If we had a little more time, we’d spend a few days thinking about one of the world’s most important media, paper. The invention of paper, early uses, and onset of print culture with the dissemination of techniques of printing, are all important moments in media history. As a bit of a short cut, we’ll jump into a contemporary issue that brings together uses of paper with another issue we’ll talk about a lot: the power of images.
This course will shift in time to a certain extent; interrupting a more conventional chronological narrative with some very contemporary episodes in which media play a major role. Through these we’ll both historicize current affairs and understand the ongoing relevance of different kinds of media.
Let’s begin with the controversy over the publication of a set of cartoons in Denmark, in 2005.
Here is a link to the cartoons:
I’ve deliberately used a link here rather than posting the images directly, out of respect for the critique of these as offensive or incendiary. If you don’t want to look at them, you don’t need to, but please do prepare to discuss the broader issues.
Here is a timeline of what happened:
Sept. 2005: Jyllands Posten, a conservative Danish newspaper, publishes 12 caricatures of Mohammed.
Late September-October 2005: Muslims in Denmark protest and demand an apology.
October 14 2005: Peaceful protest outside offices of newspaper
October 19 2005: Ambassadors of eleven Islamic countries request a meeting with Danish Prime Minister, who refuses.
October 2005: Muslim organizations file a complaint against the newspaper, Muslim youth riot.
January 2006: Norweigan and Belgian newspapers republish the cartoons.
January 2006: Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Syria publicly condemn the cartoons. Libya closes its Danish embassy. Danish flag burned in the West Bank. Jyllands Posten apologizes for causing offence. Hamas demands punishment of the cartoonists and newspaper
February 2006: Newspapers republish cartoons in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Honduras, India, Ireland, New Zealand and South Korea.
Demonstrations outside of Danish embassy in London.
In Damascus, demonstrations outside the Swedish/Danish embassies, and the building is burned.
Danish embassy in Beirut set on fire.
Violence in Somalia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan.
At least 139 people killed.
Here is a BBC summary of what happened, and what’s at stake for some of the participants:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4677976.stm
Here are two articles with opposing views about how to understand what happened.
The Right to Ridicule by Ronald Dworkin | The New York Review of Books
Note that the second article is in response to the incident at the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, but it very quickly becomes a critique of claims about freedom of expression like the one made by Ronald Dworkin.
For class on Tuesday, we’ll debate this issue of freedom of expression, and talk about how media works in contexts such as these. If you remember the incidents surrounding the shootings at Charlie Hebdo, we can talk about those as well.
If you are writing a blog post for this module, please feel free to do so below.
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