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A Loner, But Not Alone: Analyzing the Hanau Terror Attack in German News Media

Kauhanen, Keea Malin LU (2020) SIMV21 20201
Master of Science in Social Studies of Gender
Graduate School
Abstract
This thesis analyzes how the German news media depicted the terrorist attack in Hanau, which killed 10 people on 19th February 2020. This is done by conducting a thematic analysis in two major German newspapers, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Allgemeine. The coverage of the attack and the perpetrator is found to be focused on the perpetrator as an individual and centering his alleged mental illness. The depiction portrayed the attack as conducted by a lone-actor, and the racist and far-right ideology as a form of the perpetrator’s mental illness. This functioned as a way of depoliticizing the terror attack. I challenge the non-visibility of the categories of whiteness and masculinity and show how they influence the popular ‘lone-wolf’... (More)
This thesis analyzes how the German news media depicted the terrorist attack in Hanau, which killed 10 people on 19th February 2020. This is done by conducting a thematic analysis in two major German newspapers, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Allgemeine. The coverage of the attack and the perpetrator is found to be focused on the perpetrator as an individual and centering his alleged mental illness. The depiction portrayed the attack as conducted by a lone-actor, and the racist and far-right ideology as a form of the perpetrator’s mental illness. This functioned as a way of depoliticizing the terror attack. I challenge the non-visibility of the categories of whiteness and masculinity and show how they influence the popular ‘lone-wolf’ narrative surrounding far-right perpetrators. Moreover, I argue that the intersection of these categories can result in viewing far-right perpetrators as individuals and thus influences the perception of these kinds of attacks as conducted by lone-actors. (Less)
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author
Kauhanen, Keea Malin LU
supervisor
organization
course
SIMV21 20201
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
far-right terrorism, critical whiteness, masculinity studies, news media, racism, extremism
language
English
id
9028350
date added to LUP
2020-09-14 12:10:32
date last changed
2020-09-14 12:10:32
@misc{9028350,
  abstract     = {{This thesis analyzes how the German news media depicted the terrorist attack in Hanau, which killed 10 people on 19th February 2020. This is done by conducting a thematic analysis in two major German newspapers, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Frankfurter Allgemeine. The coverage of the attack and the perpetrator is found to be focused on the perpetrator as an individual and centering his alleged mental illness. The depiction portrayed the attack as conducted by a lone-actor, and the racist and far-right ideology as a form of the perpetrator’s mental illness. This functioned as a way of depoliticizing the terror attack. I challenge the non-visibility of the categories of whiteness and masculinity and show how they influence the popular ‘lone-wolf’ narrative surrounding far-right perpetrators. Moreover, I argue that the intersection of these categories can result in viewing far-right perpetrators as individuals and thus influences the perception of these kinds of attacks as conducted by lone-actors.}},
  author       = {{Kauhanen, Keea Malin}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Loner, But Not Alone: Analyzing the Hanau Terror Attack in German News Media}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}