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Representations of Muslim Women in German Popular Culture, 1990–2015

by Lauren Selfe (Author)
©2019 Monographs XII, 264 Pages

Summary

The figure of the «Muslim» woman or girl performs a crucial role in far-reaching socio-political debates in Germany. Indeed, such figures challenge the boundaries of gender equality and secularism and contest notions of tolerance and integration. The (in)visibility of Muslim women’s bodies and their apparent position in Islam function as ostensible indicators of their oppression and of Islam’s supposed incompatibility with western values.
This book investigates representations of «Muslim» women and girls in German popular culture from 1990 to 2015. The study analyses the discursive function of such figures in German popular culture via three key research questions: what representational practices surround the figure of the Muslim woman or girl in German life writing, young adult literature and film? How do such representations function to produce «non-Muslim» subject positions? What is the function of this figure within narratives of feminism and assertions of gender equality? This study understands itself as an intervention into contemporary racist discourses in Germany and operates within a transdisciplinary framework of intersectional feminism and cultural and German studies. Ultimately, the book aims to make visible and interrogate
the underlying hierarchies and agendas that drive representations of Muslim women and girls.
This book was the winner of the of the 2017 Early Career Researcher Prize in German Studies, a collaboration between the Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham and Peter Lang.

Table Of Contents


Lauren Selfe

Representations of Muslim
Women in German Popular
Culture, 1990–2015

img
Peter Lang

Oxford • Bern • Berlin • Bruxelles • New York • Wien

About the author

Lauren Selfe holds a PhD in German Studies from the University of Nottingham. She currently lives and works in Sheffield.

About the book

The figure of the ‘Muslim’ woman or girl performs a crucial role in far-reaching socio-political debates in Germany. Indeed, such figures challenge the boundaries of gender equality and secularism and contest notions of tolerance and integration. The (in)visibility of Muslim women’s bodies and their apparent position in Islam function as ostensible indicators of their oppression and of Islam’s supposed incompatibility with western values.

This book investigates representations of ‘Muslim’ women and girls in German popular culture from 1990 to 2015. The study analyses the discursive function of such figures in German popular culture via three key research questions: what representational practices surround the figure of the Muslim woman or girl in German life writing, young adult literature and film? How do such representations function to produce ‘non-Muslim’ subject positions? What is the function of this figure within narratives of feminism and assertions of gender equality? This study understands itself as an intervention into contemporary racist discourses in Germany and operates within a transdisciplinary framework of intersectional feminism and cultural and German studies. Ultimately, the book aims to make visible and interrogate the underlying hierarchies and agendas that drive representations of Muslim women and girls.

This book was the winner of the of the 2017 Early Career Researcher Prize in German Studies, a collaboration between the Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham and Peter Lang.

This eBook can be cited

This edition of the eBook can be cited. To enable this we have marked the start and end of a page. In cases where a word straddles a page break, the marker is placed inside the word at exactly the same position as in the physical book. This means that occasionally a word might be bifurcated by this marker.

Figures

Figure 1. ‘Unterdrückte Frauen werden leicht übersehen’ [Oppressed women are easily overlooked]

Figure 2. Mich hat keiner gefragt [No One Asked Me], front cover © Hildendesign. Reproduced with permission

Figure 3. Der Schleier der Angst [The Veil of Fear], front cover. Reproduced with permission from Bastei Lübbe AG

Figure 4. Gefangen im Land des Vaters [Trapped in My Father’s Country], front cover

Figure 5. Gefangen in Deutschland [Imprisoned in Germany], front cover. Reproduced with permission from Bastei Lübbe AG

Figure 6. From MTV to Mecca, front cover. Reproduced with permission from Claritas Books

Figure 7. Kopftuch [Headscarf], front cover. Cover photo: Getty Images (Tom le Goff). © 2006 Ravensburger Buchverlag Otto Maier GmbH. Reproduced with permission

Figure 8. Gegen meinen Willen [Against My Will], front cover. Reproduced with permission from Verlag Friedrich Oetinger←vii | viii→

Figure 9. Ich, die Andere [I, the Other], front cover. Reproduced with permission from Loewe Verlag

Figure 10. Turna tentatively leaving the apartment shortly after Dursun’s death in 40 QM Deutschland, 1986

Figure 11. Dilber leaving the family apartment with Thomas in Berlin in Berlin, 1993

Figure 12. Fatma discarding her hijab and leaving the family apartment, followed by her youngest son, Murat, in Lola + Bilidikid, 1999

Figure 13. Anna (r) dressed as hijabi ‘Muslim’ with fiancé ‘Hasan’ in Süperseks, 2004

Figure 14. Ayla dressed for her job at the ‘gone underground’ nightclub in Ayla, 2010

Figure 15. ‘Turkish Muslim’ Anam (l) and ‘German’ Rita (r) in Anam, 2002

Figure 16. ‘Turkish Muslim’ Aylin (l) and ‘German’ Helena (r) in Meine verrückte türkische Hochzeit [My Crazy Turkish Wedding], 2006

Figure 17. ‘Turkish Muslim’ Özlem (l) and ‘German’ Helga (r) in Evet, ich will! [Yes, I do!], 2009

Figure 18. ‘Turkish Muslim’ Umay (l) and ‘German’ Atife (r) in Die Fremde [When We Leave], 2010←viii | ix→

Figure 19. ‘Turkish Muslim’ Yağmur (l) and ‘German’ Lena (r) in Türkisch für Anfänger [Turkish for Beginners], 2012

Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The author and the publisher apologise for any errors or omissions in the above list and would be grateful for notification of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.←ix | x→ ←x | xi→

Acknowledgements

My foremost thanks go to the institutions that enabled this project through financial support: the Arts and Humanities Research Council Studentship Award and Research Training Support Grant; the School of Cultures, Languages and Area Studies Studentship and Postgraduate Research Fund; the Department of German Studies Renate Gunn Fund; the Graduate School Travel Prize and the Women in German Studies Small Travel Grant. Equally indispensable has been the constant support of Franziska Meyer: thank you for your creativity, incisive guidance and compassion. Many thanks to the Department of German Studies at the University of Nottingham, with special thanks to Heike Bartel, Matthias Uecker, Helen Budd, Gesine Haberlah and Bex Harper. Outside of the department, many thanks to Robert Kiteley, Claire Rutherford-Chapman, Laura Todd, Teodora Todorova and all the members of the Feminist Reading Group. Thanks to Sudabeh Mohafez, Aygen-Sibel Çelik and Yasemin Shooman for being generous with your time and work. Thanks to Cemal Burak Tansel for your unwavering support. Many thanks to both WIGS and Peter Lang for supporting and encouraging this project and its publication.

Details

Pages
XII, 264
Year
2019
ISBN (PDF)
9781787079984
ISBN (ePUB)
9781787079991
ISBN (MOBI)
9781788740036
ISBN (Softcover)
9781787079977
DOI
10.3726/b11821
Language
English
Publication date
2019 (July)
Keywords
German cultural studies German studies literature and film feminism gender studies Representations of Muslim Women in German Popular Culture, 1990–2015 Islam in literature Muslim women in literature German popular culture Lauren Selfe
Published
Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, New York, Wien, 2019. XII, 264 pp., 19 fig. b/w

Biographical notes

Lauren Selfe (Author)

Lauren Selfe holds a PhD in German Studies from the University of Nottingham. She currently lives and works in Sheffield.

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278 pages