Negotiating past and present for a new identity. Contemporary Canadian Muslim writers and their manifold approaches

Essai Scientifique , 2020 , 75 Pages

Lettres - Canada

This paper compares various contemporary Muslim writers from Canada and their negotiation with their identity. The choice of works tries to focus on the last decade and wants to show the multiple and flexible way these writers treat the key topic identity. All novels offer a comprehensive and detailed investigation into the concept of identity in contemporary literature from writers with a migrational background whose basis lies in the Muslim world and who know Canada since they have lived there or still do so. The generic and thematic diversity which is reflected in these books show the importance of these writers and throws light on their pluralistic concepts of identity which has and still enriches Canlit.
To better present the development of this part of Canlit the first and the last novel are discussed in more detail. The aim of this is to show the development this group of writers has made in such a short time.

Contemporary English literature investigates a wide range of issues such as theoretical and conceptual debates over modernity and contemporary, the history and practice of reviewing and / or writing in relation to nationhood, gender, religion or postcoloniality.

‘Muslim Writing’, as one branch of contemporary English literature is part of 'Postcolonial Writing’ which includes sub-genres such as the 'Postcolonial', 'Black British Writing', ‘British Jewish’ or 'British Asian'. The novelists which form 'Muslim Writing' dispose of a Muslim background which is first of all geographical and cultural and not necessarily religious. It is necessary to point this out that it is not Islam nor the religious as such which shape this term since some important writers like Salman Rushdie or (for the Canadian background Rawi Hage) are not religious in the sense that they are Muslims although India and the Lebanon dispose of a large Muslim community (in the case of Rushdie) are part of a large Muslim world (or in the case of Hage). Many of these writers such as Hanif Kureishi, Nadeem Aslam, Khaled Hosseini, Hisham Matar, Monica Ali or Anna Perera attempt to bring in this geographical, cultural or religious element by discussing and reflecting topics such as postethnicity, multiculturalism, minority, race, class, gender, religion, diaspora, community, universalism, particularism, Britishness language hybridity, belonging and above identity making. Although 'Muslim Writing' in general and 'Canadian

Table of Contents

1. Foreword

2. Introduction

3. The Postcolonial background of Muslim Writing

4. Canadian Muslim Writing – a short survey

5. Selected Parameters

6. The Background of Canadian Muslim Writing

7. Close analysis of chosen examples
Rawi Hage Cockroach (2008)
Farzana Doctor Six Metres of Pavement (2011)
Kamal Al-Solaylee Intolerable. A Memoir of Extremes (2012)
Hasan Namir God in Pink (2015)
Ausma Zehanat Khan The Unquiet Dead (2017)
Omar el Akkad American War (2017)

8. Conclusion

9. Outlook Canadian Muslim Writing

10. Bibliography

Negotiating past and present for a new identity. Contemporary Canadian Muslim writers and their various approaches between belonging and banishment.

For the victims of all wars of Afghanistan civilians and soldiers

Uniformity is neither desirable nor possible in a country the size of Canada. We should not even be able to agree upon the kind of Canadian to choose as a model, let alone persuade most people to emulate it. There are surely few policies potentially more disastrous for Canada than to tell all Canadians that they must be alike. There is no such thing as a model or ideal Canadian. What could be more absurd than the concept of an "all-Canadian" boy or girl? A society which emphasizes uniformity is one which creates intolerance and hate. A society which eulogizes the average citizen is one which breeds mediocrity. What the world should be seeking, and what we in Canada must continue to cherish, are not concepts of uniformity but human values: compassion love and understanding.

1. Foreword

Although Contemporary English literature is a commonly and widely used catchphrase (see Basseler 2019, Duvall 2012, Eagleton 2012, Nünning 2007) it is a permanently reflected, discussed and progressive term which is sometimes difficult to define. This is mainly due to the two central terms, contemporary and literature which both imply a certain dynamics which can not be found in the term English to that extent, the latter referring to the language which is used. Contemporary basically speaking means living, belonging or occuring in the present. So if we talk about contemporary in connection to literature we are discussing and reflecting literature which is being written, analyzed and discussed in the now about the now.

If you put the term into a timeline it is often defined as literature after World War Two through the current day.

Contemporary literature must not be mixed with modern literature since modern refers to literature dating from the late 19th century to the 1960s.

If you define literature as a term it is commonly seen as books and other written work, esp. those considered to have a lasting value because of their creative, artistic or intellectual merit in the three fields which form literature, namely drama, epic and lyric.

It seems obvious that literature in general does not also include literature of certain periods such as the time of the Renaissance or Romanticism it also includes matters of genre such as the social, the cultural, the political- or the religious and it also encloses works of fiction and non-fiction such as poetry, dramatic work, essays, contribution to collective work or the novel the last being the most influential of them all.

Be it as it is contemporary English literature investigates a wide range of issues such as theoretical and conceptual debates over modernity and contemporary, the history and practice of reviewing and / or writing in relation to nationhood, gender, religion or postcoloniality.

‘Muslim Writing’, as one branch of contemporary English literature is part of 'Postcolonial Writing’ which includes sub-genres such as the 'Postcolonial', 'Black British Writing', ‘British Jewish’ or 'British Asian'. The novelists which form 'Muslim Writing' dispose of a Muslim background which is first of all geographical and cultural and not necessarily religious. It is necessary to point this out that it is not Islam nor the religious as such which shape this term since some important writers like Salman Rushdie or (for the Canadian background Rawi Hage) are not religious in the sense that they are Muslims although India and the Lebanon dispose of a large Muslim community (in the case of Rushdie) or are part of a large Muslim world (in the case of Hage). Many of these writers such as Hanif Kureishi, Nadeem Aslam, Khaled Hosseini, Hisham Matar, Monica Ali or Anna Perera attempt to bring in this geographical, cultural or religious element by discussing and reflecting topics such as postethnicity, multiculturalism, minority, race, class, gender, religion, diaspora, community, universalism, particularism, Britishness language hybridity, belonging and above identity making. Although 'Muslim Writing' in general and 'Canadian Muslim Writing' in particular have been in existence in Europe, America or - as is the case here - in Canada for the last century both have only been recognized as an independent forms of 'Migrant Writing' in English speaking literature during the last decades. This development in fact already started in the late l800s when a large number of Syrian writers escaped the Ottoman Empire to live and write in the West or America.

One outstanding representative coming from Lebanon like Rawi Hage was the Lebanese American Lawrence Joseph who discussed racial categories in relation to Muslim experience in the West (esp. see his poem Sand Nigger) .

It was, however, the time after 9/11 which was accompanied by a large number of novels from authors disposing of a Muslim background. It seemed that the terror attacks of that day and the following Gulf Wars paved the way for this increasing number of writers. Most of them at first set their novels against the migrant condition from where they developed some sort of diaspora consciousness which was in constant trouble with the assimilationist Western background which challenged them to respond. This new generation of writers often seeks exile in the West for private or political reasons. Most of them (from the 1970s to today) attired and explored Muslim and Western culture and have been engaged in strong critiques of the Muslim world as well (s. works of Etel Adman). It was this double effect of a life in the West and a strong criticism of developments within Muslim countries which paved the way for 'Muslim Writing' to become more transnational rather than staying on an ethnic or religious level. It is this platform which proves to be ideal to discuss human dilemmas. One result is a constant balancing of Muslim identity which in the past had been neglected, ignored, silenced or even oppressed by both Islam as a religion and Western culture.

Today many Muslim writers question, interrogate or challenge the West, the USA or Canada with racial or moral categories but they also present all three as a better place to live when being different (such as being gay) in the Muslim world.

2. Introduction

Each national literature has its own specific topics of special interest. Whereas British fiction over the last decades focused on immigration and integration American writers still stuck to the traditional work of the American Dream even after 9/11 where the novel developed such branches like the 9/11 novel, Ground Zero fiction or the post-9/11 novel.

Canadian literature for long focused on survival, border fiction, immigration, identity matters, literature of the First Nations, eco-feminism, and lately on ecology all forming a colorful image of Canlit. The problem of identity which is of special interest in this paper thus seems - at first sight - been widely reflected, discussed and dealt with. This is true to a certain extent but there are, however, some neglected areas within the body of Canadian literature devoted to the wide area of identity formation and migration processes. This goes for identity matters related to Russian, Ukrainian or Asian communities and the large group of writers stemming from the diverse Muslim backgrounds.

By now 'Muslim writing' as a catchphrase is mainly used to describe writers coming from Muslim countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India or the Lebanon. It is thus the national and cultural backgrounds of the following writers which are linked to Canadian Muslim writing and not their connection to Islam. This seems to be important if one looks at novelists such as Rawi Hage who does not want to be linked to the group of Muslim writers although his family come from Lebanon, a Muslim country in most parts. Be it as it is the author of this essay uses the terms 'Muslim writing' and 'Muslim writers in a wide sense and sees a close connection between writer and home country for this paper.

At display here are five novels which all discuss national, individual, ethnic and gender identity thus offering an insight into the variety of writers stemming from various Muslim backgrounds who now work and live in Canada.

The number of novelists who could be summoned under the wider used term 'Muslim writing’ has increased during the last years thus being an indication for the literary activity of this group. It was therefore not easy to choose among them but it seems necessary to mention at least the most important ones. They are listed up without any assessment made:

Ishara Deen (born in Toronto, author of God Smites and Other Muslim Girl Problems (2016), Hasan Namir (born in Iraq moved to Canada with the age of 11, author of God in Pink (2015), Sajidah SK Ali (born in India moved to Canada when she was three, author of Saints and Misfits (2017), Ausma Zehanat Khan (born in GB, and raised in Toronto Canadian novelist, author of The Unquiet Dead (2015), Kamal Al-Solaydee (born in Aden, his family moved to Beirut and Cairo, moved to Great Britain, then to Canada, author of Intolerable: A Memoir of Extremes (2012), Farzana Doctor (born in Sambia, her family moved to Canada in the 1970s, author Six Metres of Pavement (2011), Irshad Manji (born in Uganda, her family moved to Canada when she was three, author of Allah, Liberty and Love (2011), Rukhsana Khan was born in Pakistan, her family immigrated to Canada when she was three, author of the novel Wanting mor (2009), Omar El Akkad (was born in Cairo, his family moved to Canada when he was sixteen, author of American War (2017).

Interesting among these and other writers stemming from a Muslim / Canadian background is the fact that their families all dispose of a migrational background which enables them to move between East and West from where they can throw light on both sides of identity making which again brings in a large amount of authenticity into their works.

The following books will be looked at in detail thus trying to present a variety of contemporary ‘Canadian Muslim writing' and its potential as one important element of CanLit. They are: Cockroach (2008) by Rawi Hage, Six Metres of Pavement (2011) by Farzana Doctor, Intolerable. A Memoir of Extremes (2012) by Kamal Al-Solaylee, God in Pink (2015) by Hasan Namir, The Unquiet Dead (2017) by Ausma Zehanat Khan and American War (2017) by Omar El Akkad¹.

The choice of works tries to focus on the last decade and wants to show the multiple and flexible way these writers treat the key topic identity. All novels offer a comprehensive and detailed investigation into the concept of identity in contemporary literature from writers with a migrational background whose basis lies in the Muslim world and who know Canada since they have lived there or still do so. The generic and thematic diversity which is reflected in these books show the importance of these writers and throws light on their pluralistic concepts of identity which has and still enrich Canlit.

To better present the development of this part of Canlit the first and the last novel are discussed in more detail. The aim of this is to show the development this group of writers has made in such a short time.

3. The Postcolonial background of Muslim Writing

By definition Postcolonial literature is literature produced by former representatives of formerly colonized nations including India, Pakistan, the West Indies, numerous African nations, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and others.

Literature and theory belonging to it are basically interested in how colonial subjects were/are produced in and by the former British Empire, the USA; the West- or in our case - Canada. Whereas in the past Postcolonial literature was basically concerned about term such as exile, diaspora, ghetto, immigration or assimilation to/in the mothercountry it has by now become a 'writing back' to the Empire and the West by postcolonial writers from these former colonies, either from their homecountries, from an exile position in the West or from the role as a former member of the colonies now living in the West.

The topics mentioned above still prevail in many of these works but they have been added to identity matters or generally discussed topics such as feminism, homosexuality, environmental or political issues. Thus the classical concern of Postcolonial literature within matters of colonialism, colonial discourses, rewriting history, decolonialization, struggle of nationhood, nationalism have been enriched with matters of a valorization of personal, religious, cultural identity which again are discussed in terms of the hybrid, cultural /religious deformation and a general challenge of stereotypes of male / female relationships in Islam.

As far as Islam or the question of Muslim identity are concerned it is important to point out that it can be traced in all characteristics mentioned above, in pure or in mixed formed. Muslim writing - as a literary term for writers disposing of a national or personal Muslim background in general is concerned with two characteristics challenging the stereotype of Islam or Muslims being inferior to the West a relict from Said’s notion of 'Them and Us’ which finds its roots in colonialism.

Muslim writers here follow the traditional postcolonial theory that decolonized people develop a postcolonial identity which is founded in cultural interactions between different identities, cultures, religions, gender, classes or nations all of which are assigned varying degrees of social, cultural, political or economic forces powered by the colonial (or at present neo-capitalistic) societies.

Following postmodernism, post-colonialism discusses and reflects modernity from a new perspective - the cultural. Post-colonialism interprets all forms of colonialism embedded in modernity and deconstructs cultural and economic hegemonism - as well as Orientalism - and places them all into a global relationship between East and West.

One logical result from this is a strong tendency of an anti- Western centrality and neo­capita1ism (see works of Jameson 1991).

Postcolonial literature as such is set between constellations like power and hegemony and poses questions how literary texts explicitly or allegorically represent various aspects of colonial oppression. Or what a specific text reveals about the problematics of post-colonial identity including matters of double consciousness or questions of hybridity? Or what a text displaces about the politics and or psychology of anti- colonialist, anti -capitalist or anti-West attitudes? Or what does a text reveal about the operations of cultural differences? Or which ways are shown by a writer where race, class, gender, cultural beliefs, religion or even sexual orientation are combined to form identity (see Shands, 2008)?

Matters of Postcolonialism and Postcolonial Theory found a rather late start among Canadian writers and critics (s. Moss et al, 2003 a) although postcolonialism in Canada is mostly "racially or culturally grounded" (ibid.: V) thus opening classical matters of postcolonialism such as marginality, power, alterity, resistance or historical revisionism. The frameworks for questions related to these and other matters as constructions of race, religion, ethnicity, ambivalence, memory, displacement, power, violence, hybridity, and syncretism in a Canadian context touch manifold questions of the position of CanLit as well as theories and practices of nationalism, postnationalism and postcolonialism.

It is important here to point out that most postcolonial theories for/in Canada were ( and still are) shaped by nations such as the USA, Great Britain, Australia, India, Asian countries and - this is important for this essay - Muslim countries.

'Canadian Muslim Writing' which must be seen as a postcolonial product of Canada's status as an immigrant nation is locked into Canada's ex-colonial structures and this status of an immigrant nation which creates many contrasts and differences based on two questions whether Canadian literature can be set into a postcolonial context or whether Canada is still postcolonial although we found many manifestations of a large number of Canadas and Canadians within contemporary Canadian literature.

Canadian Muslim writers are one group of new writers who fit into the new way of Canadian literature and who must be seen as representatives of academics who reflect Canada as a "nation of writers from widely diverse, ethnic and cultural backgrounds" (ibid.: 8) part of which include women writers, gay male writers or writers from religious minorities. To read postcolonialism in Canada is to read a manifold offer of literature and it also means to consider matters of historical inequalities of colonialism, contemporary injustices due to cultural imperialism, neo- colonialism, neo-capitalism within globalization and economic or religious fundamentalism.

Postcolonialism thus is a "chronological marker, a global condition, a geographical category" (ibid.: 2) or a (literary) reading category (see works of Diana Brydon, Smaro Kamboureli, Arun Mukherjee or Christi Verduyn).

Postcolonial literature within a Canadian context is therefore characterized by the postcolonial basis of a 'writing back' which is mixed with (classical) Canadian topics such as survival.

Classical topics of Postcolonial literature are exodus, exile, diaspora, ghetto, immigration, assimilation and otherness. Matters of otherness can automatically be found in all other topics mentioned before forming the basis of them all. Otherness in Intolerable. A Memoir of Extremes and God in Pink is not only restricted to originating from a Muslim country it is supported by the attempts to deal with this Muslim heritage, to settle in the West and to live with a coming out as a gay Muslim. Otherness so to speak is dealt with on several levels, the national, the cultural, the religious and the personal. The West in all novels is seen as a chance to escape from traditional Muslim boundaries and to start a new life characterized by self- esteem. The result is some sort of initiation process with the result of identity formation which is set against the falling apart of the national and (old) family background which resembles Rushdie's idea of The Satanic Verses (1988) that 'before you are born again you have to die'. Both titles play with this idea. Thus the term intolerable is used on two levels. Being gay is intolerable and strictly forbidden within Islam (although it is practiced). It can thus be found on an objective side. And it is intolerable for the main characters because they cannot live the life they want to live (subjective level). Before this new identity can be found the hybrid seems to accompany the characters.

4. Canadian Muslim Writing – a short survey

Canada is a traditional country of immigration and is thus host of a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society where Islam is constantly gaining influence.

Although Canadian multiculturalism is a controversial concept it is exactly against this background where Muslim writers must be seen and where they have found their literary place among the many migrant (and Native) writers who have shaped the literary status quo of Canada. lt is also here where migrant writers in general and Muslim writers in particular have found their literary home which is placed between their own ethnic, cultural and religious background and the above mentioned concept of Canada as a multicultural society which is commonly known by the notion of an 'ethnic mosaique' where different identities co-exist. lt is, however, clear that (Canadian) 'migrant writing' just like Native Literature in Canada - is complex, multi-faceted, multi-lingual and polyphonic.

The term 'Canadian Muslim Writing' (like 'British Muslims' or 'British Muslim Writing') is relatively new and is currently hotly discussed among critics. It nevertheless is closely tied to the question if it is allowed to discuss the wider terms writing and fiction in relation to a religiously coined word, here Muslim. The term Muslim as such must commonly be seen as a notion which is partly fiction, partly ideological and partly religious yet always linked to Islam a notion which includes all other elements simply because it functions as the wider concept. In 2009 Robin Yassin-Kassab wrote about this matter. Although he focused on the British scene one can easily transfer this to the American or Canadian side as well. He said 'I suppose if you can have Black writing and Gay writing and London writing you can have Muslim writing too. The label, like any other, is limiting if it's used as a box, but liberating if we use it as a springboard. The point is, that as Muslims in Britain, many fictions are being written about us. Many are presented as fact. ... So we should write back'.

This need to write back- originally coined by Rushdie's idea of a 'Writing back with a vengeance' - shows that Muslim writing in general and Canadian Muslim writing in particular include religious, political and social matters of a wider kind which are linked to recurring themes which imply a demand for current literary, cultural and political debates.

At present key themes to which most Muslim writers often return to are immigration, integration, racism ,xenophobia, gender matters, class, language, representation and identity matters before and after 9/11 and the 'war on terror'.

It is, however, important to point out that 'Canadian Muslim Writing' (just like all other kinds of Muslim Writing as well) reflects the diversity and pluralism of Islam, its religious background, its culture and the national background of writers. Questions of exile, exodus, diaspora and multiculturalism identity and otherness are topics which therefore make Canadian literature interesting in the light of Islam.

The Western Islamophobia which is often attached to this approach is commonly seen with matters of female emancipation, feminism and womanism whereas most Muslim writers discuss matters of identity and otherness in connection to racism and class which are prevalent in many novels. If one focuses on identity matters most of these writers try to reflect a concept which is in accordance with Taylor's (1993) identification of the 'politics of (mis)recognition' that "... a person can suffer real damage, real distortion, if the people or society around them mirror back to them a confining or demeaning or contemptible picture of themselves" (ibid.: 98).

Next to this subjective level set on identity matters it is a more objective basis which is used in many novels disposing of a Muslim background. Most of these writers imply that fiction should hold up a mirror to the times and societies it sets out to describe. Muslim Writing in general and Canadian Muslim Writing in particular present texts which discuss matters which are used as magnifying glasses of a society and its treatment of an under­represented community or individuals thus throwing light on the status quo of a nation.

Canadian Muslim Writing is always concerned with an analysis of the fact that societies produce the / knowledge they need or are responsible for. Contemporary Muslim Writing cannot put aside its intellectual root which is here grounded in the theories of Foucault, Said or Bhabha. It is Said who stresses this importance as well while stating that "knowledge is not culturally transcendent, but is often deeply dependent on the political and economic processes of colonialism and now neo-colonialism / globalization" (Chambers, 2011a: 3).

The imbrications of knowledge into existing power structures show that there are still ethical issues in presenting cultures and religions of a different kind.

Muslims (and Muslim characters alike) are still met with specific types of representation which show them as anti-female, anti-gay, anti-Western, sexually repressive etc. thus criticizing the traditional Western notion of Islam. The young generation of Muslim writers like Kamal Al-Solalee do not only turn over Kipling's phrase of 'They cannot represent themselves, they must be represented' it rather shows that they can represent themselves fairly well while critically discussing Muslim life in the West.

This presentation of Muslim existence in the West did, however, change after 9/11 where the post-9/11 novel introduced new and radical forms of Muslim presentation (Dickert, 2014). It is this new presentation which has the focus "... to project the culture and civilization of Islam from within" (Malak, 2005: 2).

This new approach leaves behind traditional and fixed notions of Islam and the West while removing Muslims from the position of others thus showing various possibilities for Muslims' depictions. The result can be an exploration of the Islamic background, a disregarding of it, a challenge, a satirical, a praise or a criticism of it. This also includes emblematic Muslim themes, such as the use of the Qur'an, the Sharia, feminism, being gay as well as cosmopolitism or literary experimentalism.

The historic presentation of Islam in the West has been shaped by colonial stereotypes which considered Islam and Muslims not only as 'other' or 'different' but also as 'mystical' in the widest sense of the word. Next to this more religiously stuck term 'mystical' it is the notions of 'militant' or 'fanatic' which after 9/11 have gained more and more influence. The image of the militant fanatic or religious fundamentalist is widely interwoven by Muslim writers with a mystical characterization of individuals who are struggling to find their way in life. The emerging discontinuity between Western reader and Muslim presentation does, however, share one central aim which lies in the common debt both sides owe to in this fight for identity.

It is Bhabha 1995, 2008 who here sees the enunciation of cultural difference which "problematizes the division of past and present, tradition and modernity, at the level of cultural representation and its authoritative address" (ibid.: 156).

The demand of both sides to re-think the identity of culture (of which religion is one central element) leads to the notion of the 'Third Space' which denies a purity of culture and religion thus creating the tension between character and the surrounding world. Hybridity which is a logical consequence from this 'Third Space' shows the connections between the racial categories of the past and contemporary cultural discourse. It is this notion of the 'Other' which creates diversifying hybrid progeny which was already seen by Virginia Woolf and her phrase of a 'delicious fecundity' which stressed this mix of races, cultures and religions which has found abundant space here.

The questions of identity and otherness which most Muslim writers place into their literary focus are closely attached to being a Muslim in the West. In these circumstances questions Who am I? Where do I belong? or What is the meaning of life? have become inevitable and will remain in that state for a long time simply because they are attached to the wider problem of an identity crisis in the constellation between the individual and society.

This effort to find a new way within the personal struggle in former colonies like Great Britain, the USA or - as is the case here - Canada is often still a matter of the old pattern of a 'colonial representation' in the new form of using the former mother country as the place of action. It is here - as well as in postcolonial cities such as London, New York, Vancouver, Montreal or Québec - where the former colonial subject is used to question the stereotyped concept of the Muslim as being inferior or monolithic thus reinforcing a perceived centre / periphery hierarchy which is turned upside down while describing the West as decadent and inferior. The result from this all is nothing else but a renegotiating of fixed and rigid definitions of East and West and which can be found in many novels as well.

It is within this new approach that race and ethnicity - two former key concepts of postcolonial studies - are also newly and radically discussed while showing that the concept 'race' within any human society is linked to racial discrimination while ethnicity is shown insisting upon the group identification that this implies.

The special use of another term of postcolonial studies, ghettoisation, is mainly used to provide a perennially-limited outlook of social advancement which is due to failures of integration and / or the resistance of Muslims to integrate into the West.

On the contrary the ongoing importance of Islam among Muslims in the West has not only produced creative adaptations of traditional categories (Sunnite, Shiite, Fundamentalism) it often has destroyed the cultural nexus to the Muslim mothercountry with the help of radical Islam which is used as the glue which keeps Muslims together in the West.

The radical development within the Muslim world during the last forty years and the demographic, economic and (multi)cultural presence of Islam and Muslims in the West in general and Great Britain, the USA and Canada in particular were (logically) followed by a literary activity of novelists with a Muslim background. The incorporation of Islam and Islamic fundamentalism in contemporary English literature can be seen as another attempt to bring Islam out of existing economic and social enclaves, where disadvantage, exclusion and prejudices have prevailed for several decades if not centuries. While doing this, Muslim writers have reached three aims. They paved the way to discuss matters like xenophobia, racism, discrimination and integration policy anew, started an internal Islamic reflexion on topics, such as gender roles or the traditional role of women, and in general brought the Muslim world closer to Western readers.

It is exactly in this context where one major aim of Muslim writing seems to take place. Muslim writers attempt to describe Muslim life in Great Britain, America or Canada (and in their homelands), where they challenge and contest the framing of Muslims as violent extremists. They stand up against Islamophobic stereotypes that associate Muslims with Sharia law, the practice of the veil or the burka, religious fundamentalism, terrorism or the notion of a global war on the West in form of a j ihad. They thus show that the negative images of Islam in the West are justifications for Western economic and foreign policies of the past and the present. The majority of Muslim writers also made clear that Muslims who are trying to find a truth in life are potentially misdirected by a radicalising religious fundamentalism that seeks to convince former decadent young Muslims without a firm identity of their own that the solution to all their problems lies in religious extremism and a personal radicalization. Religious fundamentalism is hereby seen as an option that surpasses all barriers and boundaries, theologically, metaphysically, spiritually, morally and culturally. The final aim of this liberation process is then offered (e.g. by the Islamic State) as an individual and group salvation. Since 9/11 and 7/7/2005, the grip on Muslims has increased, and the ‘War on Terror’, unleashed by the American government turned out to be an ideological construction that worsened the negative status quo of Muslims in the West. This development was also taken up and embedded into Muslim writing. This post-2001 climate pushed Muslim writers to integrate Islam more intensely into their works and helped them move into the center of a considerable political, media and academic focus while reflecting the role of Muslims as outsiders in the West.

This side effect opened the doors wide for a literary reflection of migrancy, exclusion, modes of belonging, multiculturalism, state security, and paved the way for a linkage between Islam and social, cultural, moral and existential questions, such as belonging and identity matters. It is especially the last two aspects that seem to become the very center of actual and perceived problems.

Belonging and identity of Muslims have become matters of central concern for the children of the second and third generations of immigrants who are sometimes seen as children of the diaspora. They seem to be the victims of Muslim immigration, although they are permanent and active citizens in liberal democracies who/which fail because they are torn between two worlds. The option to live in the West is contrasted with the attempt to maintain the strong spiritual, ideological and political ties within the Muslim community (ummah). This group of young Muslims has turned out to be the ideal group for a literary reflection of Muslims because any presentation and analysis throws light on the role of Muslims in the West and helps to discuss the emotional situation they are in, both ideal elements for character development and plot.

Identity-making in general is closely attached to what is understood by culture and cultural background in which religion (Islam) has taken a central position. Islamic authors try to regain Muslim identity. They do this while telling their version of the story. Their interpretation of Muslim existence is the method to develop their own identity which results in a counter model to the West. They link religion with social, cultural and existential questions and use Islam to present their national, cultural and religious identity. They thus keep distance from the idea of a social mix and reveal hybridity and multiculturalism as (negative) supporters of existing power constellations. They hereby can be seen as being political in the sense of Eagleton (2004), who coined the phrase that ‘all criticism is in a sense political.’ To write about Muslim culture in general and Islam in particular as a western critic is often done by defining Muslims as other and different. In the past this otherness was dealt with from the colonial point of view which considered Muslim culture and Islam as inferior, decadent, backward-oriented, anti-female, aggressive or militant. The notion of a ‘clash of civilizations,’ which still divides Islam and the West, was a logical result of this.

Since 9/11 the idea of Islamic civilization and culture was newly and critically looked at from both sides. In the West, this event was seen as the end of the concept of a multicultural society. Muslim writers, however, embedded this event into their writings and attached it closely to their traditional focus which can be seen in subject matters dealing with migration, integration, assimilation, racism, diaspora life, acceptance or rejection. Their main aim was to throw light on the effects 9/11 had on Muslims and their community (see Cilano (2013); Tolan et al. (2012).² It is without doubt that this date proved Muslim life and its description to be different and more difficult than its Western counterpart.

Modern Muslim diaspora existence at present is located between the option of transnational existence, some sort of self-construction or a return to Islam or Islamic fundamentalism. This basic decision shows that Muslim life in the West is torn between immigration and settlement policy, given political systems and the social, economic or cultural developments of the host nation. Muslim writers deploy the issues of Islam and Islamic fundamentalism as means to frame their analysis of the situation of Muslims, whether considered as a transnational global community, as national formations or as religious minorities within particular Western states.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Muslim writing here tries to balance these conditions and to present a description of modern Muslim existence. Its representatives hereby function as mediators between the polarizations of fixed and rigid positions, resulting in the above mentioned decision between ‘them’ and ‘us.’ It is exactly here that their task is to bring the Muslim world closer to Western readers, without giving up their Muslim heritage and identity. In this context, they seem to use Kipling’s colonially marked concept of ‘The burden of representation’ from a Muslim position. The major aim of this attempt on the Muslim side is to show that Islamic representation in the West has become more difficult since Muslims have been in the focus of public and political attention since 9/11 and 7/7/2005.

In Western societies, Islam, fundamentalism and Muslim culture are often perceived through the lens of race and politics, where they are mostly considered as problems that have to be solved. Literature offers an interesting counterpoint to this common practice and provides an alternative that challenges these stereotyped views. The attempt to change this general approach to Islam is done by two types of novelists, writers with a Western and writers with a Muslim background. One yet has to admit that Muslim novelists are more authentic to the reader simply because they dispose of a personal background, a convincing if not decisive element for writing and reading. The theme of Muslim writing itself has gained more and more importance in contemporary English writing. In early 2009, the Guardian published an article on Pakistani fiction in English to accompany reports on the political situation in the country. The article itself mentioned a number of writers who embedded Pakistan and Afghanistan in their novels and thus gained widespread attention and political approval in the wake of the political chaos in their country, especially after 9/11 and the ‘War on Terror’ declared by President George W. Bush and the USA. Among the novels mentioned were Mohammed Hanif’s debut novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes (2008), Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007), Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows (2009) and Nadeem Aslam’s The Wasted Vigil (2008).

In between the importance and influence of these and other Muslim writers has generally been acknowledged and has been given a platform on its own in the form of prizes and awards such as the Muslim Writers Awards – the result of a joint venture between Penguin Books, Puffin Books and the Institute of English Studies. The latter was already founded in 2006 and follows the aim to introduce and support promising writers from within the Muslim community. One of the first of these authors was Tahmima Anam, whose novel A Golden Age (2007) was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Costa First Novel Award. She was also the winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best First Book. Her novel The Good Muslim (2011) has also been welcomed with expectations by many critics. One of the first Muslim authors to win several awards was Nadeem Aslam. His novel Maps for Lost Lovers (2004) won the Kiriyama Prize and the Encore Award, was shortlisted for the IMPAC International Award and was nominated for the British Book Award.

The Man Booker Prize has shortlisted three Muslim writers since 2000. Among them are the British Asian Monica Ali in 2003, the Libyan Hisham Matar in 2006 and the Pakistani Mohsin Hamid in 2007. In 2011, the non-Muslim Lebanese novelist Amin Maalouf, whose work is engaged with Muslim history, culture and Islam, was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize. This shows that Muslim writing has gained great popularity and respect within contemporary British writing.

The situation in the North American context is not that positive, although Muslim writers have also found a platform in associations like the Islamic Writers Alliance, which supports faith-based writing and enables networking as can be seen with Canadian Muslim writers. Here it is again Mohsin Hamid and Khaled Hosseini who must be mentioned as frontrunners of Muslim literature in America, basically because they set their plots in Muslim countries and America alike, which seems to be a new phenomenon for American readers. Novels like The Kite Runner (2004), A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007) and The Mountain Echoed (2013) were all written by Khaled Hosseini and made clear to American society that Islam and the West were and are still in opposition, but they also brought Islam closer to the Americans, simply because Afghanistan, besides America, has been chosen as place of action. In this respect, the role of non-Muslim writers writing on Islam is especially interesting. Their number in England, America and Canada is pretty low, and most of them have chosen the detective novel as a genre to work with Islam, Islamic fundamentalism or 9/11, simply because they are perfect tools to push the action. Books like Divided Kingdom (2005) by Rupert Thomson, The Collaborateur of Bethlehem (2008) by Matt Beynon Rees, The Deadly Divide (2019) by Ausma Khan or John Updike’s novel Terrorist (2006) must especially be seen in the light of 9/11 and Huntington’s notion of a ‘Clash of civilizations,’ while including Christianity and Judaism besides to Islam. The fact that a well-known writer like Updike picks up and discusses topics related to Islam shows that even American society is ready to discuss Islam. The situation of Muslim writers in Great Britain is, however, different and must be seen in the general context of postcolonial writing, which is still based on Rushdie’s concept of ‘The Empire writes back with a vengeance’ that disposes of a critical approach in relation to former colonies and Great Britain.³ Here, however, a new generation of female writers like Zadie Smith, Monica Ali or Tahmima Anan, follow their own direction while concentrating on female characters. Taken together, they help discuss the diversity of political and religious perspectives and lay the foundation for central terms such as migration, Islam, fundamentalism or (female) identity patterns. Migration is the term most writers employ because they have experienced it as a positive, negative or even traumatic fact.⁴

5. Selected Parameters

Identity Formation Muslim writers logically set their characters in today’s world. This world has been shaped by four fundamental developments which started in the 1960s and 1970s of the last century and which have resulted in a drastic change of society which has made life more complex, in reality as in fiction. The talk is about the information technology revolution, the economic crisis of capitalism, the collapse of Communism and globalization processes.

These changes during the last thirty years have been added by the renaissance of religion and especially Islamic fundamentalism along migrant waves due to war, religious persecution and economic reasons. Globalization which is a logical result of all these developments has undoubtedly brought many blessings to the world there are, however, also severe negative consequences which can be found in the deep transformations and crisis of concept like democracy or civil societies (see concepts of Nadji 2006; Chambers 2011a).

The former cultural, religious and political superiority of the West has by now been questioned by alternative concepts such as religious fundamentalism.

Taking into account that literature is always a reflection / criticism of reality or a countermodel to it it becomes obvious that contemporary writers in general and Muslim writers in particular have to present characters which have to find their way in this complex reality.⁵

It is interesting to note that many Muslim writers (and among them the growing number of female novelists) present Islam either as a countermodel to reality in the sense of a 'resistance identity ' (male characters) or as means of oppression for women and a tool of male rule above the female in the sense of a 'legitimizing identity '.

This sociological notion of religion is widely spread among Muslim writers since their characters seem to wander around these poles. Islamic fundamentalism for most female authors is - logically speaking - no real alternative since it is considered to be anti-female and thus opposed to emancipation. For the author of this essay it is, however, important to point out that basically speaking religious fundamentalism is characterized by the option of an identification with reactionary values which are considered to be God given. The use of the media enables traditionally orientated fundamentalists to construct or re-construct a cultural and religious identity that turns out to be hypermodern in the sense that it reaches people because it offers a global alternative to the existing Western concept.

Religion in this sense turns out to be the main provider of immaterial culture, of values and norms, ethics, symbols, language and thought patterns. It is again important to stress that is especially Muslim characters who have to face the constitutional power of religion which prevents an equality of the sexes or a genuine social and cultural transformation of society. One of the most outstanding critics on this is Castells. Castells' (2004) understanding of religion follows a 'traditional sociological' approach formed by scholars like Emile Durkheim that saw religion primarily from the perspective of its function for society. Castells refers to religion as an attribute of society and of human nature. It is more or less the human need to find solace and refuge that brings religion into being; outside humans, he argues, 'God would become homeless'.

It seems that for Castells religion as a sociological phenomenon is of importance in mainly two ways: First, as so-called 'traditional religion' or 'mainstream churches', regarded by Castells as being close to a legitimizing identity and second, as religious fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is a form of religion that he focuses on in his studies. Castells regards it as a phenomenon that is clearly different from 'traditional' religion in the sense mentioned above. In particular plurality and freedom of interpretation of religious texts and norms are mentioned as aspects that split fundamentalism from 'traditional' religion. For the author religious fundamentalists are characterized by their identification with reactionary values regarded as norms derived from God's law. These norms are interpreted by a definitive authority that intermediates between God and humanity and are basically regarded as inerrant (e.g. holy texts of the Bible or Qur'an). It is an approach that stands in contrast to 'traditional' religion and its openness regarding different interpretations. One could also state that in this understanding the collective construction of fundamentalist identity is reactive. Fundamentalists are also selective in the sense that they use those features which reinforce their identity and group cohesion best. Although a human phenomenon throughout the centuries fundamentalism became surprisingly strong and influential as a source of identity in contemporary society.

Globalization itself plays a central role in the rise of fundamentalism. Many aspects show that globalization processes have reinforced experiences of insecurity due to developments of networking and flexibility. As sensed in the economy and media, there is also the impression that the world becomes too large to be controlled. One can state that religious fundamentalism as a response to these social trends is perceived as a fundamental threat.

On the background of these assumptions critics examine Christian and Islamic fundamentalism as important trends within a 'Network Society'. With the examples given they illustrate that fundamentalism threatens the institutions of the nation-state when setting religious norms as absolute, e.g. the norms of the Sharia. The primacy of submission to the religious authorities usually takes place on an individual as well as on a collective level and it therefore functions as a general description of the reactionary character of fundamentalist movements. In short fundamentalism is a contemporary form of identity. Although fundamentalists in the Middle East struggle against Western cultural domination and modernization, they make extensive use of the modern mass media system and (I would argue) commercial strategies of employing symbols and iconography.

To further support this argument many critics refer to Bassam Tibi who holds the hypothesis that Islamic fundamentalism is inter-related with the exposure of the Middle East to globalization, disruption of traditional societies and the failure of the nation-state. In regard to the identity of Islamic fundamentalism Castells (2004) states: "A new identity is being constructed, not by returning to tradition, but by working on traditional material in the formation of a new godly, communal world, where deprived masses and disaffected intellectuals may reconstruct meaning in a global alternative to the exclusionary global order" (ibid.: 201). Impoverished masses as well as disillusioned intellectuals and alienated youth seem to form the social basis for the fundamentalist movements. Castells also pays attention to the differences within fundamentalism: Islamic fundamentalism's anti-capitalist notion and in contrast Christian fundamentalism with its in majority pronounced economically libertarian character:

Given his analysis of the crisis of civil society's institutions one of Castells' apparently most serious concern is from where structural social change is about to derive. As an outlook he argues that resistance identities may transform into project identities by the construction of new meaning. In this way resistance movements could trigger social change and resistance identity would thereby replace legitimizing identity as a source for it.

- The Quest for a Meaning of Life

Man’s search for identity in his life is always located at the “Scheidelinie zwischen Immanentem und Transzendentem” (Hurm 2001: 168) and has always been a driving force (Berger 1999: 1–8). Striking is the fact that this major concern is marked by dualism. This means that it either offers a solution for a, in most cases, difficult search within the structure of religions or their substitutes. Any analysis of a meaning of life is deeply rooted in cultural, social or literary studies (Svetlova 2008: 9). Within this search for identity, the question of how and why people act becomes central. It is, therefore, logical that matters linked to the creation of sense and to identity matters have become topics of literature. However, literature often does not provide an answer to this dilemma, despite its function as a means to reflect man’s emotional and rational sides.

[...]

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¹ The choice to pick out only male writers was done on purpose and must not be seen as discrimitating female Muslim writers. On the contrary the main aim was to concentrate only on male novelists since female writing in this field has become too important as well (see works of Irshad Manji, Sajidah K. Ali or Samra Habib) and thus derserves an own literary reflection. All writers discussed here are not religious in the sense of being devout Muslims. They rather reflect Islam and its impact in a person’s wish to be free and independent in a critical light and all seem to follow the Canadian critic Tarek Fatah whose main intention is to seperate religion and religion which is opposed to Sharia law but must be seen as necessary process for an independent individual and a new identity.

² Contemporary Muslim writing in general can also be seen as a reaction to 9/11. The attacks on the Twin Towers did not come out of the blue but Muslim writers started to give notice of a new kind of Islam. Rushdie was one of the first to encorporate this in his great theme of the relationship between East and West. He showed (above all in Shalimar the Clown, 2005) that international and intercultural exchange has two sides. They are positive when both sides profit from it, and they are negative when violence, evil, greed, human frailty and radical (religious and economic) fundamentalism prevail (Eaglestone, 2013: 68).

³ The postcolonial concept of a 'writing back' is added by two other notions disposing of a postcolonial root. The talk is about 'writing home' and 'writing beyond'. The term 'writing back' in Canada is normally linked to her Native Literature (esp. see Cardinal l969, Kuester 1998, Kuester/Sturgess 2008).The division between these terms is, however, rather academic since they complete each other in the attempt to describe what is human. This 'condition humane' is based on the attempt to show who and what people are.

⁴ Before 9/11, the priority of immigrant writing in the West was focused on the politics of recognition. This relict from the colonial past has become vulnerable ever since. Strictly speaking, Muslim religious identity after 9/11 criticized this concept and made clear that Islam was still on the list of those major challenges which the West thought to have left behind.

⁵ Esp. see the concepts of Durkheim and Castells who differ between 'legitimizing', 'resistance' and 'project identity' among them being 'resistance Identity' being the most found one in Muslim writing.

• Université: Comenius University in Bratislava (Philosophische Fakultät)
• Auteur: Dr. Matthias Dickert (Auteur)
• Année de publication: 2020
• Pages: 75
• N° de catalogue: V950584
• ISBN (ebook): 9783346294944
• ISBN (Livre): 9783346294951
• Langue: anglais
• mots-clé: Muslim Writing, Exile Identity, Hybrid Existence, Gay Writing