Seeing the news that followed the tragic murders in Orlando
and Paris this week led me back to Perry and Puar's work from 2014. The sign of a raised rainbow fist in an article that referred to
the killers' Islamic faiths creates a strong visual representation of their
theory of Homonationalism and was shown in a two page spread in the Evening Standard (see bottom of page) and across UK media.
Both Puar and Perry explore the notion of the Islamic other
as a queer object in their concept of Homonationalism. Their work can be seen
as a progression from Foucault’s interest in the construction of subjectivities
by marginal lifestyles, Zizek noting Foucault’s particular interest in the
‘sadomasochistic sexual universe’ (Zizek, 1989, xxiv). From the perspective of
homonationalism, homosexuals are no longer perceived as queer and deviant
individuals and it is suggested that they have been replaced by a queer and
deviant Muslim other, the same accusations of sexual and moral deviance now
placed on Muslims as was previously ascribed to homosexuals. Puar notes that legislation granting freedoms to homosexuals has often corresponded
with legislation withdrawing freedoms from ethnic minorities (Puar, 2014,
p199). While Mavelli’s exploration of the secular interpretation of Muslims as
irrational subjects has removed secularism's responsibility for the societal
conditions that might lead to acts of political violence expressed by Muslims,
the homonationalist representation of Muslims as queer and deviant has
justified acts of political violence from the West against Muslims (Perry,
2014, p178-9 and Mavelli, 2012 and 2014).
Perry and Puar’s homonationalist interpretations that
Muslims are seen as queer and deviant are supported by Baker et al’s work, The
Representation of Islam and Muslims in the UK Press, 1998-2008 (2011). This
study analysed 200,000 articles in the UK press and found that Muslims were
represented as ‘being quick to anger, oppressive towards women, possessing
extremist beliefs and at risk from radicalisation’ (p2).
President Obama's continued refusal to describe a threat of "radical Islam" follows the recommendations of Baker et al to avoid language that might other Muslims and this chimes with the
main body of the articles on the page of the Evening Standard that caught my eye
last night and which is copied below. While the main article does not connect the Orlando killings with a generalised Muslim
other, the "Islamist Fanatic" in the title makes a
connection that has the capacity to divide communities as Baker cautioned against. The
placing of the Paris attack which is more easily tied to the notion of an
Islamic threat on the same page as the Orlando killing implies a connection between the Orlando
attack and a religious ideology in a way that could not be justified in the
content of the articles.
The rainbow fist quite rightly signifies solidarity with the
LGBT community who have suffered the most tragic of attacks and everyone should
be proud that we live in a world where more and more people are free to express
their sexuality but Homonationalism cautions that this liberation may correspond
with the repression of ethnic minorities and it is easy to see from this page of the Evening Standard where the gaze of the security services might turn.
That the clenched fist rises out of words "French Authorities" and a
headline that implies that they had not done enough to stop the attack in Paris
suggests that a call for repression of Islam continues.
Baker, J. Gabrieltos, C. and McEnery, T. (2011) The
Representation of Islam and Muslims in the UK Press, 1998-2008
Perry, B. (2014) “Towards an Ontogenesis of Queerness and
Divinity: Queer Political Theology and Terrorist Assemblages.”Culture and
Religion 15 (2): 117–186.
Puar, J. (2014) Reading religion back into Terrorist
Assemblages: Author's response, Culture and Religion: An Interdisciplinary
Journal, 15:2,198-210
Mavelli, L. (2014) Widening participation, the
instrumentalization of knowledge and the reproduction of inequality, Teaching
in Higher Education. Vol. 19, No. 8,p860-869
Mavelli, L. (2012) Europe’s Encounter with Islam: The
Secular and the Postsecular. London: Routledge
Zizek, S. (1989) The Sublime Object of Ideology, Verso:
London
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