Digital Media and Religious Sentiments in Malaysia

Critical Discourse Analysis of Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party and Democratic Action Party Cyberspace Campaigns in the 15th General Election

Bibliographic Data

ID3553538
AuthorsMohd Irwan Syazli Saidin (0000-0002-3069-8206, Durham University, corresponding author), Nadhrah Azrun (University of Bristol)
Year2024
Volume15
Issue8
Pages920
Publication date2024-07-29
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel15080920
OpenAlexW4401210142
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited20

The challenge arises from Malaysia's struggle to foster peaceful connections among its diverse ethnic groups, mainly due to the prevalence of politics centered around religious and ethnic identities. To examine how racialised political sentiments subtly influence power dynamics, this study analyses four digital excerpts using a critical discursive approach. The primary sources are secondary materials such as videos and social media posts in cyberspace related to the 15th General Election political campaigns. This article demonstrates that language is used to create and reinforce religious and racial divisions in pursuing political power by the two most significant political parties, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and the Democratic Action Party (DAP). It emphasises the underlying power that drives these discourses, where cyberspace linguistic features and access to digital technologies have the "power" to shape audience reactions. The selected analysed excerpts collectively contribute to the primary discourse that fuels racial sentiments, especially those related to race, religion, and royalty (3R sentiments) in electoral competition

Cyberspace · Democracy · Geography · Islam · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Asian Studies and History · Computer Science · Islamic Finance and Communication · Islamic Studies and Radicalism · Law

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access