Decolonizing the Mediterranean: The Battle of Images and Clichés

Abstract

This chapter examines the public representations of this region in the time, analyses how contemporary discourse has painted regional developments since 2011 onwards, associating terrorism, instability and turmoil to the Mediterranean imaginary, and sketches an alternative narrative. It describes how information and culture related trans-Mediterranean networks can help demystifying dividing representations and thinking in terms of a shared space of social, cultural and political interactions, and analyses the messages used by some revolutionary groups as vectors for building consensus, beyond national or cultural identities, in a context of oppression.