The Representation of Muslims in Selected Post 9/11 American Novels

Abstract

Throughout history, Islam has been perceived as a religion of terror and violence. Recently, in the wake of September 11 th attacks, this discourse has been reinforced. In the literary sphere, a large corpus of textual representation of this horrific incident sought to depict this event’s impact on the country and its population. Several novelists supported Islam’s perception in the Western mind while other voices, including Muslim as well as non-Muslim ones, contributed through giving a voice to the “enemy” and depicted Islam and Muslim characters positively. The purpose of the present study, then, is to provide evidence that both of Linda-Jamilah Kolocotronis and Amy Waldman portray Muslim characters’ efforts to resist the distorted image they are associated with in their works Innocent People (2003) and The Submission (2011), respectively; pinpointing the strategies Muslim characters rely on in order to resist the hegemonic discourse of Islam as a religion of terror. In order to reach this aim, the researcher will follow Michel Foucault’s and Maria Lugones’ models which would help in analyzing Muslim characters’ resistance and attempt to prove their innocence and undermine their constructed image. Moreover, the present study is an attempt to prove that both novelists highlight the subjectivity of truth and history through providing readers with a different version of Muslims’ reality and opening their eyes to a different interpretation of history. To this effect, this theoretical and analytical study is carried out...