I (Don’t) See You: Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq Shukri

This paper studies the representation of the Muslim body (within the context of the War on Terror) as an instance of disembodied subjectivity that haunts through the remnants of its presence, via a close textual analysis of Ishtiyaq Shukri’s novels The Silent Minaret (2005) and I See You (2014). Th...

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Main Author: Iqra Raza
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Johannesburg 2021-06-01
Series:The Thinker
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Online Access:https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/528
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author Iqra Raza
author_facet Iqra Raza
author_sort Iqra Raza
collection DOAJ
description This paper studies the representation of the Muslim body (within the context of the War on Terror) as an instance of disembodied subjectivity that haunts through the remnants of its presence, via a close textual analysis of Ishtiyaq Shukri’s novels The Silent Minaret (2005) and I See You (2014). The paper examines the corporeal absence within the said texts as a template for understanding the modus operandi of the necropolitical regime and the extremities of state violence it implies. It explores the implications of spectrality within texts saturated by instances of taxonomical categorisations of the body and examines spectrality alongside the implications of absences and omissions in order to reveal how the three interact and inform each other. Conceptualising spectrality as the dominant mode of writing for post-9/11 novels, the paper engages with Derrida’s work on deferred mourning in relation to spectres, offering a new paradigm for an understanding of the post-9/11 Muslim experience.
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spelling doaj-art-df8678e6b1ef4905b05376335d95ab322025-01-28T09:02:30ZengUniversity of JohannesburgThe Thinker2075-24582616-907X2021-06-0187210.36615/thethinker.v87i2.528I (Don’t) See You: Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq ShukriIqra Raza This paper studies the representation of the Muslim body (within the context of the War on Terror) as an instance of disembodied subjectivity that haunts through the remnants of its presence, via a close textual analysis of Ishtiyaq Shukri’s novels The Silent Minaret (2005) and I See You (2014). The paper examines the corporeal absence within the said texts as a template for understanding the modus operandi of the necropolitical regime and the extremities of state violence it implies. It explores the implications of spectrality within texts saturated by instances of taxonomical categorisations of the body and examines spectrality alongside the implications of absences and omissions in order to reveal how the three interact and inform each other. Conceptualising spectrality as the dominant mode of writing for post-9/11 novels, the paper engages with Derrida’s work on deferred mourning in relation to spectres, offering a new paradigm for an understanding of the post-9/11 Muslim experience. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/528I (Don’t) See You:Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq Shukri
spellingShingle Iqra Raza
I (Don’t) See You: Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq Shukri
The Thinker
I (Don’t) See You:
Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq Shukri
title I (Don’t) See You: Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq Shukri
title_full I (Don’t) See You: Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq Shukri
title_fullStr I (Don’t) See You: Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq Shukri
title_full_unstemmed I (Don’t) See You: Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq Shukri
title_short I (Don’t) See You: Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq Shukri
title_sort i don t see you absence omissions and spectrality in the works of ishtiyaq shukri
topic I (Don’t) See You:
Absence, Omissions, and Spectrality in the Works of Ishtiyaq Shukri
url https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/The_Thinker/article/view/528
work_keys_str_mv AT iqraraza idontseeyouabsenceomissionsandspectralityintheworksofishtiyaqshukri