| dc.description.abstract | This study explores how academics and newspapers in the Netherlands and Spain have contributed to the intercultural dialogue within Europe in the past decades by answering the question:
How have newspapers in the Netherlands and Spain portrayed Islam and Muslims since 1975 and how does this relate to the academic debate on European identity?
The answer to this question based on the corpus build around the search terms ‘Islam’ in Spanish and Dutch press, (moslim or moslims) in the Dutch press and (musulman or musulmanes) in the Spanish press is that in it tends to be negative, especially when put in contrast to ‘European’ values such as democracy, freedom of speech and (religious) tolerance. However, that would be an oversimplified conclusion.
The images of Islam and Muslims in both the Dutch and Spanish press are in flux, perceptions on them continuously changing throughout time, the events of especially the 2000s accelerating polarization of society as a consequence of amongst others negative news reports and especially columns and opinion pieces. What can be concluded from this verbal resistance is that both the Dutch and Spanish press do not find it easy to deal with religious difference for different reasons. However, as the academic debate on Europe demonstrates, these discussions are inevitable. They are a part of the ambiguous and uncomfortable discourse about the cultural identity of ‘project Europe’’. One of the biggest challenges of this project is incorporating Islam, which has become increasingly important due to the increased contact and proximity of Europe, Muslims and Islam over the years.
The comparison of Dutch and Spanish press who both have very different tactics when it comes to writing on Islam and Muslims, the former coarse and the latter more carefully expressing its discontents, demonstrates the important role of the press to achieve support and acceptance for moderate Islam in Europe. The combined effort of academics and popular media, can lead to a much more versatile debate, successfully showing the different sides to ‘the same’ story. It would be an important step to Europe fulfilling its utopian ideals which includes a good relationship with its Islamic or Muslim ‘Self and Other’ rather through dialogue than conflict. | |
