TEDified Islam Postsecular Storytelling in New Media

This book represents one of the initial comprehensive studies of TED Talks on Islam. It situates TED Talks on Islam as postsecular (secular’s renewed interest in faith) discourse and asks how TED represents and narrates Islam. It also examines the perspectives of both Muslim and non-Muslim TED viewers about TED’s storytelling strategies as well as on the platform. Finally, the book studies the features of the authority that both Muslim and non-Muslim TED speakers embody as ‘spokespersons of Islam’. By doing so, this book offers an empirical and context-oriented understanding of postsecular storytelling by problematising the secular translations of Islam.

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Towards TEDified Islam: the Nexus Between Islam, TED & Postsecular Communications in New Media.- Chapter 3: Postsecular Imagination of Islam in TED Talks.- Chapter 4: Postsecular Storytelling & Narrative Performance in TED Talks.- Chapter 5: Audience Responses: Narratives, Speakers & Platform.- Chapter 6: Postsecular Influencers: Perceptions About TED Speakers on Islam.- Chapter 7: Closing Thoughts.

Dr Jasbeer Musthafa Mamalipurath is a lecturer in media and broadcast studies at the School of Arts, English and Languages, Queen’s University Belfast, UK. His research sits at the intersection of media, society and culture. His previous research looked at the emerging discourses due to Islam’s encounter with the secular through digital platforms. Currently, he is researching how different societies experience and combat misinformation and disinformation in their everyday engagement with digital media.