Lecture from the India Studies Department

Visibly Muslim:

The Emergence of New Islamic Fashions in the West

Thursday, September 23 at 7:00 pm

Woodburn Hall Room 004

Emma Tarlo Reader,

Department of Anthropology,

Goldsmiths, University of London

ABSTRACT:

Visibly Muslim dress has in recent years become a focus of intensive media scrutiny and controversy, but very little attention has been paid to the wide range of new Islamic fashions emerging in the West. Based on her recent research on transformations in Muslim dress practices in Britain and Europe post 9/11, Emma Tarlo will explore how ideas of the Islamic are conceptualised by designers and wearers of Islamic fashion and how they are represented in online Islamic stores catering to Muslims in the West. How are

ideas of fashion and faith integrated by a new generation of Western Muslims? And what role are new Islamic fashions playing in combating negative stereotypes of Muslims, transgressing national and ethnic boundaries and challenging the polarity often assumed between eastern and western, religious and secular

modes of dress?

For more information, contact the India Studies Program: 812-855-5798; india@indiana.edu; http://www.indiana.edu/~isp/