Labeling fiction as minority writing reinforces hegemonic culture’s power

Evidence

Muslim cultural background fiction demonstrates the multiculturalism of a liberal “republic of letters” that would allow all voices to be heard, but at the same time its status as a distinct minority category perpetuates its marginalization. As Mercer reminds us, “The struggle to find a voice does not take place on neutral or ‘innocent’ cultural terrain,” and the very designation of a group as a minority reasserts the power of hegemonic culture. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 162

Categorization

• XREF: This is the anti-essentialist move the reader can deploy: the very category framing criticism of Hamid/Naqvi as ‘Muslim fiction’ participates in the marginalization it describes.