Conversion narratives and construction of identity among Christians in Malaysia

Abstract

Conversion narratives in the form of testimony are powerful means of consolidating and strengthening one's new religious identity (Beit-Hallahmi, Prolegomena to the psychological study of religion, Bucknell University Press, 1989; Rambo, Understanding religious conversion, Yale University Press, 1993; Stromberg 1993, as cited in Emmons & Paloutzian, Annual Review of Psychology 54: 377–402, 2003). Using conversion narratives is common among Christians in testifying how they came to know Christ. The testimony usually presents two distinct identities of the speaker: before and after accepting Christ as Lord and savior. These two distinct identities are examined in this paper to see how speakers construct themselves in the form of testimony. This paper specifically analyzes the moves and lexical choices used in the narratives. To carry out the study, 15 recorded conversion narratives were used.