Muslims on the internet : the discourse of self-representation and identity construction

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate the self-representation and identity construction of Muslims on the Internet. The recourse to online discourse has posed the question of the role of the Internet in shaping the public knowledge and ultimately their beliefs. Indeed, the merits of the Internet are valuable, but the side effects might be deplorable. Muslims have utilised this advancement of technology to spread the message of Islam. The websites hosts are trying to convey the message of Islam based on their understanding of Islam, i.e. they try to represent themselves and construct their Islamic identities in accordance with their beliefs and orientations. The major interest of this study is to examine modality used by the hosts when speaking or acting for Islam. In order to achieve this, the researcher created a framework which represents a large segment of online Muslim websites. Then, the data were collected from ‘About Us’ or ‘Introduction’ pages in each website. The analytical framework employed to investigate Muslim identity on the Internet was Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) complemented by Corpus Linguistics (CL). From the former, it draws on the approach which views discourse as a social practice. From the latter, it uses certain corpus techniques such as frequency list, concordance, collocation and semantic preference. The linguistic analysis covered syntax and lexical choices to investigate modal expressions. The findings indicate that hosts use modality to express their commitments to the truth of the proposition when speaking or acting for Islam, i.e. they are speaking and acting authoritatively for Islam. This multiple identity of the hosts for the same entity, i.e. Islam, blurs Islamic identity and creates problems for knowledge seekers about Islam on the Internet. The findings of the study are expected to furnish academic inquiries with insights about Islam and Muslims in such a contemporary highly tensed international atmosphere.