ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses distinct discursive and translation strategies used by ethnic Russian converts to Islam in online publications. Such converts tend to avoid using Islamic terminology in Arabic, and instead, where possible, translate it into Russian. In doing so, they rely on the existing Orthodox Christian vocabulary, thus, discursively bringing together Russia’s two major religions, Islam and Orthodox Christianity, and contributing to the ongoing convergences and conflicts between them. To avoid marginalization that often inevitably follows acts of conversion, Russian Muslims resort to translation: first to distance themselves from pejorative imagery associated with existing Muslim communities in Russia and their use of Arabic; second, to renegotiate their new religious identity by aligning themselves to Russian mainstream culture and public norms. The chapter argues that although such discursive strategies create a seemingly safe space for self-expression, they simultaneously feed into mainstream prejudices against non-Russian Muslims and reinforce existing power hierarchies between Russian and minority ethnic groups.
