ISIM Review – Connections
ISIM Review 19 is out now with, of course, several very interesting articles. I will name a few (and link directly to the corresponding pdf-files):
“Burka†in Parliament and on the Catwalk / Annelies Moors While the veil in public debates is often seen as the symbol representing the ultimate Other: the muslim (woman), in fashion industries boundaries are much more blurred and repertoires are much more mixed.
Brazilian TV and Muslimness in Kyrgystan / Julie McBrien A really fascinating article about a Brazilian soap opera with a kind of stereotypical image of Muslims. These Brazilian telenovela’s are very popular outside Brazil too, for example in Kyrgystan where the negative stereotypical image ‘suddenly’ is transformed into something positive.
Meeting, Mating, and Cheating Online in Iran / Pardis Mahdavi Iranian youth uses websites and blogs for constructing new sexual and social discourses. Indigenous discourses are mixed with other discours. Practices are not ‘just’ practices but social and political messages.
Hymen Repair on the Arabic Internet / Björn Bentlage & Thomas Eich
There are many discussions on the Arabic Internet about whether or not hymen repair is allowed in Islam. The authors of this article analyzed several of these discussions and show that, although internet is a decentralized medium that may spur pluralism, it functions as a filter in which only a few voices are heard and often repeated. A development which, according to me, is also taking place on the Dutch ‘islamic’ internet.
Hidden Features of the Face Veil Controversy / Emma Tarlo The author shows how discussions about veiling is not a debate of Muslims against others but a debate on competing definitions of British citizenship that are also apparent among British Muslims.
Ham, Mozart, and Limits to Freedom of Expression / Alexandre Caeiro & Frank Peter
Connecting the German Idomeneo affair and the French Redeker affair in an interesting article about how those two controversies show that the existing definition of what Europe is (or ought to be) is excluding Muslims.
Danish Muslims: Catalysts of National Identity? / Tina Gudrun Jensen Denmark like several other countries has recently seen a polarization in the islam debate. This makes the position of Danish converts to Islam very interesting.
Religious Symbols Made in Italy / Maurizio Albahari How media produce and reproduce the us vs. them dichotomy by using religious symbols.
Being a Pious French Muslim Woman / Jeanette S. Jouili By showing how pious Muslim women negotiate their religiosity in the context of French secularism, the author shows how the construction of identities depends on a particular context which creates a certain type of Muslim subjectivity.
But of course you should read the whole magazine.