Veiling and Revealing Identity: The Linguistic Representation of the Hijab in the British Press

Abstract

This chapter analyzes the linguistic representation of hijab, identity, female body, and social integration in the British press. The study relies on an innovative theory in cognitive linguistics known as conceptual metaphor within-culture variation. The collected data consist of a number of articles, interviews, and readers’ comments written by women from the mainstream British culture and the British Islamic subculture. All of these women are native British or born in Britain from migrant parents. The study focuses on the variation of metaphorical structures used to express the symbol of hijab in both social varieties. At the same time, the analysis explains the ideology that lies behind each linguistic representation. The study shows the effects of the representation of the practice of Islamic veiling in the identity construction and social integration processes of Muslim women in British society.