A certain East: the characterization of palestinians and israelis in the photographic coverage of the Folha de S. Paulo

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present an image analysis of photographic coverage on the conflict between palestinians and israelis through the covers of Folha de S. Paulo in five periods of dispute intensification: from 1947 up to 1948, establishment of the State of Israel, 1967, the Six Day War with Gaza and West Bank Israeli occupation, from 1987 up to 1988, the beginning of the first Palestinian Intifada, from 2000 to 2004, second Intifada and finally december 2008 to january 2009, when occured the largest israeli attack on palestine. The paper considers the characterization of the two sides involved from the schemes of representation chosen in each period, using as supportthe theoretical concepts of the image and the Bystrina semiotics of culture to understand how it produces the representation of otherness in the opposition West versus East. Relate the changes in the field of representation, starting from the official photographic information in the first decades, until a strategy of emotional appeal and strongly linked to spectacularization and mythologizing of the characters researched in recent years.