Religion in the Media: a Linguistic Analysis

RELIGION IN THE MEDIA: A LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS Salman Al-Azami Religion in the Media: A Linguistic Analysis Salman Al-Azami Religion in the Media: A Linguistic Analysis Salman Al-Azami Liverpool Hope University Liverpool , UK ISBN 978-1-137-29972-7 ISBN 978-1-137-29973-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-29973-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016943493 © Th e Editor(s) (if applicable) and Th e Author(s) 2016 Th e author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identifi ed as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Th is work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Th e use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Th e publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Th is Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature Th e registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. London To my beloved wife Shaheen— without her support and sacrifi ce, this book would have never come to light. Pref ace Religion plays an integral part in the lives of billions of people in the world. Although there are diff erences in beliefs and practices, a majority of the world’s population has a spiritual element and fi nds comfort, peace, and tranquillity through that. Religions have existed for many cen- turies and there has been violence in the name of religion throughout history. However, in the contemporary world, religions are under intense scrutiny due to confl icts that kill innocent civilians in the name of religion. Religious riots between Hindus and Muslims in India, Buddhists slaughtering Rohingya Muslims in Burma, and Muslims and Christians killing each other in diff erent parts of Africa are examples of violence in the name of religion. Although the Middle East confl ict is more political than religious, it is between Palestinian Muslims and Israeli Jews, and religion often plays a divisive role in the tensions between the two confl icting groups. Th e worst religious confl ict since the turn of this century has been the rise of extremism, fanaticism, and mass murder by people who call themselves Muslims. From the terrible multiple attacks on 9/11, to the mass murders in Madrid, London, Brussels and Paris in the West, and to the many more incidents around the world, Islam as a religion has been at the forefront of violent extremism in the twenty-fi rst century. History has taught us about past confl icts. Today, advances in media technology have brought current world confl icts straight into our living rooms. Many people around the world saw the horrifi c attacks on the vii viii Preface World Trade Center in New York live on their television screens. Th e 24-hour news channels, access to news online as it happens, and the shar- ing of news stories in social media enable us to be constantly updated as each terrorist incident unfolds. As Hoover (2006, p.1) argues, it is the media that has brought religion to the centre of our attention through its continuous coverage and by leading the audience to depend on media for information about religions, particularly Islam. Immigration and terrorism have now become central political issues in Western countries where the increase in population diversity has made many members of the majority community worried, sceptical, and appre- hensive of ‘other’ cultures. Many politicians have made inroads in these climates of fear and are dividing communities. Th e media could play the vital role of creating a better society by playing a constructive role in the immigration and terrorism debates. At present, research overwhelmingly shows that the role of the media is far from being constructive. While politicians in the West have been struggling to grapple with the rise of terrorism and are fi nding themselves in the tangled web of one war after another without much thought about the consequences of exacer- bating the crises, the Western media has failed to play the crucial role of making politicians accountable and helping communities that are scarred by divisions come together. Th e silent majority from communities fi nd themselves in the crossfi re between the rise of Islamophobic hate crimes on the one hand and the increase of radicalisation on the other hand. Provocative headlines against Islam and Muslims in the British media have become a regular feature, which is not helpful to reducing tensions between communities. It is not only Muslims who fi nd their faith to be attacked and stereo- typed by the media. Jews and Christians also consider the British media to be generally anti-religion and not fairly representing their respective faiths. Whether it is media coverage of the Israel-Palestine confl ict, the coverage of the role of Christian beliefs against homosexuality, or the child sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, religious groups are not happy with the way the secular British media has portrayed their religions. Followers of other religions in Britain, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, and so on, are also disappointed with a media that is Preface ix obsessed with Islam and a media that undermines the important roles religions play among the communities. Religion in the media is a relatively new fi eld in academia—dating back only a few decades—but a lot of work has been done in this area, particularly in the United States. It is not a widely studied subject in Britain compared to the USA, though it is growing as an emerging fi eld. Unfortunately, even in the USA, linguists have shown little interest in religion in the media. Linguists have focused heavily on media discourse, and recently, they have started to take interest in religious discourse; but how language is used in the media to represent religions has not been considered an area in which linguists can contribute. It is at the backdrop of this uncomfortable relationship between religion and media—and the lack of research in language, religion, and media—that this book has been written. Th e main purpose of this book is to linguistically analyse religion in the media and investigate how the audiences that belong to diff erent faiths as well as those with no faith respond to media representations of religions. As a result of this analysis, it is hoped that a new interdisciplinary fi eld of research will emerge so that religion in the media will be studied from a linguistic perspective. Th e innovative aspects of this study include studying media representations of the three Abrahamic religions in British media together and incorporating both discourse analysis and audience response analysis of those media representations. Non-religious groups are also included in the study of religion in the media. Studying the religious and non- religious groups should bring new insights to the study of religion in the media. Success of this humble project will be the development of a new interdisciplinary study that has more linguists adding religion in the media to their research repertoire. Salman Al-Azami Liverpool, UK Acknowledgments I am grateful to many people for their unequivocal support throughout the process of working on this book. I am thankful to Palgrave Macmillan for deciding to publish this book as it is of huge contemporary signifi cance. I have worked with three commissioning editors at Palgrave since signing the book contract: Olivia Middleton, Rebecca Brennan, and Esme Chapman. Since completing the draft, I have been in regular contact with Chloe Fitzsimmons at Palgrave. I have found all of them to be very helpful and understanding. I am particularly grateful for the extensions they gave me to complete the project due to some diffi cult personal circumstances. I am always indebted to the head, Department of English, Professor Cynthia Hamilton, for her support and encouragement throughout my stay at Liverpool Hope University. We joined the department in the same year and because she is retiring at the end of this academic year, I feel that I will be losing a mentor and friend. Another colleague who has always supported me is Dr Linda McLoughlin, the undergraduate Curriculum Coordinator of the department. Cindy and Linda arranged my timetable in such a way that allowed me two teaching days off in the fi rst term; this was crucial for fi nishing the project. Completing a book project during a teaching term is extremely diffi cult, and without their support I would not have fi nished the manuscript by the deadline. xi xii Acknowledgments Th ird, I am very grateful to all those people who helped me organise the focus groups and interviews for the audience response study.

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