The Representations of Ideology in the Front Covers of Selected Iraqi Children Magazines: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

No matter how simple a text might look in addressing young readers, still it is not free from ideology. Ideologies are socially shared systems of beliefs that are systematic, intentional, and controlled by the domination and power of a group within a particular society. Ideologies can not only be represented by verbal modes of communication but even by other kinds of semiotic modes such as visual images. Consequently, the following study tries to explore the way ideology could be represented  through visual images in the front covers of AL-Mizmar, an Iraqi children magazine, during two highly disturbing periods of the Iraqi socio-political ruling state history, the 1970s and 1980s. The researcher argues that the way visual images used in the front covers of Al-Mizmar magazine reflects an explicit representation of the ideology adopted by the ruling state. What is more, it is also argued that there is a more drastic shift in ideology representation observed in the use of visual images in Al-Mizmar front covers throughout the 1970s than it is the case in the 1980. It is found that this shift is due to the foundational changes of interest and power of the Iraqi ruling state at the period under consideration. The analysis of the data revealed rather interesting and likely crucial findings that assert the researcher's initial arguments regarding the controversial relation that holds between political ideology and media in its visual mode.