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“To be real honest, I’m just like you”: analyzing the discourse of personalization in online sermons

  • Clint Bryan

    Clint Bryan, Assistant Professor of English at Northwest University, recently defended his doctoral dissertation on digital religious discourse. He has been an ordained Protestant minister since 1992.

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    and Mohammed Albakry

    Mohammed Albakry is Professor of English and Applied Linguistics and affiliate faculty in the Literacy Studies PhD Program at Middle Tennessee State University. His main research interests include corpus-based discourse analysis, language and identity, and translation studies.

Published/Copyright: September 20, 2016

Abstract

This paper investigates the discourse of LifeChurch.tv, an American evangelical megachurch – headed by the influential pastor Craig Groeschel – whose sermons are accessed by thousands of followers on the Internet. The study is based on the transcripts of a five-year period of online preaching (177 sermons). The goal was to apply the framework of critical discourse analysis (CDA) to digital sermons, particularly focusing on examining the elements of personalization in this relatively new form of “net” evangelism. Groeschel’s “hyper-personalized” style of preaching, we argue, utilizes strategies intended to lessen any perceived barriers between the speaker and his virtual congregation. The study discusses the implications for the commodification and mediatization of religion in the digital age.

About the authors

Clint Bryan

Clint Bryan, Assistant Professor of English at Northwest University, recently defended his doctoral dissertation on digital religious discourse. He has been an ordained Protestant minister since 1992.

Mohammed Albakry

Mohammed Albakry is Professor of English and Applied Linguistics and affiliate faculty in the Literacy Studies PhD Program at Middle Tennessee State University. His main research interests include corpus-based discourse analysis, language and identity, and translation studies.

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Published Online: 2016-9-20
Published in Print: 2016-11-1

©2016 by De Gruyter Mouton

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