The language construction of Muslims as the others in French contemporary discourses

This article intends to explain the Muslims position in French contemporary discourses. France is a secular country, based on the principle of laïcité (separation between religion and State). France is also the country with the largest Muslim population in Europe. Muslims' positions, as with others', cannot be separated from the varied discourses in everyday life disseminated through different vehicles such as the media, literature, and conversations in society. Talking about the discourse of otherness is important to strengthen the argument that the social relation patterns in France, where there has been tension between Muslims and the French people in recent years, are not simply political or social questions. They are also language constructions. The Bourdieusian perspective explains how social construction is closely connected to language construction. Fear of Muslims, on the one hand, is related to political and social tensions, but on the other hand it is also related to language consumption and the historically constructed othering process. Based on the above situation, this article asks: first, in contemporary French discourses, what stereotypes regarding Islam and Muslims are represented in ever yday language? Second, in which context do these stereotypes appear? Third, how are the language effects of the stereotypes of otherness, which serve as mental models for positioning the Other, operated as social practices?