The slanted beam: A critical discourse analysis of anti-Islam and anti-Muslim discourse in China

Abstract

Adopting the Critical Discourse Analysis perspective, this study investigates the ideology reflected by the anti-Islam and anti-Muslim discourse in China, the power dynamics revealed by such discourse and how social media discourse differs from and utilises the government discourse. Four ways to disguise the anti-Muslims, anti-Islam prejudice are investigated: appealing to patriotism to demand cultural assimilation; claiming to defend secularism; framing Islam as incompatible with mainstream culture; appealing to consumer rights to reject halal food. Non-Muslims and assimilated Muslims (especially the elites) are found to have the prerogative to dictate who belong to the ingroup, what dietary restrictions are legitimate and whom to blame when undesirable situations arise, while Muslim non-elites are at the receiving end of such dictates. This study also argues that social media discourse expresses antagonism of higher intensity than the government discourse does, and may misappropriate the official narratives to express the interlocutor’s hatred towards Muslims.

Racialization of public discourse: portrayal of Islam and Muslims

“…Furthermore, Pilkington and Acik (2020) found that lack of individual recognition and inequality of young Muslims created social activism among them. Lan and Navera's (2022) study in China revealed that social media discourse and government discourse frame Islam as incompatible with mainstream culture and the patriotism demanded for assimilation into the main culture.…”

Understanding Through the Click: How Social Media Guides or Misleads the Issue of Halal Products

“…A study by Lan and Navera (2022) pointed out that in social media, the relationship between the interlocutor and the audience is rarely unidirectional, and upon the reception of the message, the audience may then re-produce the discourse (Shah et al, 2020). This condition also makes the abundance of information in social media often misleading, especially because everyone can give their opinion, regardless of their background and understanding rate of the issue.…”

Akademická integrace do studia: Pohled první generace vysokoškolských studentů na své vyučující

“…Tyto tematické celky byly také součástí zadání pro hloubkové rozhovory, pokud se k nim respondent během svého vyprávění nedostal, sloužily pak otázky v rámci těchto tematických celků pro doplnění chybějících informací. (Lan & Navera, 2022), tedy aby bylo možné zkoumat postoj a vnímání role vyučujících (Zábrodská & Petrjánošová, 2013). V tomto případě se jednalo o analýzu očekávání respondentů od vyučujících a vnímání jejich role při akademické integraci.…”