Negotiating Liminal Identities in Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Alkarawi, Susan Taha; Bahar, Ida Baizura

doi:10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.2n.2p.101

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Although Alkarawi & Bahar (2013) highlight Khadra's realisation that it is in America that she will enjoy more freedom, they do not clearly shed light on Khadra's identity crisis caused by patriarchal and religious restrictions and lack of cultural assimilation in America.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 84%

Relocating a Torn Identity and Asserting the Right of the Oppressed to be Heard and Liberated in Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Abdullah

2023

WJEL

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Recently, there has been a rapid increase in the production of literary works written in English by female Arab writers who have brought more appreciation for the Arab women who are often perceived by the Western reader as exotic, eccentric and complex. The article deals with the 2006 novel The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf by Mohja Kahf, a Syrian-American poet and novelist, which presents the reader with a new borderland area occupied by young Arab-American Muslim women. The novel condemns distorted images of Muslims in America by local media and US foreign policy. The article aims to show the way the protagonist Khadra attempts to relocate an identity which has been lost between home and abroad and between a radical Islam and discerning secularism. Kahf offers the Western reader a unique portrayal of Muslim women, having developed a subjectivity of their own. The article also aims to show that by disclosing the journey—searching for the identity—of Khadra, Kahf enables her to come to terms with both her Arab and American identities where she creates a new identity for herself in order to be accepted and established in America. The new attitude of Muslim-American women resonates with the author’s assertion of the right of the oppressed to be heard and liberated.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 84%

Relocating a Torn Identity and Asserting the Right of the Oppressed to be Heard and Liberated in Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Abdullah

2023

WJEL

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“…For example, having been exposed to alternative models of sexuality through media, especially the internet (e.g., image-based applications—Instagram—that promulgate ideals of body, dressing, and sexuality; Setiawan, 2020 ; Tiggemann & Zaccardo, 2018 ), many women have been negotiating their Muslim sexuality with these alternatives ( Meldrum et al, 2014 ; Sadeghi, 2008 ), trying to balance the two seemingly opposing worldviews. At least, these women are in a status of liminality ( Alkarawi & Bahar, 2013 ; Tindongan, 2011 ) and not merely in a traditional state as “hijab porn” videos suggest.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hijab Pornography: A Content Analysis of Internet Pornographic Videos

Mirzaei

Zare

Morrison

2021

Violence Against Women

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A content analysis was conducted to explore sexual indicators of aggression, objectification, exploitation, and agency in 50 “hijab” pornographic videos. Our findings suggest that women were the target of aggressive acts in all videos, with gagging (42%) and spanking (38%) being the most common. Also, in comparison with men, women were more likely to be objectified and exploited, and less likely to possess agency. Limitations of the current study and directions for future research are detailed.

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“…Worse still, Western society becomes a platform for haters of Muslim women to demonstrate discrimination against Muslim women. Ironically, the negative image of the veil depicted by the Western media has been used by some Westerners to manipulate and oppress Muslim women (Alkarawi and Bahar 2013).…”

Section: A Quest For Women's Rights In the American Context And In Mumentioning

confidence: 99%

Negotiating Muslim Women’s Rights and Identity in American Diaspora Space: An Islamic Feminist Study of Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Sulaiman

Quayum

Manaf

2018

KAJH

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Abstract. This paper addresses the narrative of a Muslim woman who struggles to negotiate her rights, identity and sense of belonging in an American diaspora space. Despite the difficulties and obstacles of being regarded as an "other" in her adopted homeland, Khadra Shamy, the protagonist in Mohja Kahf's The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, chooses to maintain her Islamic identity with a new interpretation of her faith while attempting to build a hybrid identity as an American Muslim. The narrative implies that not all Muslims interpret their religion in the same way and that Muslims identify themselves with Islam to differing degrees. Hence, the media and critics of Islam clearly distort social reality when they depict all Muslims as extremists and all Muslim women as abject individuals. In addition, the employment of Islamic feminism in the analysis of the novel is an approach that can help enhance our knowledge concerning problems connected to the patriarchy that are pertinent in many Muslim communities, including ones in the West. The diaspora space in America has become a platform for Muslim women to gain more freedom, particularly the freedom to negotiate their rights and identities and to reinterpret religious teachings in a new light, a freedom that they may not be able to achieve in some Muslim-majority countries.

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Negotiating Liminal Identities in Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Cited by 9 publications

References 3 publications

Relocating a Torn Identity and Asserting the Right of the Oppressed to be Heard and Liberated in Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Relocating a Torn Identity and Asserting the Right of the Oppressed to be Heard and Liberated in Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Hijab Pornography: A Content Analysis of Internet Pornographic Videos

Negotiating Muslim Women’s Rights and Identity in American Diaspora Space: An Islamic Feminist Study of Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

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