Is it possible to identify an emerging oral orthodoxy concerned with identity in UK Neo Pentecostalism? An examination of the affirmative nature of testimony through an analysis of UK Christian rap music.

Faulconbridge Broad, James (2023) Is it possible to identify an emerging oral orthodoxy concerned with identity in UK Neo Pentecostalism? An examination of the affirmative nature of testimony through an analysis of UK Christian rap music. Doctoral thesis, Liverpool Hope University.

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Abstract

The central argument of the thesis is that an emerging orthodoxy concerning identity is being articulated in UK Christian rap music. The thesis argues that examination of religious testimony can uncover understandings of religious identity in UK Pentecostal/charismatic churches, specifically in regards to how religious identity is understood as a process and development of a religious self.
Traditionally, testimony has been considered primarily evangelical in function, testifying to a non-religious audience, the transformative effects of God in the lives of believers. Rather than testimonies of triumph, analysis of the data in the study will demonstrate another function of testimony concerned with self-understandings of Christian (and post-Christian) identity. These narratives communicate understandings of identity to other religious believers, including the struggles of adapting one’s personal identity in line with the communal expectations and group identity of their new religious community. The thesis argues that personal testimonies communicate not only a presentation of individual identity but also, understandings of collective identity. Rappers have been selected for this study because this chosen performative genre is overtly concerned with self-expression and with authenticity. Not surprisingly therefore, their work explores concepts of identity, exploring the development of religious identity as a process rather than as a single experience.
The study examines testimony through analysis of song lyrics, complemented by unique interview data generated by the study. The methodology is designed to examine multiple layers of interpretation. Any narrative of an experience communicated in a testimony is a retrospective account. As such, one always looks back on an experience and gives it meaning within the current interpretive frameworks and communities they belong to. The study will examine an instance of interpretation in the form of song lyrics and then a further interpretation generated in interview. Comparing instances of interpretation acknowledges that narratives are not the pure, unfiltered truth of an account but rather, constructed recollections. The thesis argues that these notions of what it means to be a believer are communicated orally and often narratively. In analysing song lyrics as musical testimony, the study proposes that we can identify broad contours of the faith communities an individual belongs to. Because testimonies are retrospective accounts of personal experience, the stories are both told and received through the lens of a theologised worldview. A detailed analysis of their work has the potential to bring forward a nuanced understanding of conversion and the development of a religious identity post-conversion.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Additional Information and Comments:	Copyright © The Author 2023. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request.
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Creative Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities
Depositing User:	Matthew Adams
Date Deposited:	18 Oct 2023 09:36
Last Modified:	16 Dec 2024 15:22
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4040

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