Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Drawings
- List of Figures
- Preface
- Stereotypes and Prejudice in Conflict
- Introduction
- 1 The Psychological Basis of Intergroup Relations
- 2 Psychological Intergroup Repertoire in Intractable Conflicts
- 3 The Context: The Arab-Israeli Intractable Conflict
- 4 Representation of Arabs in Public Discourse
- 5 Representation of Arabs in School Textbooks
- 6 Representation of Arabs in Cultural Products
- 7 Representation of Arabs by Israeli Jews: Review of Empirical Research
- 8 The Development of Shared Psychological Intergroup Repertoire in a Conflict: Theory and Methods
- 9 Studies with Preschoolers
- 10 Studies with Schoolchildren, Adolescents, and Young Adults
- 11 The Reflection of Social Images in Human Figure Drawing
- 12 Conclusions and Implications
- References
- Index
6 - Representation of Arabs in Cultural Products
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Drawings
- List of Figures
- Preface
- Stereotypes and Prejudice in Conflict
- Introduction
- 1 The Psychological Basis of Intergroup Relations
- 2 Psychological Intergroup Repertoire in Intractable Conflicts
- 3 The Context: The Arab-Israeli Intractable Conflict
- 4 Representation of Arabs in Public Discourse
- 5 Representation of Arabs in School Textbooks
- 6 Representation of Arabs in Cultural Products
- 7 Representation of Arabs by Israeli Jews: Review of Empirical Research
- 8 The Development of Shared Psychological Intergroup Repertoire in a Conflict: Theory and Methods
- 9 Studies with Preschoolers
- 10 Studies with Schoolchildren, Adolescents, and Young Adults
- 11 The Reflection of Social Images in Human Figure Drawing
- 12 Conclusions and Implications
- References
- Index
Summary
In the present chapter we review studies that have investigated the representation of Arabs in Israeli Jewish channels of culture – specifically, representation in Hebrew literature, plays, and films of the past 100 years. Cultural products express the values, beliefs, and norms of the society. They delineate the boundaries of what is considered an acceptable societal expression of social reality and sometimes provide new perspectives. While they reflect the prevailing beliefs and widely shared assumptions and norms, they can also present the public with unusual or innovative ideas. In contrast to school textbooks, which adhere to the mainstream tradition and ideology and are almost never innovative, literature, plays, and films can definitely go beyond, sometimes even far beyond, consensual beliefs to present views that are controversial at the time but may, eventually, be accepted by at least part of a society.
In line with this reasoning, an analysis of the representation of Arabs in cultural products may reveal not only widely shared stereotypes but also new images. In the former case, cultural products serve as a mechanism of reflection, which validates and thus helps to maintain the consensual stereotype, whereas in the latter the cultural products serve as sources of innovation, which can transmit and disseminate new and unusual images of Arabs.
In reviewing studies that investigate Arab representation in Hebrew literature, we consider first adult literature and then children's (or adolescent) literature.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Stereotypes and Prejudice in ConflictRepresentations of Arabs in Israeli Jewish Society, pp. 177 - 207Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005