Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Muslim Women as Speakers of English pp 1–18Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Muslim Women and Language Ideological Debates

  • 46 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter highlights the dominant representation of Muslim women as voiceless in the Western media and introduces how such stereotypical representation of Muslim women may be part of their representation as speakers of English. It presents the 2016 language ideological debate that heavily problematises Muslim women as speakers of English. The chapter highlights the contestation of this representation by Muslim women in the UK that warrants proper investigation of the 2016 language ideological debate in the UK. A brief overview of the methods of data collection, analysis, and treatment is then given. Finally, an outline of the book is provided.

Keywords

  • Language ideological debate
  • Stereotypes
  • Politicisation
  • Critical discourse analysis (CDA)
  • Media representation

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   34.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD   44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ahlulbayt TV (Producer). (2016). Are Muslim women “traditionally submissive”? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7ouz8OB93Y

  • Allen, C. (2012). A review of the evidence relating to the representation of Muslims and Islam in the British media. https://issuu.com/drchrisallen/docs/chrisallen-appg_muslims-media_evidence-october2012

  • Allen, C. (2015). People hate you because of the way you dress: Understanding the invisible experiences of veiled British Muslim women victims of islamophobia. International review of victimology, 21(3), 287–301. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269758015591677

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • BBC Trending. (2016). ‘Traditionally submissive Muslim women’ say who us? https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-35403106

  • Bednarek, M., & Caple, H. (2014). Why do news values matter? Towards a new methodological framework for analysing news discourse in critical discourse analysis and beyond. Discourse & Society, 25(2), 135–158.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Bibi, R. (2019). Challenging discourses on BSA Muslim women through an intersectional analysis of everyday experiences across spaces of home, work and public space. Doctor of Philosophy. The University of Manchester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackledge, A. (2005). Discourse and power in a multilingual world. John Benjamins Publishing.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Blackledge, A. (2006b). The racialization of language in British political discourse. Critical Discourse Studies, 3(1), 61–79.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Bleich, E., Stonebraker, H., Nisar, H., & Abdelhamid, R. (2015). Media portrayals of minorities: Muslims in British newspaper headlines, 2001–2012. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2014.1002200

  • Brah, A. (1993). ‘Race’ and ‘culture’ in the gendering of labour markets: South Asian young Muslim women and the labour market. New Community, 19(3), 441–458. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.1993.9976376

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K. (2006). Realising Muslim women’s rights: The role of Islamic identity among British Muslim women. Women’s Studies International Forum, 29(4), 417–430. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2006.05.002

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Bullock, K. H., & Jafri, G. J. (2000). Media (mis) representations: Muslim women in the Canadian nation. Canadian Woman Studies, 20(2), 35–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cameron, D. (2016). We won’t let women be second class citizens. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/we-wont-let-women-be-second-class-citizens-brh07l6jttb

  • Dwyer, C. (1999a). Contradictions of community: Questions of identity for young British Muslim women. Sage, 31(1), 53–68. https://doi.org/10.1068/a310053

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer, C. (1999b). Veiled meanings: Young British Muslim women and the negotiation of differences. Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography, 6(1), 5–26.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power. Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. Psychology Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. (2004). Semiotic aspects of social transformation and learning. In R. Rogers (Ed.), An introduction to critical discourse analysis in education. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. (2013). Critical discourse analysis and critical policy studies. Critical policy studies, 7(2), 177–197.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N. & Wodak, R. (1997). Critical Discourse Analysis. In T. A. van Dijk (Ed.), Introduction to Discourse Studies (pp. 258–284). Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairclough, N., Mulderring, J., & Wodak, R. (1997). Critical discourse analysis. In T. van Dijk (Ed.), Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction. Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, L. (2016). More Muslim women should ‘learn English’ to help tackle extremism. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/12104556/David-Cameron-More-Muslim-women-should-learn-English-to-help-tackle-extremism.html

  • Jaspal, R., & Cinnirella, M. (2010). Media representations of British Muslims and hybridised threats to identity. Dynamics of Muslim Life, 4(3), 289–310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11562-010-0126-7

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • KhosraviNik, M., Krzyżanowski, M., & Wodak, R. (2012). Dynamics of representation in discourse: Immigrants in the British press. In M. Messer, R. Schroeder, & R. Wodak (Eds.), Migrations: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 283–295). Springer Vienna.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald, M. (2006). Muslim women and the veil: Problems of image and voice in media representations. Feminist Media Studies, 6(1), 7–23.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, M. (2001). Between theory, method, and politics: Positioning of the approaches to CDA. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 14–31). Sage publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, K., Mason, P., & Lewis, J. M. W. (2008). Images of Islam in the UK: The representation of British Muslims in the national print news media 2000–2008: Cardiff School of Journalism. Media and Cultural Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, M. (2017). How left or right-wing are the UK’s newspapers? https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/03/07/how-left-or-right-wing-are-uks-newspapers

  • Terman, R. (2017). Islamophobia and media portrayals of Muslim women: A computational text analysis of US news coverage. International Studies Quarterly, 61(3), 489–502.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • van Dijk, T. A. (1989). Mediating racism: The role of the media in the reproduction of racism. In W. Ruth (Ed.), Language, power and ideology (pp. 199–226). John Benjamins Publishing Company.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • van Dijk, T. A. (1992b). Discourse and the denial of racism. Discourse & Society, 3(1), 87–118.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • van Dijk, T. A. (2001). Multidisciplinary CDA: A plea for diversity. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 95–120). Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Leeuwen, T. (1996). The representation of social actors. In C. R. Caldas-Coulthard & M. Coulthard (Eds.), Texts and practices: Readings in critical discourse analysis (pp. 32–70). Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • van Leeuwen, T. (2008). Discourse and practice: New tools for critical discourse analysis. Oxford University Press.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • van Leeuwen, T., & Wodak, R. (1999). Legitimizing immigration control: A discourse-historical analysis. Discourse Studies, 1(1), 83–118.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wodak, R. (1999). Critical discourse analysis at the end of the 20th century. Research on Language & Social Interaction, 32(1–2), 185–193.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wodak, R. (2001a). The discourse-historical approach. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 63–94). Sage Publications.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wodak, R. (2001b). What CDA is about—A summary of its history, important concepts and its developments. In W. Ruth & M. Michael (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 1–13). Sage publications.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wodak, R., & Busch, B. (2004). Approaches to media texts. In J. D. H. Downing, D. McQuail, P. Schlesinger, & E. Wartella (Eds.), The sage handbook of media studies (pp. 105–123). Sage.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wodak, R., de Cillia, R., Reisigl, M., Liebhart, K., Hirsch, A., & Mitten, R. (2009). The discursive construction of national identity. Edinburgh University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (2009). Critical discourse analysis: History, agenda, theory and methodology. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (pp. 1–33). Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zempi, I., & Chakraborti, N. (2015). They make us feel like we’re a virus’ : The multiple impacts of Islamophobic hostility towards veiled Muslim women. International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 4(3), 44–56. https://doi.org/10.5204/ijcjsd.v4i3.236

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia

    Madiha Neelam

Authors
  1. Madiha Neelam
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Neelam, M. (2022). Muslim Women and Language Ideological Debates. In: Muslim Women as Speakers of English. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16231-2_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16231-2_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-16230-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-16231-2

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

search

Navigation