cover
Contact Name
Tuty Handayani
Contact Email
tuty@uinjkt.ac.id
Phone
+6282227208677
Journal Mail Official
melsasing2023@gmail.com
Editorial Address
Faculty of Adab and Humanities, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University of Jakarta. Jl. Tarumanegara, Pisangan, Ciputat, Tangerang Selatan, Banten 15419
Location
Kota tangerang selatan,
Banten
INDONESIA
Muslim English Literature
ISSN : 29617502     EISSN : 29628199     DOI : -
Core Subject : Religion, Education,
Muslim English Literature specializes in Muslim World Literature including US-Muslim, British-Muslim, Asian-Muslim, and other Muslim cultures and literature; and is intended to communicate original research and current issues on the subject. This journal warmly welcomes contributions from scholars of related disciplines, including Linguistics and Cultural Studies related to the Muslim world.
Articles 6 Documents
Search results for , issue "Vol. 2 No. 2 (2023): Muslim English Literature" : 6 Documents clear
Homesickness in Dur E Aziz Amna's American Fever Attiba, Khoirotul; Djohar, Hasnul Insani; Savira, Putri; Salsabila, Yasmina Shafa
Muslim English Literature Vol. 2 No. 2 (2023): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v2i2.30012

Abstract

This study discusses the main sources of homesickness among the characters as the loss of family and culture, the unattainable dream of returning home, and the challenges of adapting to a new environment. The research reveals factors causing homesickness experienced by diaspora characters, as seen in the protagonist of Dur e Aziz Amna’s American Fever. The researchers analyze the issues of homesickness with diaspora literary perspectives. This study engages with diaspora studies, especially Stuart Hall's theory of cultural identity and diaspora. The result shows that diaspora individuals typically have expectations and admiration of their cherished homeland to overcome their homesickness. The cultural differences, the expectation for home, and the unfamiliarity with the home create a longing for the homeland's homesickness. The more the characters spend time in the United States, the more they realize how distant it is from what they had expected about the beauty of their homeland. Thus, they keep admiring their homelands and accept the differences and unfamiliarity to overcome their homesickness.
Existentialist Feminism in Etaf Rum’s A Woman is No Man Dedi, Dania; Farlina, Nina
Muslim English Literature Vol. 2 No. 2 (2023): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v2i2.34875

Abstract

This research aims to provide a qualitative study into existentialist feminism in Etaf Rum's novel A Woman is No Man (2019). The writers examine Arab American women from a three-generation family who emigrated from Palestine to America, which affected them in determining their meaning of existence under Arab American patriarchal culture: Fareeda as the first generation, Isra and Sarah as the second generation, and Deya as the third generation. This research used Simone de Beauvoir’s existentialist feminism theory. The findings show two out of the four Arab American women refused to break out from the Arab patriarchal culture, while the other two achieved their transcendence. The existence of Arab American women in the novel is not fully achieved based on Beauvoir’s idea of claiming their transcendence. In conclusion, the four Arab American female characters were influenced by generational differences when they were exposed to Arab culture in Palestine. Fareeda and Isra have more anti-assimilation toward American culture than Sarah and Deya, born in America. Sarah and Deya find meaning in their existence because they achieve their transcendence by becoming what they want to be, namely, working and independent women. Meanwhile, Fareeda and Isra find meaning in their existence in the realm of the patriarchal culture, which defines them as the Other since neither of them has ambitions for themselves but has always strived to submit to the Arab culture. Thus, Fareeda and Isra defined their meaning in existence as being mothers and wives.
To Veil or not to Veil: Tracing the Hijab in Contemporary Muslimah’s Writings Shaikh, Neda Parvin
Muslim English Literature Vol. 2 No. 2 (2023): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v2i2.35096

Abstract

This research examines the constructions of Muslimah or Muslim women's identity through the lens of religious clothing, specifically the hijab, as depicted in two contemporary Muslimah literary texts. Randa Abdal Fattah’s Does My Head Look Big In This? (2005) is a bildungsroman told from the perspective of a sixteen-year-old Australian-Palestinian Muslim girl who makes the life-changing decision to wear the hijab. The second novel is Leila Aboulela’s Minaret (2005), tracing the journey of a young female Sudanese immigrant in London who finds herself struggling socially, economically and culturally in a foreign country after leaving behind a life of affluence in Sudan. Using theories such as Homi K Bhabha’s Cultural Hybridity and Miriam Cooke’s Islamic Feminism, the article analyses the protagonists’ choice of veiling and the internal and external factors that influence this difficult decision. The analysis suggests that female hybrid identities in Western diasporic contexts are uniquely configured through religious and cultural markers like the hijab that forge feminist bonds and reignite connections to the Homeland and God. The decision to wear the hijab also helps counter Western stereotypes related to Islam and Muslim women. The hijab has also become a contentious issue in recent times. It is thus imperative to look closely at contemporary Muslimah literature that addresses this topic, especially those written by Muslimah authors. This research helps to reduce mainstream misrepresentation and contest stereotypes, thereby making space for newer ways of reading Muslim identities and feminist tendencies.
Muslimah Hybrid Identity in Amulya Malladi’s The Sound of Language Seshu, Bandaru S.S.S.S.K.
Muslim English Literature Vol. 2 No. 2 (2023): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v2i2.35315

Abstract

This study analyses Amulya Malladi’s novel The Sound of Language using a postcolonial and Islamic feminist approach. The paper explores how the novel reflects identity, Otherness, the imperial situation, and the experience of alienation in the diaspora. In The Sound of Language, the author portrays the main character's life in the Muslim diaspora. It depicts the subject's journey towards a multicultural identity and her mission to understand who she is and where she fits in the global community. This study examines how a Muslim subject develops their identity in a postcolonial European setting and analyses the problems raised by how the writer presents the character in the book. This research especially explores Malladi's identity-making process, engaging with concepts of Ngugi wa Thiongo's Language and Identity, Homi K. Bhabha's Hybridity, and Fatima Mernissi's Muslim women's liberation. In addition, this investigates how the author explores the connection between language acquisition and identity formation, examining how natives influence non-natives and the extent of Danish society's acceptance of Afghan culture and languages. The study reveals that Muslim characters in occidental societies, like Raihana does when she moves to Denmark, will develop a hybrid identity that incorporates both her Muslim background and the contemporary free-thinking society of the West. This article presents two subsections of a study: the Postcolonial and the Islamic feminist approaches. Both sections explain how Raihana formed her hybrid identity as a Muslim woman in a European country.
Craving Homes in Ila Arab Mehta’s Fence Joby, Metty
Muslim English Literature Vol. 2 No. 2 (2023): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v2i2.35583

Abstract

Owning a home has always been a dream for every individual, and one’s life savings are invested in possessing a home, especially in the Indian context. Indian novelists have portrayed how their characters strive to build a ‘home’ for themselves, thereby asserting their identity. The present study explores the protagonist Fateema’s dire desire to own a house of her own in a mixed ghetto wherein people from different religions live together in peace and harmony. This elusive utopian thought is depicted poignantly in Ila Arab Mehta’s novel Fence. The cultural constructs in the Gujarati society described in the novel and the hegemonic influence portrayed in the novel are explored through the experiences of various characters. The food, clothing, language, and mannerisms of the Muslim society, as compared to the majority community in Gujarat of the late twentieth century, are portrayed in the novel as only cultural constructs leading to the subjugation of the Muslim community. Hence, an attempt is being made to study the novel Fence from the perspective of cultural studies and calls for a broader outlook in encapsulating everyone within a multicultural framework, strengthening the social fabric. 
The Badshah Begums: Interrogating Identity and Power in Mughal Fictions Kumari, Suman
Muslim English Literature Vol. 2 No. 2 (2023): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v2i2.36602

Abstract

The historical legacy of Mughal rule in India has never been devoid of the interplay of power politics and identity throughout its long history. Needless to say, the history of Mughal women abounds in instances of power struggle and hegemonic interplay of social position. This research paper intends to highlight Ira Mukhoty’s Daughters of the Sun and Indu Sundersan’s The Twentieth Wife, which explicitly throw light on this power exchange that inevitably occurred in the Mughal empire. The historical representation of Mughals has been surrounded by narratives of the central patriarchal seat of power. Besides, the paper intends to establish the dedication, intelligence, valor, and diplomacy of these Begums whose stories have never been part of the popular narrative. The catalytic role that these women played in building the Mughal empire, as Mukhoty says, needs to be studied as an essential aspect of the development of the Mughal kingdom in India. Considering popular theories of studying cultural theory, this paper questions the prevalent ideas of privilege, power, and position associated with the title of the Badshah Begum and reveals the true socio-cultural suppression that functioned in the background. This paper brings out how the Begums perceived the importance of the title themselves at the personal level, thus contributing to the growth of the domestic, economic, political, and academic levels.

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