Fourth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies

Abstract

This paper examines creativity and deviance in popular Arab music videos from an Islamic perspective. The researcher relies on a nonrandom sample (50 music videos) and uses qualitative content analysis to collect, analyze, and interpret the data. The unit of analysis is a music video, and the categories of the variables include clothing, facial expressions, exposure of body parts, dance, camera zooms, and the role of the singer in the video clip. The results show that the majority of the singers’ clothes are revealing, and most of the singers’ body parts are exposed. Moreover, the music videos contain provocative moves and dances that are considered indecent and inappropriate from a conservative Islamic perspective. The paper highlights the concept of Western cultural invasion and the implications of transnational satellite television and social media in challenging conservative Islamic teachings.