The Semiotics of Reconciliation: How Youth Redesign Religious Symbols for Peace

چکیده

In an era of deepening religious polarization alongside rapid digital connectivity, Christian and Muslim youth are actively redesigning sacred symbols as tools for reconciliation and peace. This qualitative metasynthesis investigates how individuals aged 15–30 strategically repurpose and transform religious signs within digital environments to generate shared meanings and advance interfaith understanding. Anchored in social semiotics (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006) and transnationalism theory (Appadurai, 1996; Levitt & Schiller, 2004), the study proposes “semiotics of reconciliation” as the purposeful redesign and recontextualization of core religious symbols—including crosses, crescents, calligraphic forms, icons, and peace emblems—into hybrid configurations that emphasize coexistence rather than doctrinal separation. The metasynthesis draws upon 12 peer-reviewed qualitative studies published between 2008 and 2021. These studies employed diverse methods such as in-depth interviews, online participant observation, focus group discussions, and visual semiotic analysis across Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Three primary themes surface from the synthesis: (1) innovative redesign of sacred symbols via multimodal blending and visual fusion; (2) strategic application of redesigned symbols in dialogic practices, including virtual interfaith forums, joint storytelling, and counter-narratives to hostility; and (3) the complex interplay of enabling affordances and structural limitations within digital spaces, where youth exercise symbolic agency amid algorithmic influences, local conflicts, and transnational dynamics. Youth exhibit notable semiotic creativity, frequently favoring relational reconciliation and everyday coexistence above strict doctrinal adherence. Nevertheless, issues of authenticity, performative acts, and platform-imposed restrictions persist. This research enriches semiotics, religious studies, media theory, and peacebuilding scholarship by framing youth as proactive symbol designers who reshape Christian–Muslim relations.