Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5673/sip.52.1.5
Representation of Islam and Muslims in Croatian Daily Newspapers from 1990 to 2006
Goran Goldberger
; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
In this paper the author presents the global and the Croatian social context in which Islam
and Muslims are immersed, then the way they are represented in the media, as well as the
research goal and methodology. The content analysis of Croatian daily newspapers from the
two recent periods of Croatian history (1990-1998 and 1999-2006) shows that newspapers
greatly contributed to the public image of Islam and Muslim activities in Croatia and in the
world, based on the events from that specific time and place. Thematically, newspapers conveyed
the politicization of Islam and a broader socio-political context. In the first period the
most explored subjects were the war, war crimes and court trials, while human and religious
rights, intolerance and protests dominated the second period. Terrorism and war on terror
became increasingly relevant topics. While in the first period the focus was equally on Croatia
and former Yugoslav states, in the second period it shifted to Europe and the rest of the
world. Journalists used the recontextualization strategy, but also helped to understand that
autochtonous Muslims in Croatia could be a useful bridge between Europe and the Muslim
world.
Keywords
Croatian daily newspapers; content analysis; identity; democratization; nationalism; deprivatization and politicization of religion; political Islam; fundamentalism
Hrčak ID:
117058
URI
Publication date:
6.3.2014.
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