Propaganda and Narrative Identity in Sala@m

The article analyses the linguistic and discursive processes implemented by the online magazine Sala@m in order to build a certain representation of the Muslim community in Great Britain. We consider the magazine’s discourse as an example of propaganda speech, the aim of which is to influence the audience by summoning up both its reason and affect. The notion of “narrative identity” (Ricoeur) is essential to our analysis, for it enables us to highlight the system of narration which the magazine uses to create a collective story that it endeavours to tell the targeted audience. This narrative identity is meant to work as a mirror so that the audience recognizes itself in it and finds both a valued and clearly different image of the British Muslim community. The narrative identity elaborated in the magazine aims at turning a set of individuals into a homogeneous group endowed with consistency and temporal unity and which may consequently take position in the public space and claim rights on behalf of a marginalized group. We take an interest in the selective nature of the elaboration of the narrative identity, in what Ricoeur calls the configuration and reconfiguration, so as to enhance the work of selection that is specific to the propaganda speech of Sala@m