 Jan 2022 16:02
Last Modified:	04 Jan 2022 16:02
URI:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/id/eprint/95532

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