Names without Faces
From Polemics to Flirtation in Islamic Chat-Room Nick-Naming
Study on Inter-Religions, No. 23

By On Barak
July 2006
Almqvist & Wiksell
ISBN: 9189652193
72 pages, 5 5/8 x 8 1/4"
$52.50 Paper Original

 

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This book is based upon an empirical study of the nick-naming practices prevalent in the Islamic chat-room of the Yahoo provider in the months following September 11, 2001. Viewing these nicknames as the primary marker for the surfer’s virtual identity, this essay explores their importance in a range of activities, from religious and political polemics to flirtation and partner-seeking. The book uses names as a tool for doing internet ethnography and for engaging with conceptual questions regarding the hybrid manifestations of religion on the web. The author is a doctorate student in the Department of Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies at New York University.

Religion


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