Muslim Americans’ Islamophobic-Marginalization and its Influence on Contemporary Muslim American Art in Post- 9/11 US

Abstract

The study is an exploratory research that seeks to find out relationship between rise of Islamophobia in the United States of American (US) after 11September, 2001 (hereinafter referred to as 9/11) Twin Tower attacks and influence on the artwork of Muslim American artists in Post- 9/11. The hypothesis is: The Post- 9/11 Islamophobic - Marginalization of the Muslim Americans influenced the Muslim American art of paintings (2001-2014). The Islamophobic - Marginalization (measured in terms of economic and social integration) is the study‘s independent variable, whereas the evolution of Muslim American art of painting (in terms of themes) is the dependent variable. It is a comparative study that draws comparison between both variables in the Pre and Post- 9/11 US. It uses the theoretical foundations of; Social Identity Theory, Critical Consciousness, and Art as Experience, theories to understand and unwind evolution of artwork of painting. The study relies mostly on secondary data, with minimal primary data gathered through email interviews. The study applied adapted visual analytical frameworks i.e., Visual Thematic Analysis by Panofsky's ―Iconography‖(1939) and Thematic Analysis by Virginia Braun and Victoria Clark‘s (2006) to interpret the visual expressions and interview data. The evidence shows that where Muslim identity of 9/11 attackers did contribute to alienating the Muslims globally, it also led to heightened discrimination of Muslim Americans in the Post- 9/11 US. The research uses the term ‗Islamophobic-Marginalization‘ to track changes in social and economic discrimination of Muslim Americans in Pre and Post- 9/11. The evidence suggests marked changes in anti-Muslim sentiments and rise of Islamophobic - Marginalization in the Post- 9/11 US, evident in terms of increase in incidents of hate crimes, violence (both physical and verbal), discrimination in job hiring and denial of religious ii accommodations at the workplace. The evidence gathered establishes the transformation of Muslim American artwork from arrival as Slaves in the 17th century and then to the end of the 20th century, and later in the Post- 9/11 US. The researcher has labeled this as ‗Islamophobic Creative Activism‘. It implies that artwork was driven by a sense of purpose; to reconstruct Muslim and American identities; dilute stereotypes; educate about Muslim history and Islamic teachings around peace, tolerance, and co-existence. The study hypothesis stands validated. The present study opens a platform to explore as to how did the transformed artwork unified Muslim Americans and influenced public policies around social and economic integration.