Abstract:
The debate on Muslim women’s veil (hijab) has always been central in contemporary feminist discussion, and therefore it embodies the core of the conflict between two antinomic views: the one in neo-orientalist and hegemonic neo-western discourse, and a certain majoritarian traditionalist Islamic discourse. For some, it embodies patriarchal oppression while for others it is the ultimate symbol of Islamic identity. Muslim women’s body seems to incarnate a spot of tension between representations of modernity and antimodernity. This text intends to perform a double criticism and deconstruction from a decolonial perspective both of neo-orientalist feminist ideology and that “mirroring” view of traditionalist Islamic discourse which is opposed to any reformist approach.
Keywords: veil, Hijab, women, Quran, Islam, orientalism, colonial ideology, decolonial, body, patriarchal oppression, modernity, emancipation.
