Reconstructing Women’s Identity in Islamic Digital Media: A Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis of NU Online

Authors

  • Mustofa Hilmi Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo, Jl. Walisongo No.3-5, Tambakaji, Kec. Ngaliyan, Kota Semarang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia 50185
  • Abdul Karim Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo, Jl. Walisongo No.3-5, Tambakaji, Kec. Ngaliyan, Kota Semarang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia 50185
  • Chyndy Febrindasari Universitas Islam Negeri Walisongo, Jl. Walisongo No.3-5, Tambakaji, Kec. Ngaliyan, Kota Semarang, Jawa Tengah, Indonesia 50185
  • Safinah Ismail Universiti Islam Selangor, Bandar Seri Putra, 43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • Nur Kareelawati Binti Abd Karim Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM), Bandar Baru Nilai, 71800 Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21111/ettisal.v11i2.30

Keywords:

Women’s Identity, Islamic Media, Critical Discourse Analysis, Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies, NU Online, Gender Representation

Abstract

As digital Islamic media expand, the representation of women within traditionalist religious discourses undergoes continuous negotiation. This study examines the construction of women’s identity in NU Online, the primary digital platform of Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia’s largest traditionalist Islamic organization. Combining Teun van Dijk’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) with Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies (CADS), the research employs a mixed-methods descriptive-analytical framework to evaluate a corpus of 157 articles containing the term perempuan (women), totaling 128,619 tokens. Using AntConc 4.2.4, collocates were analyzed within an L5–R5 window to identify discursive patterns, supported by concordance analysis to reveal contextual and ideological functions. The findings demonstrate that NU Online discursively frames women through affirmative and development-oriented categories, associating them with institutional protection, social movements, religious authority, leadership, rights, and struggle. However, qualitative concordance analysis reveals that female agency remains bounded by collective, moral, and institutional frameworks. At the social cognition level, these representations reflect NU’s institutional interpretative schemas—rooted in pesantren traditions and organizational authority—rather than individual authorship. The study concludes that while NU Online actively fosters discursive space for women's socio-religious participation, it simultaneously negotiates and demarcates the boundaries of female authority within traditional Islamic structures.

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Submitted

2026-01-28

Accepted

2026-10-01

Published

2026-10-21

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2026): Ettisal : Journal of Communication

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2026 Mustofa Hilmi, Abdul Karim, Chyndy Febrindasari, Safinah Ismail, Nur Kareelawati Binti Abd Karim

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