The Bigh Daddy Show: The potentiality and shortcomings of countering Islamic State through animated satire

Mustafa, Balsam 2022. The Bigh Daddy Show: The potentiality and shortcomings of countering Islamic State through animated satire. Digest of Middle East Studies 31 (2) , pp. 113-130. 10.1111/dome.12261

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Abstract

This paper is motivated by the following question: how can animated satire constitute a tool of resistance against terrorist groups and their extremist narratives? To answer this question, I examine an Iraqi animated satirical show produced from late 2015 to 2017 to support the military campaign against Islamic State (IS) by turning the self-proclaimed caliph and other IS terrorists into objects of derision, detached from Iraq and Islam. Engaging with critical approaches to satire and counter/alternative narratives, I argue that the case under analysis has possibilities and limitations. On the one hand, the show attempted to alienate IS from Iraqis and Muslims and unite them in one front in the fight against the group by highlighting the Iraqi identity and exposing contradictions in its narratives. On the other hand, it reinforced problematic conspiracy theory discourses about IS's origin, as well as racial and gender stereotypes, ironically producing another set of contradictions.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Modern Languages
Additional Information:	An Erratum for this article can be seen at https://doi.org/10.1111/dome.12281
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	1949-3606
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	24 July 2025
Date of Acceptance:	9 March 2022
Last Modified:	24 Jul 2025 10:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/180005

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