The purpose of this study is to identify and problematize how Islam is portrayed in the popular culture television series SKAM. This essay will show the analysis of images of Islam and Muslims in SKAM and how the process of us-and-them society are shaped, and the study hopes to illustrate popular culture as a source of information for religion. To fulfill the purpose and questions of the essay, this study will use a postcolonial theory and a semiotic method.

The questions at issue:

-       How are Islam and Muslims portrayed in season 4 of SKAM?

-       How can the images of Islam and Muslims that appear in the Tv series SKAM be understood and analyzed through a postcolonial theory? 

The methods used in this essay were Roland Barthes methods of semiotics which is based on analyzing images, advertising, film, or other communicative situations that can be perceived or create meaning through the signs of spoken and written language. These signs can be analyzed on two levels which are known as connotations and denotations. The theory used in this essay was postcolonialism. Postcolonial theory is the study of how the power over different groups is maintained by creating a hierarchical order and separation through social and cultural notions. These social and cultural notions create stereotypes and designations that survive today e.g., laziness, violence, greed, and primitivism. This essay is analyzed using postcolonial theories such as Edward Said´s Orientalism, which is founded in the idea that a non-western culture i.e., the Orient is pushed aside and portrayed as stereotypical, alien, different, or inferior due to prejudices presented in society.

The analysis of this essay shows, with the help of the theoretical perspective, that the question of whether "SKAM contributes or counteracts to the othering of Muslims in Nordic society?" does create a separation between the Nordic us and the Muslim them in society. This leads to the othering of Muslims in society.