Writing Body and Culture: Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf
Abstract
Books by and about Muslim Americans are becoming more widely read. One such book is The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, A Novel 2006 by Mohja Kahf. Novels like The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf tend to deal with significant issues for Muslim American women such as education, family obligations, marriage, the body and sexuality, and independence. Although these novels are becoming more popular, they have not garnered much attention. Moreover, these books must be analyzed in feminist and postcolonial ways in order to understand fully the importance and meaning of their characters, situations, and how they reflect the lives of some Muslim American women. This article will focus on the imperialist overtones of double consciousness and “unhomeliness” in The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf and will analyze how the main character, Khadra, challenges imperialism and presents a different view of colonialism than perhaps expected and previously conveyed in older articles and books. Khadra manages to challenge imperialism by coming to terms with her double consciousness and her own unique, hybrid, identity. By deciding for herself how much of each culture to adapt, Khadra also exhibits a transnational feminist stance concerning her body, sexuality, education, and life.
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