(Un)reading Orientalism in Sherry Jones’ The Jewel of Medina

Bibliographic Data

ID21185361
AuthorsSadiya Abubakar (0000-0003-2491-1426, Universiti Sains Malaysia), Salleh Yaapar (0000-0001-8229-8119, Universiti Sains Malaysia), Md Salleh Yaapar, S Muhammad (0000-0002-8445-440X, Universiti Sains Malaysia)
Year2019
Volume19
Issue4
Pages169-183
Publication date2019-11-27
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGEMA Online Journal of Language Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1675-8021 • E-ISSN: 2550-2131
PublisherPenerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM Press) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.17576/gema-2019-1904-09
OpenAlexW2990912191
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited13

Oriental representations of Muslims are often manifested in a society's media, literature, theatre and other creative means of expression. However, these representations, which are often historically and conceptually one-sided, have adverse repercussions for Muslims today, potentially leading to Islamophobia. Orientalism of Muslims in Western writings and discourses have been much discussed, debated and disproved, yet some works of literature continue to disseminate many of the earlier Oriental assertions about Islam/Muslims: that of being terrorists, misogynists, barbaric or uncivilized compared to the civilized West. Sherry Jones’ The Jewel of Medina (2008) chronicles the history of Islam from the time of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, through the voice of his youngest wife Aisha. This paper argues that there is more to the image of the Muslim than what is portrayed by Western writers. Through an “(un)reading” of Sherry Jones’ text, this paper unravels the misconceptions regarding early and forced marriage with a view to address the ways in which these misconceptions could lead to Islamophobia. Using Edward Said's theory of Contrapuntal reading, which urges the colonized to unread Western canonical texts to unearth the submerged details, this paper identifies and puts to question non-conforming depictions of Muslims in Sherry Jones’ The Jewel of Medina (2008) – while placing the text in its historical space – in an effort to mitigate the growing stereotyping of Muslims and to address misconceptions with regard to Islamic history

Art · Islam · Islamophobia · Linguistics · Literature · Orientalism · Sociology · Gender, Feminism, and Media · History · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Philosophy

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