(Re)thinking Orientalism

Rachel Bailey Jones (PhD in Curriculum and Teaching from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro) is Assistant Professor of Social & Psychological Foundations of Education at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. She also serves as the Program Director for the program in Women and Gender Studies. She taught art at the elementary level in North Carolina. Her first book is entitled Postcolonial Representations of Women: Critical Issues for Education (2011).

(Re)thinking Orientalism is a text that examines the visual discourse of Orientalism through the pedagogy of contemporary graphic narratives. Using feminist, critical race, and postcolonial theoretical and pedagogical lenses, the book uses visual discourse analysis and visual semiology to situate the narratives within Islamophobia and neo-Orientalism in the post-9/11 media context. In the absence of mainstream media that tells the complex stories of Muslim Americans and Muslims around the world, there has been a wave of publications of graphic narratives written and drawn from various perspectives that can be used to create curriculum that presents culture, religion, and experience from a multitude of perspectives. The book is an accessible, upper level undergraduate/graduate level text written to give readers insights into toxic xenophobia created through media representation. It provides a theoretical foundation for students to engage in critical analysis and production of visual media.

(Re)thinking Orientalism is a text that examines the visual discourse of Orientalism through the pedagogy of contemporary graphic narratives. Using feminist, critical race, and postcolonial theoretical and pedagogical lenses, the book uses visual discourse analysis and visual semiology to situate the narratives within Islamophobia and neo-Orientalism in the post-9/11 media context.

Contents: Introduction: Bringing Theory to Practice - Situating the Discourse: Orientalism and Islamophobia - Visualizing Difference, Decoding Representation - Post-September 11th and the Visual Regime - Muslims in the American Media: The Muslims I Know, All-American Muslim, and Graphic Representations - From the Inside/Outside: Persepolis, Nylon Road, and A Game for Swallows - Graphic Narratives from Inside the Iranian, Egyptian, and Tunisian Protests: The Tunisian Awakening, Rise, Zahra's Paradise, and Qahera - Self-Reflexive Outsiders: The Waiting Room, The Photographer, and Palestine - Habibi: The Outsider Looking In.