Picturing the “hordes of hated barbarians”: Islamic State propaganda, (self)orientalism & strategic self-othering

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of research into the Islamic State’s visual communications output. The current article provides a conceptual contribution to this literature by developing an original framework for the analysis of the group’s propaganda. Drawing together postcolonial and political communications scholarship, it shows how the Islamic State’s photo-propagandists and media workers have sought to mobilize civilizational discourses surrounding “the East” and Islam as a core feature of its messaging. More provocatively, the article argues that the group have weaponized the Orientalist image to strike fear into the hearts and minds of its enemies. Using visual discourse analysis, and focusing on images produced within the group’s propaganda, alongside their remediation by Western media and political actors, the article develops the concept of “Strategic Self-Othering” to show how Islamic State successfully harness the discursive power of Orientalism in its messaging, thus feeding into a wider post-truth communications style that prioritizes graphic, fear-inducing imagery over conceptions of truth and reason.