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      Islamophobia Studies Journal

      Volume 4, Issue 2
       
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      Reading Islamophobia in Hindutva: An Analysis of Narendra Modi's Political Discourse

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      Publication date (Print):
      Journal: Islamophobia Studies Journal
      Publisher: Pluto Journals
      Keywords: Hindutva, Islamophobia, discourse analysis, language-games, Narendra Modi
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            Abstract

            This article analyzes the narratives of Islamophobia in Hindu Nationalism (Hindutva). Specifically, it analyzes how Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), articulates Islamophobia in his speeches, interviews, and podcasts. In total, a discourse analysis of 35 such documents has been conducted. Conceptually, this article applies the notion of language-games to understand how Modi articulates Islamophobia. The article contends that while Modi's Islamophobia is executed subtly, it is nonetheless a function of the way in which Hindutva conceives of Muslims as subordinate to Hindus. Two Islamophobic narratives in Modi's political discourse have been mapped out: (1) the erasure of Indian Muslim histories in Modi's economic development agenda, and (2) the characterization of Hinduism as having a taming effect on Islam in India. The article provides a conceptual overview of language-games and a review of how Hindutva defines Hindus and Muslims, before analyzing how Modi articulates Islamophobia. The article concludes by suggesting that a Hindutva-driven Islamophobia may have permeated into the Hindu mainstream.

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            Author and article information

            Contributors
            Prashant Waikar
            Journal
            Journal ID (doi): 10.2307/j50018795
            Journal ID (jcode): islastudj
            Title: Islamophobia Studies Journal
            Publisher: Pluto Journals
            ISSN: 2325-8381
            ISSN: 2325-839X
            Publication date (Print): 1 April 2018
            Volume: 4
            Issue: 2 ( doiID: 10.13169/islastudj.4.issue-2 )
            Pages: 161-180
            Affiliations
            Nanyang Technological University
            Article
            Publisher ID: islastudj.4.2.0161
            DOI: 10.13169/islastudj.4.2.0161
            SO-VID: 169ee0e2-a746-4882-9bcc-b1ffc77278f0
            Copyright © © Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project, Center for Race and Gender, University of California, Berkeley
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            All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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            Custom metadata
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            ScienceOpen disciplines: Social & Behavioral Sciences
            Keywords: Narendra Modi,language-games,discourse analysis,Islamophobia,Hindutva

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