Sawall, Marina
Dissertation topic: "Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya and Hildegard von Bingen on YouTube and Instagram: Reception and construction of female religious authority in digital discourses."
Contact address at the University of Würzburg:
Chair of Dogmatics
Bibrastraße 14
97070 Würzburg
E-mail to Mrs Sawall
First supervisor: Prof. Dr Christine Büchner
Second supervisor:
Class in the Graduate School: "Antiquity, History and Religion"
Doctorate in the Graduate School from SS 2025.
Abstract:
The dissertation project uses a discourse-comparative approach that combines theological, religious and media studies perspectives to analyse how Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya and Hildegard von Bingen are received and constructed as religious authorities on online platforms.
A central part of the work is the investigation of hagiographic narratives that turn Rabi'a and Hildegard into timeless figures of identification and thus enable their instrumentalisation by various religious and social groups. The comparison of the discourses aims to show the dynamic negotiation of female religious authority in digital spaces - especially in the field of tension between emancipation and normative tradition in Islam and Catholicism.
The project contributes to the understanding of current gender debates in relation to the emancipation and authority of women in "gender-traditional" religions (Burke 2012) - especially in pluralistic societies and diaspora contexts - and to the transformative role of digital media (Hjarvard 2008).
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Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya and Hildegard von Bingen on YouTube and Instagram: Reception and Construction of Female Religious Authority in Digital Discourses
This dissertation project employs a comparative discourse analysis that integrates theological, religious studies, and media studies perspectives to examine how Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya and Hildegard von Bingen are received and constructed as religious authorities on online platforms.
A key focus of this study is the analysis of hagiographic narratives that present Rabi'a and Hildegard as timeless figures of identification, thereby enabling their instrumentalisation by various religious and social groups. The comparative approach aims to highlight the dynamic negotiation of female religious authority in digital spaces-particularly within the tension between emancipation and normative tradition in Islam and Catholicism.
This project contributes to the understanding of contemporary gender debates concerning the emancipation and authority of women in "gender-traditional" religions (Burke 2012)-especially in pluralistic societies and diaspora contexts-as well as the transformative role of digital media (Hjarvard 2008).
