Media Images of civil wars play a central role in shaping political understanding, humanitarian responses, and public opinion. Although the Sri Lankan civil war received extensive national and international media attention throughout and after the decades-long conflict, its visual representation has frequently relied on simplified and stereotypical narratives that obscure the conflict's political and historical complexities. While considerable scholarship has examined the Sri Lankan civil war, relatively little attention has been paid to the visuality of civil war and how visual stereotypes construct political meaning.
This paper examines the dominant visual stereotypes of the Sri Lankan civil war, why they are problematic and their implications. Drawing on Gillian Rose's framework for visual discourse and semiotic analysis, the study analyses a purposive sample of Sri Lankan and International digital news articles from January 2020 to December 2021. I investigate how recurring visual patterns construct meaning by reproducing negative generalisations, sensationalising suffering, and positioning Sri Lankan communities within particular ideological narratives.
The analysis identifies three visual stereotypes that dominate media representations of the civil war: human suffering, the emotionalisation of war, and Western-centric rescue and assistance narratives. These visual frames portray local communities primarily as passive victims in need of help while marginalising their agency and the broader political context of the conflict. The visual stereotypes actively shape how audiences interpret the causes, consequences, and possible solutions to the conflict.
By demonstrating how visual stereotypes produce political meaning, humanitarian imaginaries, and public perceptions, this paper contributes to scholarship on the visual politics of civil wars. It highlights the importance of critically deconstructing media images to understand how visual stereotypes influence the ways civil wars are remembered, interpreted, and responded to.
