Unfolding Islamophobic Racism in American Fiction

131 Pages·2022·0.999 MB·English

by  Humaira Riaz

Unfolding Islamophobic
Racism in American
Fiction

Unfolding
Islamophobic Racism
in American Fiction
Humaira Riaz
LEXINGTON BOOKS
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Lexington Books
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Riaz, Humaira, 1973- author.
Title: Unfolding Islamophobic racism in American fiction / Humaira Riaz.
Description: Lanham: Lexington Books, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022004469 (print) | LCCN 2022004470 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781666927443 (cloth; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781666902662 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: American fiction—21st century—History and criticism. | Racism in
literature. | Islamophobia in literature. | LCGFT: Literary criticism.
Classification: LCC PS374.R34 R53 2022 (print) | LCC PS374.R34 (ebook) |
DDC 813/.6093552—dc23/eng/20220202
LC record available at https: // lccn .loc .gov /2022004469
LC ebook record available at https: // lccn. loc .gov /2022004470
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Dedicated to
The patience of
Moeez, Sameer, and Fawad

Contents
Preface ix
Introduction: Sociohistorical Development of Racism 1
Chapter 1: “Heather Among Mohammeds”: Lorraine Adams’s
Harbor (2004) 19
Chapter 2: “Devil America”: John Updike’s Terrorist (2006) 45
Chapter 3: “Turn-of-the-Century America”: Don DeLillo’s Falling
Man (2007) 69
Conclusion 91
Bibliography 103
Index 117
About the Author 119
vii

Preface
My aim is to understand the history of racism functioning in all the major
facets of American life and its overt manifestation into Islamophobia in the
twenty-first century. I focus on how racism is reworked in its full swing in
the contemporary global discourse targeting Islam. Therefore, the relation-
ship that I see operative in chapter 1 sustains through the last chapter more
aggressively. Islamophobia is defined by the Runnymede Trust Report (1997)
as “anti-Muslim racism” and is closely linked to the history of racism in
America. I endeavor to redefine it as Islamophobic racism. Minus the ideol-
ogy, Muslims are acceptable.
This book charts the historical development of racism to Islamophobia.
The latter concept is a transitory foundation, which I use as my standpoint
for the texts asserted in the narrative form. Readers may find it perplexing or
irritating; however, the conclusion chapter clarifies the challenge.
The introduction looks at the sociohistorical development of racism briefly
for readers’ orientation to establish its link to the religion of Islam. It demon-
strates how George Fredrickson’s notion of “racism as scavenger ideology”
positions Islam as the “other” to America (2003). It also looks at Jacque
Derrida’s philosophy of deconstruction (1967), emphasizing the role of the
texts in shaping worldwide perspectives.
The first, second, and third chapters present a cluster of literary texts in
the form of sections on how Islamophobia as an accepted form of racism
appears within the course of theses narratives. Lorraine Adams, John Updike,
and Don DeLillo join the list in presenting political propositions connected
directly to Muslim immigrants. The third chapter explores how racism
cloaked into the modern fabric of Islamophobia carries a political agenda and
functions to sabotage the peaceful image of Islam. These chapters are not to
be read independently. They are knitted together and may be described as
the sociohistorical development of racism and literary representation of the
dominant, i.e., America.
ix