The Great Satan Vs. the Mad Mullahs: How the United States and Iran Demonize Each Other

Voorkant
University of Chicago Press, 15 apr 2008 - 298 pagina's
For more than twenty-five years, the United States and Iran have been diplomatically estranged, each characterizing the other not only as a political adversary, but also as devious, threatening, and essentially evil. According to William O. Beeman’s provocative book, The “Great Satan” vs. the “Mad Mullahs,” such demonization is a self-fulfilling prophecy, as both countries have embraced exactly the policies and rhetoric that would particularly threaten or insult the other. Drawing on his experience as a linguistic anthropologist, Beeman parses how political leaders have used historical references, religious associations, and the mythology of evil to inflame their own citizens against the foreign country, and proposes a way out of this dangerous debacle.

“William Beeman’s analysis of dissonant perceptions of Iran and the USA is compelling and important. . . . I am particularly grateful for this work.”—James Peacock, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“[Beeman] is more interested in informing the reader than in impressing his peers. The other strength of the book lies in the author’s knowledge of Iranian history and culture. . . . It challenges the reader and forces him to question stereotypes about Iran and Washington’s perspective on the country.”—Abbas William Samii, Middle East Journal
 

Inhoudsopgave

1 Discourse and Demonization
1
2 American Myths
13
3 Middle Eastern Myths
23
4 Discourse and Rhetoric
35
5 Images of the Great Satan
49
6 Images of the Mad Mullah
69
Modernization and Development as an Index of National Worth
91
8 The Sins of the United States
119
9 The Sins of Iran
137
How Iranian Media Came of Age
165
Resistance as Postmodern Discourse
189
Notes
217
Comprehensive Bibliography
239
Index
273
Copyright

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Over de auteur (2008)

William O. Beeman is professor and chair of anthropology at the University of Minnesota. He has also worked as a consultant to the United States State Department and Department of Defense. He is the author of Iraq: State in Search of a Nation and Language, Status and Power in Iran.

Bibliografische gegevens