Reflections of Western Cultural Attitudes toward Iran in the Linguistic Construction of English Journals

This study attempts to introduce two main currents in orientalism, the classic and the modern. The Western attitude toward the Orient, and especially Islam, is analyzed in both currents and the operative factors that lead to modern orientalism are surveyed. The 9th September 2001 event is here considered one of the most important points in modern orientalism. Media are here assumed to play a crucial role in representation of the orientalist and racist attitudes which nowadays focus on cultural differences. Accordingly, the present study surveys reflections of western cultural attitudes toward Iran in the linguistic construction of two British journals, the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph and two American ones, Time and Newsweek, after the occurrence of the 9/11 event.