ABSTRACT
This Introduction presents the impetus driving this research. Given the negative and limited representations of Muslims in mainstream media and their material consequences, this book takes interest in the ways in which North American Muslim women artists talk back to dominant discourses, and how their acts of talking back may lead to the emergence of alternative discourses that are mediated by the performance of identity. Taking the lead from bell hooks, “talking back” is introduced as attempts to move from an object position (e.g., from being represented as an “Other”) to a subject position. After presenting the methodology, which consists of a textual analysis, interviews with the artists, and secondary background literature pertaining to each of these counter-cultural productions, this Introduction introduces the case studies and explains their relevance to the line of inquiry. Defined by their actors as acts of self-representation, the selected cultural productions constitute long-term interventions that are located within the realms of popular culture as well as in counter-public spheres. The Introduction also incorporates a note on terminology and conceptualizes the notion of “assertions of unintelligibility” that is at the core of this book. Finally, it provides a layout of the book – a preview of chapters that follow.
