Language, Identity, and Syrian Political Activism on Social Media

Language, Identity, and Syrian Political Activism on Social Media is an empirical contemporary Arabic sociolinguistic investigation informed by theories and notions developed in the fields of Arabic linguistics, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis and linguistic anthropology.

Building on the Bakhtinian concept of linguistic hybridity, this book conducts a longitudinal analysis of Syrian dissidents’ social media practices between 2009 and 2017. It shows how dissidents have used social media to emerge in the discourse about the Syrian conflict and how language has been used symbolically as a tool of social and political engagement in an increasingly complex sociopolitical context.

This monograph is ideal for students, sociolinguists and researchers interested in Arabic language and identity.

Francesco L. Sinatora is Assistant Professor of Arabic at the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at The George Washington University in Washington DC. His academic research in Arabic sociolinguistics and discourse analysis focuses on political discourse and identity on Syrian social media, integrating the tools of language ethnography and multimodality. Additionally, he has also developed a research interest in Arabic pedagogy.