The third session of the Virtual Routes Colloquium Winter/Spring series hosts Sina Ritt from University of Zurich. Richard McNeil-Willson, from the University of Edinburgh will act as discussant.

This session explores the dialogue between popular culture and news media within the context of conflict. Employing a qualitative comparative approach, it analyses the portrayal of the Israeli occupation of Palestine in the television show Fauda and the social media content of the New York Times, respectively. Despite their distinct formats and purposes, both Fauda and the New York Times’ Instagram presence target a politically progressive, globally aware audience in the in-between of information and entertainment media. Focusing on depictions of violence, women, religion, and solidarity, this chapter highlights the similarities in narratives of legitimization, humanization, and dehumanization across media formats and time. Arguing that the repetition and similarity of narratives across media is crucial in constructing the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Hereby, both cases exemplify the role of popular culture, art, and media between information and entertainment in constructing and distributing narratives and imag(inari)es, in dialogue. 

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