"Speaking Out Would Be a Step Beyond Just Not Believing"-On the Performativity of Testimony When Moving Out of Islam

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3422902
AutoresMaria Vliek (0000-0002-5748-5307, Radboud University Nijmegen, autor de correspondencia)
Año2019
Volumen10
Número10
Páginas563
Fecha de publicación2019-09-30
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaReligions (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
EditorialMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel10100563
OpenAlexW2975041802
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas17

This article investigates the narratives of people moving out of Islam in contemporary Europe. In particular, it focusses on the potential performance of non-belief in the form of speech. By critically examining the function of testimony in conversion and deconversion narratives, this article problematises the assumed boundaries of belief, non-belief, and the function of the performance of identity. It does so by investigating contemplations over private and public performances, since the performance of speech was thought to have different effects in both spheres. Whilst public discourses on leaving Islam and speaking freely were always weighed, in private these were related to familial bonds, love, and belonging. On the other hand, considering speaking out in public was often contextualised with reference to potential secularist appropriation of their stories as 'native testimonial'. As such, my interlocutors show that testifying of one's religious transformation in the case of moving out of Islam was neither central nor conditional. Speech was mostly considered a 'step beyond' not believing

Aesthetics · Appropriation · Epistemology · Islam · Linguistics · Narrative · Performativity · Sociology · Testimonial · Theology · Gender Studies · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development