Journal of Middle East Women's Studies (JMEWS), v.9, n.1 (Wint 2013), 54-80, Dec 1, 2013
The American Muslim landscape is suffused with mosque bookstores, independent book distributors, ... more The American Muslim landscape is suffused with mosque bookstores, independent book distributors, online retailers, and convention stalls offering English-speaking Muslims Islamic advice texts on a wide array of topics. Common among these popularly oriented writings are titles pertaining to veiling, gender relations, marriage, and sexuality. This paper examines this particular segment of titles in order to determine how they present a set of behaviors, thoughts, and feelings that we would recognize as erotic in nature—that is, pertaining to sexual desire and its expression, romantic attachment, and bodily pleasure. I seek to show that, despite their varied geographical and linguistic provenance, these advice tracts share a number of themes that coalesce to form an overarching discourse on eroticism. I argue that this prevailing discourse presents erotic desire, expression, and pleasure in a manner that is overwhelmingly negative. This overarching negativity is dissonant with the erotic conjugality that is frequently forwarded in this same literature as a pious ideal. This dissonance suggests a theoretical gap between more traditional notions of sexuality, marriage, and gender relations, and contemporary ideals of companionate marriage and conjugal intimacy.
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Papers by Hina Azam
In this course, we will read three works ("stories") by Western Muslim authors, all originally composed in English (not translations). The objectives of the course are to familiarize students with this emerging area of literary production, and through reading these stories, to learn about Muslim history, cultures, and societies, as well as about Islam as a religion. Titles will draw from three literary genres-historical fiction, autobiography, and speculative fiction/fantasy. Throughout the semester, we will focus on the following questions: What does Islam/Muslimness look like in these works? What does Western Islam/ Western Muslimness look like in these works? How is the relationship between Islam/Muslimness and the West portrayed in these works? What are the moral visions being forwarded in these works? For each work we will ask, how is this a Muslim story, and how is this a Western story? Other topics that we will explore through this course are those of women and gender in Islam, Muslims in history, and how literature/stories can be a window through which to examine ethics and moral reasoning.
Assignments for this course will include the following: 1) papers analyzing our three works of literature ("stories"); 2) research annotations for each work; 3) a dramatic reading from one of the works; 4) regular reading exercises on daily reading assignments; 5) a library task sheet. The research annotations will engage a gem of the University, the University libraries. We will have two guest speakers: a librarian will provide instruction on doing library research, and a communication instructor will present a lesson in elocution, oral communication and dramatic reading skills. Students will also be required to attend a university lecture during the semester.