The Arab and Muslim as lusty sheikhs, terrorists and despots in the Simpsons

الملخص EN

This paper has investigated the ways in which the Arab and Muslim are portrayed in one of the most influential prime-time American Sitcoms: The Simpsons.

It took its theoretical bearings from Edward Said's works on Orientalism and from Linda Hutcheon's postmodernist theories on irony and parody.

The portrayal of the Arab and Muslim in the animated sitcom is characterized by ambivalence and proves to be replete with political and social satire.

The Simpsons do intertwine with American Geopolitics and adheres to the main satiric and ironic pop art stream in distorting the Arab and Muslim image by depicting them as lusty sheikhs, terrorists and despots.