Deer crossing. Moose crossing. Old people crossing. Children crossing: Reading Islamophobia through a vegan lens in Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows

This article uses close textual analysis of Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows in order to reevaluate contemporary theorizations of Islamophobia in relation to global speciesism. By addressing the lacuna in current work engaging with Islamophobia of an understanding of speciesism as a form of discrimina...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Quinn, E
Format: Journal article
Published: SAGE Publications 2016
_version_ 1797102529135247360
author Quinn, E
author_facet Quinn, E
author_sort Quinn, E
collection OXFORD
description This article uses close textual analysis of Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows in order to reevaluate contemporary theorizations of Islamophobia in relation to global speciesism. By addressing the lacuna in current work engaging with Islamophobia of an understanding of speciesism as a form of discriminatory oppression engrained within the hierarchical divisions of categories of human identity, the article seeks to establish a radically new vegan mode of reading with which to approach literary texts. Exploring the concept of a vegan lens as a mode of reading that seeks to expose the power of language and metaphor in maintaining the absent referent of nonhuman animals, and to challenge the way we understand the construction of human and nonhuman animal identity in relation to Islamophobia, it suggests the variety of ways in which speciesism has been foundational to the assertion of an “us” versus “them” dichotomy. Shamsie’s novel is thus read in order to complicate and multiply the human/nonhuman animal divide apparent within current discussions of postcolonial identity.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T06:07:11Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:ee3e7a1b-6c2a-4778-8605-54a483a2bb68
institution University of Oxford
last_indexed 2024-03-07T06:07:11Z
publishDate 2016
publisher SAGE Publications
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:ee3e7a1b-6c2a-4778-8605-54a483a2bb682022-03-27T11:31:14ZDeer crossing. Moose crossing. Old people crossing. Children crossing: Reading Islamophobia through a vegan lens in Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt ShadowsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ee3e7a1b-6c2a-4778-8605-54a483a2bb68Symplectic Elements at OxfordSAGE Publications2016Quinn, EThis article uses close textual analysis of Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows in order to reevaluate contemporary theorizations of Islamophobia in relation to global speciesism. By addressing the lacuna in current work engaging with Islamophobia of an understanding of speciesism as a form of discriminatory oppression engrained within the hierarchical divisions of categories of human identity, the article seeks to establish a radically new vegan mode of reading with which to approach literary texts. Exploring the concept of a vegan lens as a mode of reading that seeks to expose the power of language and metaphor in maintaining the absent referent of nonhuman animals, and to challenge the way we understand the construction of human and nonhuman animal identity in relation to Islamophobia, it suggests the variety of ways in which speciesism has been foundational to the assertion of an “us” versus “them” dichotomy. Shamsie’s novel is thus read in order to complicate and multiply the human/nonhuman animal divide apparent within current discussions of postcolonial identity.
spellingShingle Quinn, E
Deer crossing. Moose crossing. Old people crossing. Children crossing: Reading Islamophobia through a vegan lens in Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows
title Deer crossing. Moose crossing. Old people crossing. Children crossing: Reading Islamophobia through a vegan lens in Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows
title_full Deer crossing. Moose crossing. Old people crossing. Children crossing: Reading Islamophobia through a vegan lens in Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows
title_fullStr Deer crossing. Moose crossing. Old people crossing. Children crossing: Reading Islamophobia through a vegan lens in Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows
title_full_unstemmed Deer crossing. Moose crossing. Old people crossing. Children crossing: Reading Islamophobia through a vegan lens in Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows
title_short Deer crossing. Moose crossing. Old people crossing. Children crossing: Reading Islamophobia through a vegan lens in Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows
title_sort deer crossing moose crossing old people crossing children crossing reading islamophobia through a vegan lens in kamila shamsie s burnt shadows
work_keys_str_mv AT quinne deercrossingmoosecrossingoldpeoplecrossingchildrencrossingreadingislamophobiathroughaveganlensinkamilashamsiesburntshadows