scholarly journals Muslim Women in Wellington: Discursive Construction of Religious Identity in Personal Narratives.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Brie Jessen
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
The West ◽  
Islamic Identity

<p>Using a social constructionist framework this thesis investigates the construction of Muslim women's religious identity through an analysis of the discursive and linguistic features of their narratives. Muslim identity in the west is increasingly becoming a research focus for the social sciences and sociological and anthropological research on Muslim identity has much to offer sociolinguistics. Similarly, sociolinguistic research on ethnicity in narrative can also contribute to understanding the position of Muslim women. Following a review of the relevant research, the methods of data collection, transcription and analysis are described. An ethnographic approach, combined with small group discussions, was used to elicit data from eight Muslim women in the Wellington region. The women's narratives are analysed with a focus on the linguistic and discursive strategies used in identity construction. Three different dimensions of identity were identified: (i) comparative identity contrasts Muslim/Islamic identity with the West, constructing the self in opposition to the 'other'; (ii) Islamic identity is constructed on an intellectual/philosophical level, asking 'who am I within my religion, and how do I relate to the wider concept of Islam?'; (iii) Muslim identity focuses on the practical/physical level, integrating the guidelines and rituals of Islam into daily life; it asks 'how do I go about my everyday life as a Muslim?'. Patterns and similarities, as well as differences between narratives in each category are identified and discussed with particular reference to the discursive and linguistic features, which characterise each. In addition, attention is paid to the linguistic and discursive devices used to express Muslim identity through the subversion of societal discourses. Finally, suggestions for further research are presented.</p>

scholarly journals Muslim Women in Wellington: Discursive Construction of Religious Identity in Personal Narratives.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Brie Jessen
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Social Constructionist ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
The West ◽  
Islamic Identity

<p>Using a social constructionist framework this thesis investigates the construction of Muslim women's religious identity through an analysis of the discursive and linguistic features of their narratives. Muslim identity in the west is increasingly becoming a research focus for the social sciences and sociological and anthropological research on Muslim identity has much to offer sociolinguistics. Similarly, sociolinguistic research on ethnicity in narrative can also contribute to understanding the position of Muslim women. Following a review of the relevant research, the methods of data collection, transcription and analysis are described. An ethnographic approach, combined with small group discussions, was used to elicit data from eight Muslim women in the Wellington region. The women's narratives are analysed with a focus on the linguistic and discursive strategies used in identity construction. Three different dimensions of identity were identified: (i) comparative identity contrasts Muslim/Islamic identity with the West, constructing the self in opposition to the 'other'; (ii) Islamic identity is constructed on an intellectual/philosophical level, asking 'who am I within my religion, and how do I relate to the wider concept of Islam?'; (iii) Muslim identity focuses on the practical/physical level, integrating the guidelines and rituals of Islam into daily life; it asks 'how do I go about my everyday life as a Muslim?'. Patterns and similarities, as well as differences between narratives in each category are identified and discussed with particular reference to the discursive and linguistic features, which characterise each. In addition, attention is paid to the linguistic and discursive devices used to express Muslim identity through the subversion of societal discourses. Finally, suggestions for further research are presented.</p>

scholarly journals Veiled Muslim women’s responses to experiences of gendered Islamophobia in the UK

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irene Zempi
Keyword(s):  
Hate Crime ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Gender Performance ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
The West ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Uk

In a post-9/11 climate, Islamophobia has increased significantly in the UK and elsewhere in the West. ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks in the UK as well as in France, Belgium, Germany and, more recently, in Sri Lanka have triggered an increase in verbal and physical attacks on Muslims. Drawing on intersectionality (as a nexus of identities that work together to render certain individuals as ‘ideal’ targets to attack), veiled Muslim women are likely to experience gendered Islamophobia in the cyber world but also in ‘real’ life due to the intersections between their ‘visible’ Muslim identity and gender performance. In the British context, although Islamophobia is recorded as a hate crime nationally, and misogyny as a hate crime locally in some police forces, veiled Muslim women are unlikely to report their experiences to the police. Drawing on qualitative interviews with Muslim women who wear the niqab (face veil), the purpose of this article is to examine the ways in which they respond to experiences of gendered Islamophobia as well as their reasons for not reporting their experiences to the police.

Intertextuality and Constructing Islamic Identities Online

2010 ◽  
pp. 191-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Najma Al Zidjaly
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Religious Identities ◽  
Islamic Identity

This chapter explores, from a sociolinguistic perspective, the role that the Internet plays in the online discursive construction of the Islamic religious identity of an enlightener. It does so by examining chatroom conversations between a man with a disability from the Islamic Arabian country, Oman and individuals of diverse religious backgrounds and nationalities with whom he frequently chats. The chapter illustrates how an enlightener identity is constructed through juxtaposing two contrastive religious identities: a liberal identity (when interacting with other Muslims) and a far more traditional one (when interacting with non-Muslims). The findings of the study suggest that the Internet is helping transform many Islamic discourses from being “authoritative,” i.e., unquestioned, to being “internally persuasive,” i.e., open for debate (Bakhtin, 1981). The analysis also reveals how the Internet is offering new possibilities regarding the constitution of an Islamic identity while additionally posing increasingly poignant questions about the role of Islamic religious leaders in this digital age.

scholarly journals Muslim Women’s Self-Representation in Art

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-193
Author(s):  
Asmaa Soliman
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Strong Influence ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Female Identity ◽  
Male Gaze ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
The West ◽  
Artistic Self

Abstract This article examines German Muslim women’s artistic self-representation arguing that their public engagement can be seen as an example of counterpublics. Two main features can be found. First, the artists feel disappointed by the mainstream public, as it excludes and misrepresents Muslim women. Second, an agitational orientation can be observed, as the artists intend to offer explicitly articulated alternative self-representations targeting the mainstream public. The normality of their female German Muslim identity is conveyed. The very fact that the artists aim to challenge dominant stereotypes about Muslim women reveals the stereotypes’ strong influence on their self-representation. Due to their Muslim and female identity, Muslim women in the West face several exertions of power. The theory of intersectionality shows that their self-representation can be seen as a refusal to serve as an object of the male gaze, as well as the non-Muslim German gaze.

scholarly journals Muslim Women

2000 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 115-118
Author(s):  
Maliha Chishti
Keyword(s):  
Culturally Diverse ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Third Space ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Female Identity ◽  
The West ◽  
Progressive Politics ◽  
The Third ◽  
Colonial Authority

Shahnaz Khan's study of Muslim female identity in Canada is a worthycontribution to the literature on Muslim experiences in the West. Sheexplores how women negotiate their identities in-between the polarizeddiscourses ofOrientalism and Islam by occupying a hybridized third space.This third space is not only the site of resistance to the dominant Islamicand Orientalist prescriptives of Muslim female identity, but a starting pointfor Muslim women to engage in individual and collective projects to remapand reconfigure their identities in a process of cultural, political, andeconomic empowerment. Khan argues that progressive politics by and forMuslim women are possible only from this hybridized location. Her studyelucidates this third space's dynamics by examining the dialectic betweenthe personal narratives of culturally diverse Canadian Muslim women andthe political space they inhabit.In her introduction, Khan locates herself as a Muslim feminist intellectualwho does not practice but is influenced by Islam, as well as Orientalist,multiculturalist, and feminist discourses. In order to move away fromessentialist notions of "Muslim," Khan clarifies that she uses the term toreveal the fluidity and diversity of expressions associated with beingMuslim, including its use in both a religious and non-religious context.In chapter 1, Khan draws on the work of various social theorists to rup­ture the notion of a homogenous, static, and authentic culture. She does thisby emphasizing cultural fluidity, permeability, and shifting boundaries.Resisting and challenging the former serves as the premise of what istermed the third space, whereby hybridized identities are constructed froma wide and even contending range of influences, such as eastern and westerncultural forces and religion. For Muslim women, Khan outlines how thethird space disavows colonial authority and forbids the reign of dominantnarratives of either Islam (which legitimates patriarchal authority throughsacred texts) or Orientalism (which represents Muslims as the pejorative"Other"). This third space allows Muslim women to negotiate, resist, andreinvent the forces informing their realities.In the next few chapters, the personal narratives of 14 Muslim womenelucidate how Muslim women negotiate their own identities as they confrontracism and lslamophobia in the broader community, and sexism and ...

scholarly journals The Role of Religious Fundamentalism in the Intersection of National and Religious Identities

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susilo Wibisono ◽  
Winnifred Louis ◽  
Jolanda Jetten
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Religious Fundamentalism ◽  
Religious Movements ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Religious Identification ◽  
National Identification ◽  
The Way

Indonesia has seen recent expansions of fundamentalist movements mobilising members in support a change to the current constitution. Against this background, two studies were conducted. In Study 1, we explored the intersection of religious and national identity among Indonesian Muslims quantitatively, and in Study 2, we qualitatively examined religious and national identification among members of moderate and fundamentalist religious organisations. Specifically, Study 1 (N= 178) assessed whether the association of religious and national identity was moderated by religious fundamentalism. Results showed that strength of religious identification was positively associated with strength of national identification for both those high and low in fundamentalism. Using structured interviews and focus group discussions, Study 2 (N =35) examined the way that self-alignment with religious and national groups develops among activists of religious movements in Indonesia. We found that while more fundamentalist activists attached greater importance to their religious identity than to any other identity (e.g., national and ethnic), more moderate activists represented their religious and national identities as more integrated and compatible. We conclude that for Indonesian Muslims higher in religious fundamentalism, religious and national identities appear to be less integrated and this is consequential for the way in which collective agendas are pursued.

'The Proof is on My Palm': Debating Ethnicity, Islam and Ritual in a New African Diaspora

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
African Diaspora ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
World Religion ◽  
Guinea Bissau ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common

AbstractFor Mandinga in Guinea-Bissau and Portugal, life-course rituals are currently provoking transnational debates on ethnic and religious identity. In Guinea-Bissau, these two identities are thought to be one and the same—to be Mandinga is to 'naturally' be Muslim. For Mandinga immigrants in Portugal, however, the experience of transnationalism and the allure of 'global Islam' have thrust this long-held notion into debate. In this article, I explore the contours and consequences of this debate by focusing on the 'writing-on-the-hand' ritual, which initiates Mandinga children into Qur'anic study. Whereas some Mandinga immigrants in Portugal view the writing-on-the-hand ritual as essential for conferring both Muslim identity and 'Mandinga-ness', others feel that this Mandinga 'custom' should be abandoned for a more orthodox version of Islam. Case studies reveal an internal debate about Mandinga ethnicity, Islam and ritual, one that transcends the common 'traditionalist'/'modernist' distinction. I suggest that the internal debate, although intensified by migration, is not itself a consequence of 'modernity' but has long been central to how Mandinga imagine themselves as both members of a distinct ethnic group and as practitioners of the world religion of Islam.

Sekolah Islam (Islamic Schools) as Symbols of Indonesia's Urban Muslim Identity

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Yanwar Pribadi
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
Islamic Schools ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Islamic Identity ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract This article discusses the relationship between Sekolah Islam (Salafism-influenced Islamic schools) and urban middle-class Muslims. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the City of Serang (Kota Serang), near Jakarta, this paper argues that these conservative and puritan Muslims demonstrate their Islamic identity politics through their engagement with Sekolah Islam. The analysis of in-depth interviews with and close observations of parents of students and school custodians (preachers or occasionally spiritual trainers) at several Sekolah Islam reveals that they have attempted to pursue ‘true’ Islamic identity and have claimed recognition of their identity as the most appropriate. The pursuit of a ‘true’ Islamic identity has infused Islamic identity politics, and there is an oppositional relationship between local Islamic traditions and Salafism, as seen in Sekolah Islam. The relationship between Islam and identity politics becomes intricate when it is transformed into public symbols, discourses, and practices at many Sekolah Islam. This paper shows that through their understanding and activities at Sekolah Islam, these Muslims are avid actors in the contemporary landscape of Islamic identity politics in Indonesia. By taking examples from Sekolah Islam in Indonesia, this article unveils social transformations that may also take place in the larger Muslim world.

The Legitimating Power of Discourse

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-275
Author(s):  
Mustafa Menshawy
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
The State ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Media Texts ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Culturally Embedded

Abstract In this article, I examine a corpus of texts that address the 1973 war; these texts cover the period from 1981 to 2011, marking the beginning and end of Hosni Mubarak’s rule. Utilizing Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), I explore how Mubarak’s regime employed the war to legitimize its power and defend its policies by deploying longstanding culturally-embedded ‘macro themes’. These macro themes refer to the war as an overwhelming and undisputed ‘Egyptian victory’ and, more significantly, they portray Mubarak himself as ‘war personified/war personalized’. The analysis of linguistic and extra-linguistic features in al-Ahram newspaper (the mouthpiece of the state), among other media texts on the war, show how the discursive construction was made consistent, coherent and resonant in a managed context that characterized the political and media landscapes. Depending on unique access to those who produced, edited and even censored the texts under analysis, this method unravels a complex set of cultural messages and conventions about the war, and fills a lacuna in the literature by offering insight into the deliberate and well-coordinated process of shaping and reshaping a specific discourse for a specific purpose.

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