Muslim Integration and the Hijabi Monologues Ireland. Issue 2 (November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Townsend, Sarah L.
• Is Part Of: Irish university review. Volume 51:Issue 2(2021)
• Page Start: 209
• Page End: 226
• Publication Date: 2021-11
• Subjects: Contemporary Irish theatre -- performance -- interculturalism -- community theatre; Ireland -- Civilization -- Periodicals; English literature -- Irish authors -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Irish literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; 820.99415
• DOI: 10.3366/iur.2021.0515
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-1427

Abstract

Abstract : In 2012 and 2013, two productions of the Hijabi Monologues, an American theatre project featuring the stories of Muslim women, were staged in Ireland. This essay considers their relationship to state-sponsored and community-led interculturalism during the Celtic Tiger and post-Tiger years. Both productions centred on the act of storytelling and tended to downplay xenophobia, instead enacting the type of feel-good intercultural exchange that has dominated Irish and European integration efforts since the late 1990s. At the same time, the 2013 production, on which the essay focuses, employed coalition-building strategies borrowed from the field of migrant activism, thereby ensuring Muslim involvement throughout the production process. The Hijabi Monologues Ireland furnishes a snapshot of a transitional moment in Irish intercultural programming when the state-funded projects of the Celtic Tiger era were giving way to migrant-led initiatives. By examining the production's artistic process, community participation, and funding streams, the essay assesses its successes and shortcomings in addressing the complex challenges of Muslim integration.