The Routledge Handbook of Language and Religion

by Stephen Pihlaja (Editor), Helen Ringrow (Editor)

Overview

The Routledge Handbook of Language and Religion is the first ever comprehensive collection of research on religion and language, with over 35 authors from 15 countries, presenting a range of linguistic and discourse analytic research on religion and belief in different discourse contexts.

The contributions show the importance of studying language and religion and for bringing together work in this area across sub-disciplines, languages, cultures, and geographical boundaries. The Handbook focuses on three major topics: Religious and Sacred Language, Institutional Discourse, and Religious Identity and Community. Scholars from a variety of different disciplinary backgrounds investigate these topics using a range of linguistic perspectives including Cognitive Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Sociolinguistics, Pragmatics, and Conversation Analysis. The data analysed in these chapters come from a variety of religious backgrounds and national contexts. Linguistic data from all the major world religions are included, with sacred texts, conversational data, and institutional texts included for analysis.

The Handbook is intended to be useful for readers from different subdisciplines within linguistics, but also to researchers working in other disciplines including philosophy, theology, and sociology. Each chapter gives both a template for research approaches and suggestions for future research and will inspire readers at every stage of their career.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032293646
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/26/2025
Series:	Routledge Handbooks in Linguistics
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Stephen Pihlaja lives and teaches in Birmingham (UK). He is the author of several books on talk about religion, including Talk about Faith: how debate and conversation shape belief (2021). He is interested in how people talk about and understand their own beliefs in diverse contexts.

Helen Ringrow researches gender and religion, particularly in online contexts. She is author of The Language of Cosmetics Advertising (2016) and co-editor of Contemporary Media Stylistics (2020).

Table of Contents

Foreword

1. Language and Religion

Part One - Religious & Sacred Language

2. The Learning of Sacred languages
   Sacred Languages and Power
3. Digital Media and the Sacred
4. Metaphors and Gestures in Prayers in Islam
5. Arabic Language and Representations of the Ethnic Other
6. Secular Functions of Religious Expressions
7. Symbols and Icons in Buddhist Worship
8. Religious Language in Literature
9. Language, Religion, and the Digital World 

Part Two - Institutional Discourse

10. Variation of Language in Religious Texts
11. Religion, Literature, and the Secondary Classroom 
12. Religious Greeting Messages as a Genre of Institutional Communication
13. News Media Representations of Religion
14. Pandemic Sermon Rhetoric and Evangelism
15. Language Policies and Religious Practice
16. Politeness in Religious Discourse
17. Religion in the Discourse of Abortion
18. Religious Oratory and Language Online
19. Catholicism and Social Media

Part Three - Religious Identity & Community

20. Religion, Identity, and Second Language
21. Selling English in an Islamic Society
22. Narratives and Religious Identity
23. Jewish Languages and American Jewishness
24. Multilanguaging in Interreligious Encounters
25. Ritual Language, Ritual Community
26. Religious Identity in Discourse
27. Conversion Narratives
28. Cognitive Metaphor and Religion
29. Religious Ritual and Language in the Local Community

Index