Being Muslim for dummies, or how not to be a threat 101: embodied performances of race and religion after the Manchester attack

• Published in: Text and performance quarterly Vol. 44; no. 1; pp. 62 - 78
• Main Author: Majid, Asif
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Villanova Routledge 02-01-2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Asianness; body; Manchester attack; Muslimness
• ISSN: 1046-2937; 1479-5760
• DOI: 10.1080/10462937.2023.2185668

Performances of Muslimness are often performances of the body. Such performances surfacing after the May 2017 attack on Manchester Arena demonstrate British Muslims' negotiations of the sociopolitical narrative equating the Muslim and terrorist bodies. Drawing on two such performances, I argue that post-attack performances of Muslimness as innocence do more than play into "with us" vs. "against us" narratives: they also enable British Muslims to survive the trauma of the British state's vilification of Islam and Muslims. These performances are thus a damning indictment of the hostile environment that the British state, public, and media have created for British Muslims.