‘Language’, power and liberty: Discursive constructions of Ghanaian glossolalic speeches

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There is a strong link between glossolalic performance and the concepts of power and liberty. Linguistic (phonetic, syntactic, etc.) and pragmatic resources are employed by glossolalists to seek liberty for self or deny others liberty. Also, certain individuals’ institutional obligation of regulating glossolalic turns and determining turn duration of glossolalic interactions constitute power and has relevance for liberty contestation, gain or loss. In sum, the performance of power and its interpretation are tools for exhibiting liberty in religious ecologies.

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