Digital Dissent. Decoding the Critical Discourse of Francophone Ex-Muslims on X
(2024) International ISFORB Conference. Propagation and (de)conversion: Conflict of individual and group rights? — Location: ETF Leuven (2.May.2024)
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- Throughout history, apostasy and the critique of Islam have been viewed as heretical and, in some countries, punishable by imprisonment or death. Consequently, individuals renouncing their Islamic faith have often been compelled into clandestinity. A plethora of ex-Muslims, including figures like Ibn Warraq, Brother Rachid, Wafa Sultan, Hamed Abdel-Samad, Hela Ouardi, Magid Oukacha have shed light on this silencing. On the other hand, the advent of social media has witnessed a notable shift in the discursive habits of apostates in recent years. An increasing number openly declaring their apostasy and criticising Islam are visible on social networks (Mebroukine, C., & de Rauglaudre, T., 2019). This research addresses the gap that exists in the literature: Until recently, studies on apostates have primarily focused on the reasons for their apostasy, their life trajectories, how they navigate within Muslim societies, the repercussions on their lives, as well as the process of conversion and deconversion (Khalil & Bilici, 2007; Streib et al., 2009; Gooren, 2010; Simon Cottee, 2015; Azweed Mohamad et al., 2017; van Nieuwkerk, 2018; Maria Vliek, 2019, 2021). However, no research seems to have examined the critical discourse of ex-Muslims on social media platforms, from a mass communication perspective. As understood by Zienkowski (2018), critique becomes a tool for social, cultural, and political change, as it can help highlight injustices and provide a foundation for activism. Building on a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis framework inspired by N. Fairclough, Kress and Van Leeuwen, this research also incorporates enunciative pragmatics and polyphony of discourse, aligning with Charaudeau's works. This methodological fusion enables an examination of the intricate layers within the discourse seeking to (1) understand their multimodal representations of Islam, (2) expose their argumentation, and (3) extract the underlying ideology behind their posts.
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Pharès, D. (2024). Digital Dissent. Decoding the Critical Discourse of Francophone Ex-Muslims on X. International ISFORB Conference. Propagation and (de)conversion: Conflict of individual and group rights?, ETF Leuven. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/274334