This thesis examines recent academic literature about Libya and media reports on the 2011 Libyan revolution to uncover the ways in which reductionist, stereotypical, and Orientalizing language is prevalent in the construction of Western knowledge about Libya. I borrow post-structural discourse analysis' method of looking at language to illustrate how recent academic and media discourses about Libya open up and close down particular Libyan identities, both by linking certain negative characteristics (uncivilized, undemocratic, violent, pre-modern, homogenous) together and by differentiating those characteristics against a preferred, Westernized identity (democratic, liberal, civilized, modern, rational). I examine these discourses through the lens of Orientalism, arguing that contemporary media has been guilty of using language that positions Libyan tribes as backwards and pre-modern.

Media and academic discourses on Libya parallel each other in significant and troubling ways. In some cases, this was the result of the direct participation of academic Libya 'experts' in the media analysis of the revolution, in many other cases Orientalizing language and stereotypical assumptions came from media outlets themselves. These parallels and the enduring prevalence of certain stereotypes indicate that homogenizing and inaccurate language concerning Libya is, in many cases, a systemic problem. In media discourse especially, this language suggests not only an unwillingness to add clarifying qualifiers to unconfirmed or unconfirmable 'facts,' but also an urge to simplify complex narratives and social realities for a American or Western audience.

I argue that a deeper understanding of Libyan history and culture, and a dramatic shift away from polarizing language are absolutely critical to the reworking of 'truths' about Libya and Libyan tribes. In concluding, this thesis calls for a new language concerning tribal peoples, the incorporation of both Libyan scholars and indigenous voices into academic discourses, and a move towards Libya scholarship that is not as tied to Western geo-political interests as the scholarship outlined in this thesis proves to be.