Maria Mothes (University of Koblenz)
mmot@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

The panel invites papers discussing texts that shape the perception and representation of Muslimness and/or Islam in contemporary literature and culture. Global, transnational, and comparative perspectives are welcome.

This panel seeks to contextualize the current position of Muslims in Western societies as either marginalized or made hypervisible. More often than not, portrayals of Muslims in the media or popular culture focus on the adherents of the imagined category of ‘Islam,’ rendering the people behind this category invisible. In light of the all-to-common binary distinctions (secular/religious, moderns/traditional, etc.), this panel seeks to contemplate ways toward “a religious literacy that does not overdetermine the role of religion” (Rashid 61). Instead of the either/or trap, an epistemological approach allowing us to trace ‘both/and’ is sought out “since the most common Muslim life is lived amidst a congeries of various laws and norms” (Reinhart 8). The panel seeks to create a space for dialogue about how contemporary literature negotiates holistic but also nuanced identities and how Muslimness is depicted as part of the spectrum of the human experience. Moreover, the panel invites papers investigating the role of literature in shaping the perception and representation of religion and how literature and culture thus contribute to shifting perspectives on Islam and Muslimness.