Mode of the conference: Online
Muslims are often portrayed as either victors or vanquished in post-9/11 literature. These narratives address the estrangement of a Muslim either by reiterating the Orientalist representations of Islam or by subscribing to Neo-Orientalist representations of an “acceptable Muslim” who chooses national identity over religious identity in Western liberal societies. Neo-Orientalism is more than ‘sue generis’ to Orientalism—it embodies newer ways of alienating Muslims in modern society. Ali Behdad and Juliet Williams describe it as a “continuity between contemporary and traditional forms of Orientalism” that complicates everyday living in Muslim life. Popular opinion often rests on the fact that the alienation of ‘post-9/11 Muslim’ is the result of failed American diplomacy in the Middle East or the racialization of Muslims in the United States after the Twin Tower attacks. This conference attempts to bring together scholars who inquire into this Muslim alienation in varied global productions across Muslim and non-Muslim cultures in contemporary times.
While there is considerable scholarship on Neo-Orientalism, what remains largely undiscussed are the ways in which Muslims grapple with the effects of Neo-Orientalism in contemporary global literature. Therefore, this conference seeks to achieve two things: First, it aims to delve deep into the origins of contemporary orientalism/post-orientalism debate—the religious, political, and social constructs of liberal democracies that encourage and detest neo-Orientalism at the same time. Second, it aims to explore ways in which contemporary literature has represented Muslims and Muslimness in the neo-Oriental age. The purpose of this conference is to bring together experts (literary, political, social, and cultural) who engage with discourses that complicate the representations of Muslims in the post-9/11 world. This note seeks papers, but not limited to the following areas:
- Postcolonialism and Neo-Orientalism
- Liberalism and Orientalism
- Islamophobia in secular democracies
- Muslims responding to the pandemic of islamophobia worldwide
- Muslimness or everyday Islam in modern societies
- The politics of moderate Islam as a neo-colonial and neo-liberal enterprise
Keywords: Literature, Political Science, Anthropology, Terrorism Studies, and Islamic Studies
Please submit an abstract of 300-500 words and a short bio to Priyadarshini Gupta at priyadarshini@jgu.edu.in and/or to Mosarrap Hossain Khan at mhkhan@jgu.edu.in by December 15, 2023. We also encourage prospective conference presenters to email us with any queries.
Keynote Addresses:
Dr. Hamid Dabashi (Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature, Columbia University, USA)
Dr. Ali Behdad (John Charles Hillis Professor of Literature, University of California, Los Angeles, USA)
Dr. Tahir Abbas (Professor of Radicalization Studies, Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University, The Hague, Netherlands)
Dr. Nadira Khatun (Assistant Professor of Mass Communications, School of Communications, XIM University, Odisha, India)
Selected papers accepted from the conference will be published as a collection of essays in an edited book by a major publisher.
