Muslims are often portrayed as either victors or vanquished in post-9/11 literature. These narratives address the estrangement of a Muslim either by reiterating the Orientalist representations of Islam or by subscribing to Neo-Orientalist representations of an “acceptable Muslim” who chooses national identity over religious identity in Western liberal societies. Neo-Orientalism is more than ‘sue generis’ to Orientalism—it embodies newer ways of alienating Muslims in modern society. Ali Behdad and Juliet Williams describe it as a “continuity between contemporary and traditional forms of Orientalism” that complicates everyday living in Muslim life. While there is considerable scholarship on Neo-Orientalism, what remains largely undiscussed are the ways in which Muslims grapple with the effects of Neo-Orientalism in contemporary global literature. Therefore, this conference seeks to achieve two things: First, it aims to delve deep into the origins of contemporary orientalism/post-orientalism debate—the religious, political, and social constructs of liberal democracies that encourage and detest neo-Orientalism at the same time. Second, it aims to explore ways in which contemporary literature has represented Muslims and Muslimness in the neo-Oriental age. The purpose of this conference is to bring together experts (literary, political, social, and cultural) who engage with discourses that complicate the representations of Muslims in the post-9/11 world. This note seeks papers, but not limited to the following areas:

Postcolonialism and Neo-Orientalism
Liberalism and Orientalism
Islamophobia in secular democracies
Muslims responding to the pandemic of islamophobia worldwide
Muslimness or everyday Islam in modern societies
The politics of moderate Islam as a neo-colonial and neo-liberal enterprise