Challenging Islamophobia through Intermediality: Anida Yoeu Ali’s Performance Art

This article investigates Anida Yoeu Ali’s performance art as that of a Muslim, Khmer-American feminist global agitator, who challenges Islamophobia in the United States and transnationally by expanding her work “into ever-widening arenas” (Fraser, Justice Interruptus 82). Her performance projects f...

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Main Author: Martina Pfeiler
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Association for American Studies 2020-10-01
Series:European Journal of American Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/16298
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author Martina Pfeiler
author_facet Martina Pfeiler
author_sort Martina Pfeiler
collection DOAJ
description This article investigates Anida Yoeu Ali’s performance art as that of a Muslim, Khmer-American feminist global agitator, who challenges Islamophobia in the United States and transnationally by expanding her work “into ever-widening arenas” (Fraser, Justice Interruptus 82). Her performance projects formulate oppositional interpretations of Muslim “identities, interests, and needs” (Fraser, Justice Interruptus 82) in an increasingly Islamophobic era from the aftermath of 9/11 to Donald Trump’s presidency. Drawing on theories of convergence culture and intermediality, this article provides a close analysis of Ali’s performance projects. The first work is titled 1700% Project: Mistaken for Muslim (2010), a performance poetry clip that was directed by the Japanese American filmmaker Masahiro Sugano in 2010 and which widely circulates on the Internet. It stands out as a feminist, transnational critique of an unprecedented “undermining [of] Muslim voices” (Azam 125). The article also includes an exploration of a selection of performance acts from Ali’s The Red Chador Series (2015; 2018; 2020). I argue that by establishing discursive counternarratives the two works highlight the cultural potential of using intermediality to challenge private and public Islamophobia in a globally connected world. Thus, these works will be explored as a performative engagement with national, transnational, and gendered dimensions of Islamophobia.
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spelling doaj-art-4bd62fe55cb34ac39a732c6ba24106582025-01-06T09:07:51ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362020-10-0115310.4000/ejas.16298Challenging Islamophobia through Intermediality: Anida Yoeu Ali’s Performance ArtMartina PfeilerThis article investigates Anida Yoeu Ali’s performance art as that of a Muslim, Khmer-American feminist global agitator, who challenges Islamophobia in the United States and transnationally by expanding her work “into ever-widening arenas” (Fraser, Justice Interruptus 82). Her performance projects formulate oppositional interpretations of Muslim “identities, interests, and needs” (Fraser, Justice Interruptus 82) in an increasingly Islamophobic era from the aftermath of 9/11 to Donald Trump’s presidency. Drawing on theories of convergence culture and intermediality, this article provides a close analysis of Ali’s performance projects. The first work is titled 1700% Project: Mistaken for Muslim (2010), a performance poetry clip that was directed by the Japanese American filmmaker Masahiro Sugano in 2010 and which widely circulates on the Internet. It stands out as a feminist, transnational critique of an unprecedented “undermining [of] Muslim voices” (Azam 125). The article also includes an exploration of a selection of performance acts from Ali’s The Red Chador Series (2015; 2018; 2020). I argue that by establishing discursive counternarratives the two works highlight the cultural potential of using intermediality to challenge private and public Islamophobia in a globally connected world. Thus, these works will be explored as a performative engagement with national, transnational, and gendered dimensions of Islamophobia.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/16298intermedialityIslamophobiaperformance arthate crimesMuslim feminism
spellingShingle Martina Pfeiler
Challenging Islamophobia through Intermediality: Anida Yoeu Ali’s Performance Art
European Journal of American Studies
intermediality
Islamophobia
performance art
hate crimes
Muslim feminism
title Challenging Islamophobia through Intermediality: Anida Yoeu Ali’s Performance Art
title_full Challenging Islamophobia through Intermediality: Anida Yoeu Ali’s Performance Art
title_fullStr Challenging Islamophobia through Intermediality: Anida Yoeu Ali’s Performance Art
title_full_unstemmed Challenging Islamophobia through Intermediality: Anida Yoeu Ali’s Performance Art
title_short Challenging Islamophobia through Intermediality: Anida Yoeu Ali’s Performance Art
title_sort challenging islamophobia through intermediality anida yoeu ali s performance art
topic intermediality
Islamophobia
performance art
hate crimes
Muslim feminism
url https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/16298
work_keys_str_mv AT martinapfeiler challengingislamophobiathroughintermedialityanidayoeualisperformanceart