Postsecularists’ insistence on essential cultural difference feeds Islamophobia’s separation frame.

Evidence

A necessary tool in the fight against Islamophobia would then be a developed theory of how Christian and Islamic heritages have historically been mutually constitutive on the level of narrative and story types, with the emphasis on what they have in common rather than simply reflexive retreats to discrete categories such as “Islamic” and “Judeo-Christian” as soon as the question of “our culture” is raised. … Nevertheless, their insistence on essential cultural differences and authenticity may, in the final analysis, contribute to the frame wherein Western and Islamic cultures are seen on an inevitable collision course. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 508

Postsecularists such as Asad and Mahmood engage in the important task of explaining aspects of Muslim cultural practice and historical traditions to an untutored and often antipathetic Western audience. Nevertheless, their insistence on essential cultural differences and authenticity may, in the final analysis, contribute to the frame wherein Western and Islamic cultures are seen on an inevitable collision course. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 508

Categorization

• XREF: This complicates how I’ve framed Hamid’s and Naqvi’s own gestures toward authenticity and cultural difference — Ammar’s avowal of his values in Reluctant Fundamentalist could be read through this lens.
• DEFINE: Defines the analytical alternative to discrete ‘Islamic’ vs ‘Judeo-Christian’ categories: a mutual-constitution theory of narrative heritage.
• QUESTION: Would Morey apply this critique equally to Naqvi and Hamid, or only to celebrationist ‘authentic voice’ fiction?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 508