The representation and reconstruction of ethno‐national identity on social media by Kurdish women in Rojhelat, Kurdistan‐Iran

Abstract

Using a cyber‐ethnographic method, this paper investigates how Kurdish women in Kurdistan‐Iran (i.e. Rojhelat/East Kurdistan or Iranian Kurdistan) represent and reconstruct their ethno‐national identity on social media. The research studied Instagram as the most popular social media platform among Rojhelat and Iranian women wherein different groups can now play an active role in the reproduction of their narratives, as well as in the representation of their own media content. The research discussed: 1) the dominant patterns related to the representation of the virtual identity of Kurdish women in Iran; 2) the strategies and techniques used in these patterns for the representation and reconstruction of ethno‐national identity; 3) the personal preferences or environmental variables influencing the different identity types of Rojhelat Kurdish women on Instagram; and 4) the factors that lead to the continuity of media practices with respect to the representation of these women’s virtual identity in society.