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 84 Documents
The Imagined Community in Bankim Chatterjee’s The Abbey of Bliss Md. Nuruddin Pier Shihab
Muslim English Literature Vol 3, No 1 (2024): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v3i1.38577

Abstract

This paper focuses on Bankim Chatterjee’s framework of nationalism in The Abbey of Bliss. Bankim’s dream of a nation-state for the Hindus is visible in the novel. On the other hand, Bankim’s docile position against the British imperialist power is visible too. This paper examines Bankim’s ambivalence as a colonial writer. From the postcolonial perspective, this paper tries to interpret Bankim’s position. He also gives a framework of community that works for the establishment of the admired nation-state. In this paper, this community is regarded as Bankim’s imagined community. The framework of nationalism Bankim provides in the novel is an amalgamation of the European framework and his thoughts. This is why this paper claims his framework is a hybrid one. This paper finds that Bankim’s framework has its strengths and weaknesses. This study tries to point out some of these strengths and weaknesses as a model of a nation-state.
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.
Muslimah Indonesian’s Hybridity in John Michaelson's Annisa Edla Salsabilla; Tuty Handayani; Nancy Al-Doghmi
Muslim English Literature Vol 3, No 1 (2024): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v3i1.39130

Abstract

This research aims to analyze how John Michaelson (Muslim British) explores Muslimah Indonesian’s hybridity and mimicry in his novel Annisa (2015). This paper uses close textual analysis by engaging with the postcolonial concepts of Homi K. Bhaba’s hybridity (1994). The analysis focuses on the narrative aspects in Annisa which portrait the hybridity and mimicry of Muslimah Indonesian protagonist, Annisa. The results indicate that; 1) Hybridity is portrayed through the protagonist’s fashion style, education, and language. Mimicry is described through Annisa’s imitating the ideology, romantic relationship, and lifestyle of Western society; 2) Annisa negotiates hybridity and mimicry through her fearlessness to voice injustice against the reductionist views of Indonesia and Islam in orientalist debates. In conclusion, the portrayal of hybridity and mimicry is negotiated when Annisa rejects the power of Western cultural influence to weaken the original culture of Indonesian society by providing lightening assessments of her culture and religion.
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.
Re-identifying Muslimah Identity in Sabeeha Rehman’s Threading My Prayer Rug Diksha Bhagat; Anupama Vohra
Muslim English Literature Vol 3, No 1 (2024): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v3i1.30256

Abstract

Diaspora denotes people or a group of people who have been separated from their homeland and are resettled in a foreign land. Migration is a complex process; it is of different types depending on whether it is voluntary or forced due to enslavement, war, famine, or some other natural or man-made disaster. Globalization has influenced and increased the prospect of migration all over the world. As a result, people are more open to migrating to different corners of the world, especially for work and a better lifestyle. Against this background, the paper deals with migration and the resultant diaspora experienced by Sabeeha Rehman, a Muslim migrant woman from Pakistan to America. Her memoir, Threading My Prayer Rug: One Woman’s Journey from Pakistani Muslim to American Muslim (2016), deals with the struggles of Muslim women‘s confrontation and assimilation into a completely alien democratic environment of the West where the followers of different faiths exist simultaneously. Thus, this paper highlights the various experiences Sabeeha faces as a Muslimah or Muslim woman on religious and cultural fronts and her constant battle to retain her religious identity in a non-Muslim (dar ul-harb) country.
Deconstruction of the Main Protagonists in Ausma Zehanat Khan’s The Unquiet Dead Luthfialdi Nouval; Mira Utami
Muslim English Literature Vol 3, No 1 (2024): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v3i1.39451

Abstract

Jacques Derrida coined two Deconstruction concepts: Binary Opposition and Logocentrism used to analyze the protagonist characters: Esa Khattak and his junior, Rachel Getty, in Ausma Zehanat Khan’s The Unquiet Dead (2013). The binary opposition analysis is used to reveal the binary of the character and its opposition. The results of the analysis show that Khattak as the main protagonist has Good Superior and Resolute traits as his dominant binaries; while Rachel Getty’s central binaries are Forthright and Independent. The concept of logocentrism is decentralizing the dominant binary to create a new center by putting it under erasure. Khattak is symbolized as Justice because his main binary represents the characteristics of justice which is associated with real-world, such as courts. Rachel Getty is symbolized as Feminism because the leading binary represents the characteristics of Feminism which is associated with examples of feminist such as Kartini as the independent women. Thus, Kahn’s novel reconstructs the protagonist characters to question our binary perspectives, such as good/bad, justice/injustice, and feminist/masculine.
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.
The Influence of Cultural Pluralism on Women's Leadership Discourse: A Socio-Cognitive Analysis: Selected Models Asmaa Muhammad Othman Elzieny
Muslim English Literature Vol 3, No 1 (2024): Muslim English Literature
Publisher : UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.15408/mel.v3i1.39745

Abstract

This paper investigates the influence of cultural pluralism on women's leadership discourse employing a socio-cognitive analysis of women leaders from diverse cultural backgrounds and examines how cultural pluralism shapes their language, communication styles, and discursive approaches. The analysis is carried out on speeches of female leaders namely the previous Singaporean president Halimah Yacob, the previous British Prime Minister Theresa May. By addressing this research gap, the paper aims to deepen our comprehension of the intersectionality of culture, gender, and leadership communication, ultimately advocating for diversity and inclusion. The study adopts the Socio-Cognitive Discourse Studies (SCDS) framework. The research investigates identity formation, socialization and cultural practices within the context of leadership discourse. The analysis concentrates on interactive and interactional metadiscourse features, including transitions, hedges, boosters, self-mentions, politeness markers, humor, and rhetorical questions. The findings demonstrate that women leaders effectively influence perceptions and emotions concerning police officers and social workers through their speeches. They emphasize diversity, collaboration, and audience engagement through interactive and interactional metadiscourse. Furthermore, these speeches advocate social values, support law enforcement, and reflect positive attitudes toward social workers and the police profession. They also celebrate diversity and inclusivity through the utilization of self-mentions, attitude markers, metaphors, and cultural pluralism elements. Overall, this research contributes to both theoretical and practical domains by enhancing our understanding of the intricate interplay between culture, gender, and leadership discourse. It provides valuable insights for leaders and organizations to develop effective communication strategies that foster diversity, equity, and inclusion.
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.