Clarkson University
Fall 2023 David A. Walsh ’67
Arts & Sciences Seminar Series
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Friday, December 1, 2023, at 12:00 pm
pre-register Zoom link:
https://clarkson.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvcuuorD0qE9Z9nQbMDLBxj7av9sqtBsdg
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Decolonizing Justice in Contemporary Literature of the Ummah by Muslim Women
by
Hasnul Insani Djohar
Abstract:
Through the framework of feminist, postcolonial, and decolonization studies, this talk examines the aesthetic strategies Muslim women writers use to depict Muslimah (Muslim women) in their novels and how their texts decolonize white sovereignty through Muslimah stories and perspectives. More specifically, this presentation investigates the use of such concepts as “The Crossroad of America” and the bildungsroman to depict Muslimah in two representative novels: (The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf (2006) by Syrian writer Mohja Kahf and A Map of Home (2008) by Arab-American author Randa Jarrar. By investigating Kahf’s and Jarrar’s works through a focus on decolonizing white power, we better understand what it means to be a member of a marginalized group and a Muslimah after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003—as well as the power of literature to explore complex global problems.
Speaker Bio:
The Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Muslim English Literature, Hasnul Djohar, is Head of the Department and senior lecturer in English at Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta in Indonesia. Her research focuses on World Anglophone Muslim Literature, exploring Muslim women’s stories worldwide, focusing on women, environments, and decolonizing justice. A Fulbright recipient, she completed her MA in English from Central Michigan University. With funding from the Indonesian Endowment Funds for Education, she earned her Ph.D. in English from the University of Exeter, UK. She is currently a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at Southern Utah University.
