Corpus absconditum: images of the East and ideology in the representation of the female body in the press

• Autor(a) principal: Klein, Alberto Carlos Augusto
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Mazer, Dulce
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista FAMECOS: Mídia cultura e tecnologia
• Texto Completo: https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/ojs/index.php/revistafamecos/article/view/10378
• topic: Communication; female body; islam; Female body; Comunicación; Curepo Feminino; Islamismo; Cuerpo feminino; Comunicação; corpo feminino; islamismo; Corpo feminino

On October 11, 2010 a law that prohibits the use of clothing that fully cover the face was approved in France, preventing there cognition of the individual, which directly affected the Islamic tradition of wearing the burqa or niqab. This decision provoked intense debate in the international media the same way that triggered discussions about the place and role of the body in religion and culture. Inspired by the concept of orientalism of Edward Said, this paper compares two ways of representing the body highlighted by western press. Thus, this article discusses the denial of the visibility of the female body in Islamic culture and its reduction to certain stereotypes in contrast to the body overexposure of western women. Besides the cultural and religious aspects that set both kinds of representation apart, this study suggests that the western intolerance of the corpus absconditum derives as well from the visibility value propagated by the media society of the West, particularly by the press.