Les Salafistes and a French Reproduction of Certainties in a World of Uncertainties

The new French documentary Les Salafistes (The Salafis) that premiered January 26, 2016, in a small number of French theaters offers iconographic imagery seldom seen in the public space: a string of interviews with some of the leading jihadist militants in Mali, Tunisia, Algeria, and Iraq coupled w...

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Autor principal:	Emin Poljarevic
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	International Institute of Islamic Thought 2016
Materias:	Salafis - documentary - jihadis - Mali - Tuaregh Islam BP1-253
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4bf81b26db9f4896a4082fb9e7f2aa7d
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4bf81b26db9f4896a4082fb9e7f2aa7d2021-12-02T17:46:22ZLes Salafistes and a French Reproduction of Certainties in a World of Uncertainties10.35632/ajis.v33i2.9152690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/4bf81b26db9f4896a4082fb9e7f2aa7d2016-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/915https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 The new French documentary Les Salafistes (The Salafis) that premiered January 26, 2016, in a small number of French theaters offers iconographic imagery seldom seen in the public space: a string of interviews with some of the leading jihadist militants in Mali, Tunisia, Algeria, and Iraq coupled with ghastly images of violence perpetrated by militant groups. The intention appears to be to show the irrationality of and paradox in the jihadis’ discourse and actions. Unfortunately, the directors have succeeded only in reproducing already existing stereotypes of Salafis. The lack of any appropriate contextualization that problematizes the recent rise of violence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is perhaps the film’s major flaw. Despite the directors’ ambition to let violent extremists discredit their own project, the documentary presents an essentialist argument that reproduces Orientalist imageries of a savage religion. Without the appropriate commentary and background overview to the conflicts featured in the film, the audiences are left alone with an extremist narrative that confirms the evocations of the West’s moral, cultural, and political superiority over the East. Emin PoljarevicInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleSalafis - documentary - jihadis - Mali - TuareghIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 33, Iss 2 (2016)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Salafis - documentary - jihadis - Mali - Tuaregh Islam BP1-253
spellingShingle	Salafis - documentary - jihadis - Mali - Tuaregh Islam BP1-253 Emin Poljarevic Les Salafistes and a French Reproduction of Certainties in a World of Uncertainties
description	The new French documentary Les Salafistes (The Salafis) that premiered January 26, 2016, in a small number of French theaters offers iconographic imagery seldom seen in the public space: a string of interviews with some of the leading jihadist militants in Mali, Tunisia, Algeria, and Iraq coupled with ghastly images of violence perpetrated by militant groups. The intention appears to be to show the irrationality of and paradox in the jihadis’ discourse and actions. Unfortunately, the directors have succeeded only in reproducing already existing stereotypes of Salafis. The lack of any appropriate contextualization that problematizes the recent rise of violence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is perhaps the film’s major flaw. Despite the directors’ ambition to let violent extremists discredit their own project, the documentary presents an essentialist argument that reproduces Orientalist imageries of a savage religion. Without the appropriate commentary and background overview to the conflicts featured in the film, the audiences are left alone with an extremist narrative that confirms the evocations of the West’s moral, cultural, and political superiority over the East.
format	article
author	Emin Poljarevic
author_facet	Emin Poljarevic
author_sort	Emin Poljarevic
title	Les Salafistes and a French Reproduction of Certainties in a World of Uncertainties
title_short	Les Salafistes and a French Reproduction of Certainties in a World of Uncertainties
title_full	Les Salafistes and a French Reproduction of Certainties in a World of Uncertainties
title_fullStr	Les Salafistes and a French Reproduction of Certainties in a World of Uncertainties
title_full_unstemmed	Les Salafistes and a French Reproduction of Certainties in a World of Uncertainties
title_sort	les salafistes and a french reproduction of certainties in a world of uncertainties
publisher	International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate	2016
url	https://doaj.org/article/4bf81b26db9f4896a4082fb9e7f2aa7d
work_keys_str_mv	AT eminpoljarevic lessalafistesandafrenchreproductionofcertaintiesinaworldofuncertainties
_version_	1718379527054295040

Les Salafistes and a French Reproduction of Certainties in a World of Uncertainties

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