Islamic Postcolonialism: Islam and Muslim Identities in Four Contemporary British Novels - Tapa dura

"This study offers an important reading of a field of literary inquiry that has recently come to prominence [...] Majed's voice needs to be heard, as the subject position out of which he writes is close to that of many Muslims and Arabs".-Dr Geoffrey Nash, Senior Lecturer in English, University of Sunderland, UK

Islamic postcolonialism is a theoretical perspective that combines two components which have up until now existed in a state of tension. As a secular theory, postcolonialism has notably failed to account for Muslim priorities; it has, for instance, had severe problems critiquing the anti-Islam polemics of The Satanic Verses, as is evidenced by Edward Said's support for Rushdie, in spite of his criticism of the stereotypical representation of Islam and Muslims in the West.Islamic postcolonialism applies the anti-colonial resistant methodology of postcolonialism from a Muslim perspective, exploring the continuance of colonial discourse in part of the contemporary western writing about Islam and Muslims.This book explores how Islam is depicted and Muslim identities are constructed in four representative works of contemporary British fiction: Hanif Kureishi's The Black Album (1995), Monica Ali's Brick Lane (2003), Fadia Faqir's My Name is Salma (2007), and Leila Aboulela's Minaret (2005). Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses (1988) is also discussed in terms of its crucial role in fostering what some Muslims might consider polemical and stereotypical positions in writing about Islam.