Music and the discourse of terrorism

 Greetings everyone:

 Thanks for such a great discussion this morning on the impact of 9/11 on contemporary American popular music. These are tough issues, and I appreciate your willingness to discuss such controversial topics with sincerity. Moving forward with this discussion, I'm asking you now to summarize our panel discussion from this morning, and write an opinion–editorial essay that articulates your thoughts regarding the discourse of terrorism and music/media's role in consolidating or destabilizing its effects.

 Think about the various case studies we talked about this morning. What effect did country music have in the years following 9/11 in terms of naturalizing the discourse of terrorism and legitimizing the wars on Afghanistan and Iraq? What was the effect of these songs on the political climate after 9/11?

 What effect have other types of media had on the discourse of terrorism (i.e. Jeff Dunham-Achmed the Dead Terrorist)?

 How have artists such as Low-Key sought to confront the discourse of terrorism, and to what effect have they been successful?

 I would shoot for a blog response of around 1000 words.  Feel free to embed YouTube clips of the songs you are talking about into your blog post. Also, feel free to insert pictures or other imagery that you find helpful in making your point. Take advantage of the multimedia aspect of your blog, to help carry your point of view.

There is no reading assignment for tonight. And tomorrow morning we will be further discussing issues of representation of Muslims in American pop culture. See you tomorrow!