The ontology of the postcolonial flâneuse: decolonisation in British Muslim women’s writing

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Rafique, R, 2024. The ontology of the postcolonial flâneuse: decolonisation in British Muslim women’s writing. PhD, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

This creative-critical thesis examines the ontology of the postcolonial flâneuse via British Muslim women's writing, from a postcolonial perspective. Focusing on the effects of class, race, religion, global technological advancements, and the Covid-19 pandemic, this doctoral research project proposes a definition of the postcolonial flâneuse accompanied by four modes of postcolonial flâneuserie. These are: Activist, Dervish, Cyber, and Covid-19 Pandemic Postcolonial Flâneuse. Although these are not the only methods of understanding the shift in this literary figure, I argue that they are the most useful to convey the relationship between the postcolonial flâneuse and the city, the experiences of Muslim women in cities and crowds, and how the postcolonial flâneuse becomes an integral part of re-reading the city with a decolonising gaze.

Addressed separately, the flâneur (Baudelaire, Benjamin, Castigliano, Debord, Fourner, Poe, Queneau, Sadler, White) postcolonial flâneur (Aatkar, Gikandi, Hartiger, Overall) and flâneuse (Austin, Elkin, Levy, Wolff) leave space for the postcolonial flâneuse to interpose. This thesis contributes to the concept of flânerie via theoretical, creative, and research-based practice, by disturbing and challenging traditional notions and expectations of the flâneur and the flâneuse. This line of argument considers how the field of flânerie can be expanded to accommodate for marginalised voices, identities, and experiences akin to the postcolonial flâneuse.

I draw on interviews conducted with self-selecting participants to compare literary representations of Muslim women’s urban practices with lived experiences. I have conducted further interviews with authors and poets considered in the critical chapters to develop my identification of patterns and themes, and to support my textual analysis. These include Hanan Issa, Naush Sabah, Rakhshan Rizwan, Safia Khan, and Suma Din. I do not claim to represent the voices of all British and European Muslim women in this thesis as this would be reductive and impossible. Although this thesis highlights some collective shared experiences, each experience is treated as individual. I hope to encourage creative–critical approaches to flânerie in the context of postcolonialism and Muslim women's writing. Furthermore, I aim to contribute to more conscious and sensitive academic approaches to research on visibility, voice, and agency, in the context of Muslim women, globally.

My primary texts include Ayisha Malik’s Sofia Khan is Not Obliged (2016), Fatima Daas’s The Last One (2021), Hanan Al-Shaykh’s The Occasional Virgin (2019), Hanan Issa’s My Body Can House Two Hearts (2019), Muneera Pilgrim’s That Day She’ll Proclaim Her Chronicles (2021), Naush Sabah’s Litanies (2021), Safia Khan’s Too Much Mirch (2022), Suma Din’s Turning The Tide: Reawakening The Woman’s Heart and Soul (2015), and Rakhshan Rizwan’s Europe, Love Me Back (2022).

Finally, I engage the identified modes of the postcolonial flâneuse in my own creative practice. Informed by the critical chapters, I have produced a body of poetry titled The Postcolonial Flâneuse. The creative and critical components of this doctoral project are connected via a poetics titled ‘The Arcade of Postcolonial Flâneuserie’. Attempting to dismantle the rigors of a traditional doctoral thesis, the poetics conceptualises my writing process and creative-critical practice.

Item Type:	Thesis
Creators:	Rafique, R.
Contributors:	Name Role NTU ID ORCID Ramone, J. Thesis supervisor ECM3RAMONJ https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3508-4796 Taylor, A. Thesis supervisor AAH3TAYLOA UNSPECIFIED
Date:	September 2024
Rights:	The copyright in this work is held by the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the author.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Arts and Humanities
Record created by:	Jeremy Silvester
Date Added:	16 May 2025 15:10
Last Modified:	16 May 2025 15:10
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53596