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Media and the Female Imam

Petersen, Jesper LU orcid (2019) In Religions 10(3).
Abstract
Female imams are attractive protagonists in documentaries, books, and news stories. This article investigates the tensions that arise when ritual performance takes place before an audience and how symbolic events such as women-led Friday prayer and identities such as female imams are produced in the intersection of interests between women who want to re-claim Islam and commercial media, which produce narratives that are in demand among media consumers. These productions are compared with women who make similar performances but who for various reasons stay away from media. One of these reasons, the problem of translating meaning from an Islamic context to a non-Islamic mediated context, is explored in depth. Finally, the spread of Sherin... (More)
Female imams are attractive protagonists in documentaries, books, and news stories. This article investigates the tensions that arise when ritual performance takes place before an audience and how symbolic events such as women-led Friday prayer and identities such as female imams are produced in the intersection of interests between women who want to re-claim Islam and commercial media, which produce narratives that are in demand among media consumers. These productions are compared with women who make similar performances but who for various reasons stay away from media. One of these reasons, the problem of translating meaning from an Islamic context to a non-Islamic mediated context, is explored in depth. Finally, the spread of Sherin Khankan’s and Seyran Ates’ narratives are analyzed with Henry Jenkins concept spreadability. The article is based on field work in the Mariam Mosque (Copenhagen), field observations in the Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque (Berlin), and interviews with 14 women who are engaged in nonconformist activities such as delivering the khutbah or leading Friday prayer. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Islamic feminism, Muslim Feminism, Female imam, Islam and media, Seyran Ates, Sherin Khankan, Spreadability
in
Religions
volume
10
issue
3
article number
159
pages
13 pages
publisher
MDPI AG
external identifiers
  • scopus:85065314541
ISSN
2077-1444
DOI
10.3390/rel10030159
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
63a26f86-abac-43a7-8141-74153841b585
date added to LUP
2019-03-09 07:16:00
date last changed
2022-04-25 21:31:51
@article{63a26f86-abac-43a7-8141-74153841b585,
  abstract     = {{Female imams are attractive protagonists in documentaries, books, and news stories. This article investigates the tensions that arise when ritual performance takes place before an audience and how symbolic events such as women-led Friday prayer and identities such as female imams are produced in the intersection of interests between women who want to re-claim Islam and commercial media, which produce narratives that are in demand among media consumers. These productions are compared with women who make similar performances but who for various reasons stay away from media. One of these reasons, the problem of translating meaning from an Islamic context to a non-Islamic mediated context, is explored in depth. Finally, the spread of Sherin Khankan’s and Seyran Ates’ narratives are analyzed with Henry Jenkins concept spreadability. The article is based on field work in the Mariam Mosque (Copenhagen), field observations in the Ibn Rushd-Goethe Mosque (Berlin), and interviews with 14 women who are engaged in nonconformist activities such as delivering the khutbah or leading Friday prayer.}},
  author       = {{Petersen, Jesper}},
  issn         = {{2077-1444}},
  keywords     = {{Islamic feminism; Muslim Feminism; Female imam; Islam and media; Seyran Ates; Sherin Khankan; Spreadability}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{MDPI AG}},
  series       = {{Religions}},
  title        = {{Media and the Female Imam}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel10030159}},
  doi          = {{10.3390/rel10030159}},
  volume       = {{10}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}