Jona Fras

Lecturer in Arabic

Biography

Background

Jona Fras has studied Social Anthropology (MA, 2011) and Arab World Studies (MSc, 2013) at the University of Edinburgh, and holds a PhD in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies on language in Jordanian radio (University of Edinburgh, 2018). Since 2013 he has been teaching Arabic and other subjects at Edinburgh. He has previously conducted fieldwork on language ideologies in his native Slovenia, and his current projects include research on official discourse in Jordanian media, Arabic humour and postcoloniality / decoloniality, language and political discourse in Slovenia, and ideas about "frontier Orientalism" in central Europe.

Qualifications

  • PhD Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Edinburgh, 2018
  • MSc Arab World Studies, The University of Edinburgh, 2013
  • MA Social Anthropology, The University of Edinburgh, 2011  
  • HEA Associate Fellow, 2018

Undergraduate teaching

  • Arabic 1a, Arabic 1b (Course Organiser)
  • Arabic 4
  • Modern Middle Eastern History A, B
  • The Arab-Israeli Conflict

Postgraduate teaching

  • Critical Readings in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Research summary

My current areas of research interest include:

  • The relationship between grammar and other formal aspects of language, and public discourse (especially politics);
  • Discourse analysis of the language of officials and other public figures in Jordanian media outlets, in particular as it relates to various current affairs;
  • Arabic humour and decoloniality / postcoloniality;
  • The relationship between "frontier" Orientalism and cultural production in central Europe.

Previously, I have conducted research on:

  • Ideas about different media forms - "media ideologies" - and their implications for the study of Arabic and Middle Eastern media;
  • Language and Islamic religious authority in Jordanian religious advice programmes;
  • Ideologies of swearing and swearwords in Slovenia.

Past project grants

ESRC Language-Based Area Studies Doctoral Grant (2+3), 2013-17

Papers delivered

  • "Authenticity and exceptionalism in teaching Middle Eastern languages." BRISMES Annual Conference, University of Kent, July 2021.
  • “Scripture and authority in the language of Jordanian Islamic advice programmes.” 2018 Conference of the International Society for Media, Religion and Culture (ISMRC), University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, 8 August 2018.  
  • “The language of Jordanian service programmes: broadcaster persona, publics, and participation.” BRISMES Annual Conference, King’s College, London, UK, 27 June 2018.  
  • “Tuning in to God: scripture and authority in the language of Jordanian Islamic advice programmes.” BRAIS Annual Conference, University of Exeter, UK, 11 April 2018.  
  • “Enhancing liveness: Jordanian radio broadcasters and the metapragmatics of Facebook Live.” Society for Linguistic Anthropology (SLA) Inaugural Meeting, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, 8 March 2018.  

  • “Linguistic dissent on Jordanian radio: implicature and stance as ambiguous subversion.” MESNET Graduate Conference, University of Exeter, UK, 26 July 2017.  

  • “Service programmes on Jordanian radio: understanding broadcaster persona through an interdisciplinary analysis of language and performance.” MENACS Graduate Conference, University of Sussex, UK, 28 April 2017.    

  • 2026. (with Yousef Barahmeh and Imene Medfouni) "Colloquial Arabic as a decolonial language: The case of linguistic hybridity in Jordanian satirical writing." European Journal of Humour Research 14 (2): 263-278. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.7592/EJHR.2026.14.2.1239) 
  • 2025. (with Yousef Barahmeh) "Choosing Jordanianness: The dialogic construction of Jordanian identity discourse on nationhood and belonging." REMMM 157: 199-216. (https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/22828)
  • 2024. "Anton Aškerc." P. 895-900 in D. Thomas and J. Chesworth (eds.), Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, Volume 22: Central Europe (1800-1914). Leiden & Boston: Brill.
  • 2024. "Islam in 19th-century Slovenian historical writing: Josip Jurčič and Jakob Sket." P. 925-934 in D. Thomas and J. Chesworth (eds.), Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, Volume 22: Central Europe (1800-1914). Leiden & Boston: Brill.
  • 2023. (with Yousef Barahmeh) "'Every one of you is now a soldier': War metaphors in Jordanian official discourse during the Covid-19 pandemic." Contemporary Levant, 8 (no.1): 87-99. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20581831.2022.2140938 )
  • 2020. "Tuning in to God: authorising religious talk in Jordanian Islamic advice programmes." Contemporary Levant, 5 (no. 2): 126-143. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20581831.2020.1815407)
  • 2020. "Unifying voices, creating publics: The uses of media form in contemporary Jordanian radio." British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, 47 (no. 2): 320-342. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13530194.2018.1491830)
  • 2012. “The ideology of swearwords in Slovenia.” Language and Communication, 32 (no. 3): 229-239. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2012.04.004)
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