Muslim Women and the Politics of Representation

Abstract

This paper examines the politics of knowledge production as itrelates to Muslim women in western literar y traditions and contemporaryfeminist writing, with a view to understanding thepolitical, ideological, and economic mediations that have historicallyframed these representations. The meta-narrative of theMuslim woman has shifted from the bold queens of medieval literatureto colonial images of the seraglio's veiled, secluded, andoppressed women. Contemporary feminist writing and popularculture have reproduced the colonial motifs of Muslim women,and these have regained currency in the aftermath of9/1 l.Drawing upon the work of Mohja Kahf, this paper begins bymapping the evolution of the Muslim woman archetype inwestern literary traditions. The paper then examines how somecontemporary feminist literature has reproduced in new waysthe discursive tropes that have had historical currency inMuslim women's textual representation. The analysis is attentiveto the ways in which the cultural production of knowledgeabout Muslim women has been implicated historically by therelations of power between the Muslim world and the West.