The Identity Function of Argumentation in Religious Discourse: A Comparative Case Study

In this paper we examine how identity is affirmed through the use of arguments in religious discourse. We consider both the structure of the arguments employed and the form of their presentation in terms of linguistic characteristics and rhetorical devices. The resulting analysis allows us to present arguer profiles of two speakers and to draw tentative conclusions concerning identity arguments in general, as well as the particular use of argument in religious identity affirmation. Clear differences emerge between the speakers, suggesting that whilst some common themes can be extracted, there is much variety in the strategies and devices used within the genre. The study employs the Argument Type Identification Procedure (Wagemans 2025 ), a typology of argument functions taken from (Hinton et al. 2024 ), which includes Expression as one of the five main argument functions, as well as a linguistic analysis of rhetorical tropes, focussing on the use of metaphor, to build a profile of the arguers. The role of expressive arguments which function to promote identity has been discussed in the literature (Asen 2005 ; Goodwin 2007 ; Hinton 2016 ), but studied only a little (Hample and Irions 2015 ; Hinton 2024 ). This paper aims not so much to fill that gap as to establish a path into it for further work on identity expression and other non-standard functions of argumentation.