Sacrosanct Values, Controversial Artistic Expression, and Today's Global Society: A Dramatistic Analysis of the Muhammad Cartoon Controversy

Abstract

This study is an exploration into how the Muhammad Cartoon Controversy unfolded at three critical thresholds of the conflict's development vis-à-vis a comprehensive examination of the scope of the phenomenon. First, this study focuses a lens on critical communications that transpired in Denmark among key figures engaged in the conflict. Second, the interviews of Flemming Rose provide insight into how the conflict was dramatized by Jyllands-Posten and Flemming Rose for international dissemination. Third, the televised broadcasts provide examples of how the controversy was dramatized for American audiences. Together, these rhetorical artifacts allow for analysis of the product of the worldviews as expressed through the cartoons, multiplied by the values and traditions of the interlocutors, and multiplied by the amplification of the conflict through televised broadcasts. The ultimate purpose of this study is to determine what lessons learned can be applied to ameliorate future international conflicts involving disparate value systems.