[UPDATE] Between Vulnerability and Resilience: Representations of Veil in Literature, Film, and Fine Arts
The veil's ancient and modern history and its resurgence in our time is an important subject for discussion for those of us posing new questions about women and Islam in literature, film, and fine arts. In Europe and the U.S., the veil is often presented through errors of conceptualizations. The media, in particular, seems to be obsessed with the role of the veil. Recurrently, these discussions run along essentialist and ahistorical lines associating Islam with the ideology of shame and honor. Moreover, the Muslim immigrant "problem" in Europe and the U.S. and the fear of Islam and Muslims in connection with terrorism has heightened the controversy on the issue of the veil. In France, the subject of women and Islam, and the veil in particular, has been highly politicized. In Denmark, as well, the veil is associated with the position of the Muslim women as marginalized and subjugated. While this is the case with Europe and the U.S., in South Asia, particularly in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, the veiled Muslim woman represents a controversial and questioning position in the construction of the nation-state.
This edited collection seeks to initiate a dialogue on the use of the veil in literature, film, and fine arts (photography, painting etc.) by analyzing and critiquing its use. How do we see the veil when it is talked about in the media, in the teaching of Islam, and in upholding it as a national symbol of a nation-sate? Is the use and meaning of veil presented as natural or constructed; real or metaphorical; and religious or political? We intend to not only challenge the stereotypes but also go beyond the veil. Thus, we welcome essays that confront the resurgence of the veil and the revisionist history of the veil as well. Understanding the complexity of the use of veil as Fatima Amrani Zerrifi rightly says, "It may be a political, religious or cultural taboo that women are trying to dismantle, as it may be a mask, a site of resistance, a third space that women hide behind," this edited collection's purpose is to problematize the danger of believing in a single story.
We are seeking essays on the representation of the veil in Arab, Arab-American, African, African-Arab, British, European, and South/East Asian literature, film, popular culture, as well as artwork (such as the study of the veil in paintings or photographs) that promote, question, upset, or reformulate the traditional values that are associated with the veil. Please submit a 500 word abstract and a short 250 words bio to Umme Al-wazedi and Afrin Zeenat by April 30th at this e-mail address: theveilproject2015@gmail.com.
Possible paper topics may include, but are not limited to:
• Veil and Colonialism
• Veil and Postcoloniality
• Revisionist History of the veil
• Veil and the nation-state
• Veil and Cultural Plurality
• Veil and it's relation to Western feminism
• Veil and it's relation to Muslim Feminism
• Veil and its implication on Critical Race Studies
• Veil and it's relation to Intersectionality
And abstracts can be related (but not limited) to the following questions:
● How are writers/artists rereading colonial fantasies about the veiled women?
● What relationship does the resurgence of the use of veil have to the idea of nationalism?
● In recent times, large swathes of Muslim women have embraced the veil. Although the veil symbolizes very disparate notions across the Muslim spectrum, there are some entrenched stereotypes pertaining to the practice of veiling. What are some common stereotypes of the veil?
● What are some of the ways in which the various representations of the veil in literature and culture reinforce the predominant stereotypes of the veiled? Can these stereotypes be countered and replaced by more enlightening representations?
● Some prominent Arab Muslim writers have tried to change the reigning stereotypes of the veil, but how successful have they been? Does the onus to dispel these stereotypes lie with Muslim writers alone? How can other Western scholars participate in a discourse that can dismantle generalizations of the veil?
● In spite of the stereotypical views pertaining to the veil that reign supreme in the West, a more nuanced or sophisticated understanding of the practice needs to be inscribed into the Western imagination. How can literature and culture dismantle the stereotypes and replace them with a more nuanced understanding?
● The practice of veiling in the Muslim world, both multifarious and dynamic, is testament not only to the diversity of the Muslim population around the world, but also of the different theological strands within Islam. How can the varying practices of veiling be used to highlight the inherent diversity within the Muslim community? Also, can the different rationales behind the act of veiling be stressed to eliminate the overriding essentialist notion behind the practice?
● How can the use or ban of the veil be seen/argued through critical race feminism or any other feminist theory?
● Considering the prejudice against the LGBTQIA community, does the practice of veiling help in a reconstruction of identity or a feigned eschewing of their sexual orientation? Does veiling help transcend the religious antagonism and persecution the LGBTQIA community already face?