Artistic (Self)-Representations of Islam and Muslims: Perspectives Across France and the Maghreb is a collection of essays that explores the question of artistic representation(s)/self-representation(s) of Muslim religious and cultural identity in France, the Maghreb and in/between since the 2000s. The volume offers a plurality of feminine and masculine voices and points of view on cultural Islam (Franco-French, Franco-Maghrebi, Maghrebi), all the while addressing the impact of events like 9/11, the tragic attacks in France in 2015-2016 (Charlie Hebdo, Stade de France, Bataclan, Nice), and the Arab Spring. Taken together, the volume features a transnational and transversal set of artistic voices that are not looking for consensus, but rather invoke dissensus (Rancière) and a full range of expression. A necessary part of that full range of expression is (self)-representations: Muslims representing themselves, though this is no facile (self)-representations, as artists continue to use the properties of the imagination and performance to complexify an easy reading, reductive meaning, or oversimplified interpretation.
This interdisciplinary study contributes to the fields of French and Francophone Studies, Humanities and Global/Cultural Studies such as political studies, sociology, political philosophy, literature, cinema, visual arts and media studies with a focus on broadening views on the topic of Islam and Muslim (self)-representations across disciplines.
Table of Contents:
Introduction – Ramona Mielusel and Laura Reeck
Cinematic Representations of Islam: From Imams to Radicals
Imams and Audience in Kaouther Ben Hania’s Niche Filmwork – Laura Reeck
Representations of Radical Islam in Merzak Allouache’s most Recent Films – Nabil Boudraa
De-westernizing the Gaze on Islam and the Veil in French and Franco-Algerian Films – Abderrahmene Bourenane and Delphine Letort
Nicolas Boukhrief’s Made in France: Nuancing the Mediatized Approach to Islamic Terrorism – Patrick Saveau
Veiling, Islamic and Artistic Symbols and Far-Right Politics in Literary Representations of Islam and Muslims
Jeux de rubans (2011) by Emna Belhaj Yahia or the (Un)Veiling of Modern Tunisia – Sabrine Herzi
Eclipsing the Sun in Amira-Géhanne Khalfallah’s Le Naufrage de La Lune: Re-Appropriating Islamic Power Dynamics Through Allegory and Self-Representation – Pamela A. Pears
In Praise of the Transgressive Muslim Body: Portraits of Moroccan Chikhates – Mary Vogl
Islam and Far-Right Politics in Post-Contemporary Francophone Speculative Fiction: An Ethical Call to Resistance or Revival of French Orientalism? – Simona Emilia Pruteanu
Representations of Islam in Music, Comic Series and Visual Arts
(P)raising Islam: When French Muslim rappers advocate for peace, love and unity in a Multicultural France – David Yesaya
Drawing the Muslim Self: Muslim Citizenship and Contemporary Islam in France – Jennifer Howell
Franco-Maghrebi Perspectives on the Islamic “Body” in a Contemporary Artistic Context: Kader Attia and Zoulikha Boubdellah – Ramona Mielusel
Conclusion – Ramona Mielusel and Laura Reeck
Index
Contributors