"Arabic is the language of the Muslims–that's how it was supposed to be": exploring language and religious identity through reflective accounts from young British-born South Asians

This study explores how a group of young British-born South Asians understood and defined their religious and linguistic identities, focusing upon the role played by heritage languages and liturgical languages and by religious socialisation. Twelve British-born South Asians were interviewed using a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mental health, religion & culture
Authors: Jaspal, Rusi (Author) ; Coyle, Adrian (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis 2010
In: Mental health, religion & culture
Year: 2010, Volume: 13, Issue: 1, Pages: 17-36
Further subjects:B Language
B South Asians
B Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis
B Religion
B Identity
B Qualitative
B Culture
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Summary:This study explores how a group of young British-born South Asians understood and defined their religious and linguistic identities, focusing upon the role played by heritage languages and liturgical languages and by religious socialisation. Twelve British-born South Asians were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Interview transcripts were subjected to interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four superordinate themes are reported. These addressed participants’ meaning-making regarding "the sanctification of language" and the consequential suitability of "the liturgical language as a symbol of religious community"; the themes of "ethnic pride versus religious identity" and "linguistic Otherness and religious alienation" concerned potential ethno-linguistic barriers to a positive religious identity. Findings are interpreted in terms of concepts drawn from relevant identity theories and tentative recommendations are offered concerning the facilitation of positive religious and ethnic identities.
ISSN:1469-9737
Contains:Enthalten in: Mental health, religion & culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/13674670903127205