SEMIOTIC ORIENTALISM IN THE LEXICOGRAMMAR OF AN IMAGE: A MULTIMODAL ANALYSIS OF PORTRAYAL OF THE ARABS IN THE MOVIE ‘THE KINGDOM’

Abstract

In the receptive media space of the viewer, the historical narratives and the perceived historical legacies are sustained and the particular cultural image is maintained through engineered projection. Orientanlism in the broader perspective, intrudes into the domain of digital media aiming to delineate the theoretical stances of the Occidents toward the Orients through carefully constructed images rooted in the backdrop of the history. The image of the Arabs, or the Orients has been consistently mediated through the canvas of art, the print media and visual narrations for decades employing the recurring characterization. The movie ‘The Kingdom’ has been taken as a case study to investigate the semiotic and lexiog-rammaratical properties of such images and the potential signification these images portray particularly when contrasted the western characters against their eastern counterparts  preserving the boundaries between ‘the west and the rest’. The grammatology of image by Gunther Kress and Theo wan Leeuwan is employed to the selected images where a contrast has been drawn. The semiotic aversion is expressed in terms of socially accepted ethnic identity of the characters and the expression of meanings constructed through the images of the movie and potential interpretation for the minds of the viewers. The geopolitics of representation of the others by the others is investigated and transitivity patterns of the semiotic lexico-grammar are intercepted.