Beyond The Veil

Islam is the second largest religious group in Britain. Yet British Muslim, and especially British Muslimah authors often remain neglected by academia. "Beyond the Veil: Culture, Religion, Language and Identity in Black British Muslimah Literature studies" contemporary novels and texts on British Muslimahs, in particular Monica Ali's "Brick Lane", Leila Aboulela's "The Translator" and "Minaret" as well as Shelina Zahra Janmohamed's "Love in a Headscarf". Their texts present young Muslim women who try to reconcile their Muslim traditions with Western culture and the English language, trying to establish a coherent identity in an increasingly difficult world.

The Islam portrayed in the novels is a source of hope, a stable anchor, providing a home for the protagonists.The British novels thus resemble Muslimah texts from other genres and from other Anglophone countries, where there certainly is a trend to give a voice to young Muslim women. Therefore, the study also examines the young adult fiction "Does My Head Look Big In This?" by Austra-lian author Randa Abdel-Fattah as well as the British play "What Fatima Did..." by AtihaSen Gupta. Moreover, it provides examples from many other Anglophone Muslimah texts. Situated at the crossroads of nineteenth-century fiction and twenty-first century popular culture, the texts appeal to a Western as well as Muslim readership and may thus enhance understanding for the Muslim woman beyond the veil.