Cosmopolitanism and the Unfollowable Routines and Rituals in Ishtiyaq Shukri’s The Silent Minaret

Abstract

This article explores how Ishtiyaq Shukri’s The Silent Minaret critiques the limited and severely uneven forms of hospitality that characterise post-9/11 Britain. It also examines how the text gestures towards the possibility of a non-violent, inclusive cosmopolitanism. The piece begins by relating recent debates surrounding the “War on Terror”, as well as Britain’s decision to leave the European Union to the novel’s major concerns. It then turns to the novel, and summarises incidents in which the principal character, Issa Shamshuddin, is traumatised and harmed by the Islamophobia and anti-immigration policies evident in the London portrayed in the text. Next, it turns to an analysis of the strange and irreproducible rituals of Issa’s neighbour, Frances. The article concludes that these unfollowable rituals posit how a truly cosmopolitan society would function.

Opsomming

Die artikel ondersoek hoe Ishtiyaq Shukri se The Silent Minaret die beperkte en skerp ongelyke vorms van kulturele uitruiling wat post-9/11 Brittanje kenmerk kritiek sowel as hoe die teks die moontlikheid van ’n meer nie-gewelddadige, inklusiewe kosmopolitisme daarstel. Dit begin deur die onlangse debatte rondom die “oorlog teen terreur” sowel as Brittanje se besluit om die Europese Unie te verlaat te verbind met voorvalle waarin die hoof karakter, Issa Shamshuddin, getroumatiseer en geskaad word deur die Moslemhaat en anti-immigrasie beleide in Londen soos wat dit in die roman uitgebeeld word. The artikel beweeg dan na ’n ontleding van die eienaardige en onreproduseerbare rituele van Issa se buurvrou, Frances. Ten slotte argumenteer die artikel dat die onnavolgbare rituele suggereer hoe ’n ware kosmopolitiese samelewing sou funksioneer.