Superior vs. Submissive: Multimodal Portrayal of Male and Female Characters in the Egyptian Sitcom AlKabeer Awy

Document Type : Academic research papers

Authors

1 Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport, college of language and Communication, department of languages

2 College of Language and Communication, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Sheraton, Cairo, Egypt.

3 Department of English Language, Faculty of Women, Ain Shams University

Abstract

This paper examines the verbal and visual representation of males and females in the Egyptian sitcom, AlKabeer Awy (2010). Even though there is a myriad of relevant studies, this article fills a gap in literature as research dealing with the male/female verbal and visual representation in Egyptian sitcoms remains scant. The multimodal analysis is conducted through applying the transitivity system of Halliday’s (2004) Systematic Functional Grammar (SFG), Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) Visual Grammar (VG), and sexist humor. The aim is to investigate the way language is used to reflect the ideology of masculine superiority. This article explores how the media portray certain stereotypical images of women as obedient and submissive. In addition, this study examines how language is used through the discursive mode of humor to disparage women. Findings show that both the verbal and visual analysis reflect stereotypical portrayals of women and men in Upper Egypt. The discursive social and ideological androcentric bias against women is displayed. Discussion also focused on derogatory connotations spelt out by the husband while addressing his wife, reflecting the ideology of male superiority and female submissiveness.

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Buhūth
Volume 2, Issue 3 - Serial Number 3
Social Sciences & Humanities
March 2022
Pages 37-66

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