Muslim Identities in Contemporary Televangelists' Online Discourse

This book examines the discourse of Muslim televangelism in the West, particularly looking at the emergence of 'home-grown' televangelists who grew up in the West and deliver their sermons in English, addressing audiences in contexts such as the UK and the USA. In their sermons, televangelists address topics that are relevant to the everyday life of Muslims and Muslim youth such as friendship, marriage and the misrepresentation of Islam/Muslims in mass media. This book explores contemporary Muslim televangelism and its manifestations in other forms of digital religion, including YouTube, websites and social media which mediate religious content. Using a Critical Discourse Studies approach, the author explores the power structures underpinning the popularity of Muslim televangelism, investigates the linguistic strategies used by Muslim televangelists to construct their identities online, and analyses how Islam and Muslims are represented in their sermons. This book will be of interest to religious studies, media studies, and discourse studies scholars, and to anyone interested in the topic of Islam/Muslims in the West in the contemporary age.

Chapter 1: Muslim Televangelism: The Beginning of the Story.- Chapter 2: Muslim televangelism in context.- Chapter 3: Approaches and Methods.- Chapter 4: Televangelists’ Self-representation on YouTube.- Chapter 5: Televangelists’ Self-representation on their Websites and Social Media Platforms .- Chapter 6: The Representation of Islam/Muslims in the West in Televangelists’ Sermons.- Chapter 7: The Use of Religious and Historical References in Televangelists’ Sermons.- Chapter 8: Reflections and Conclusions.

Shaimaa El Naggar gained her PhD in linguistics at Lancaster University, UK. She is a Lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literature at Fayoum University, Egypt. Her research focuses on the interaction between language, digital media and society.