Pictures in Our Heads

Stereotypes are types of mental images which help people arrange and understand the world and the events happening around them by making them simpler and easier to comprehend. In principle, stereotypes are culturally dependent as they are transferred from generation to generation through myths, legends, folklore or just common wisdom. The reason for their existence is the natural desire of every group to maintain a positive image of itself and a negative image of Them and thus justify any actions the group might take against the Other. That is the reason why it is very difficult to change a negative stereotype. This chapter analyses the stereotypes most frequently employed by the Bulgarian and the British media in their publications on Muslims. As shown by the various examples, there are similarities in this aspect as well as both in the Bulgarian and the British media discourse one can encounter the stereotypes of the Muslim terrorist, the veiled woman, the Muslim victim and they are all the same.