Abby Matson Home Fire Research Excursion

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For my research excursion, I chose to focus on the hijab and it’s cultural and legal significance in the various settings of Home Fire. 

I had initially been drawn in by the story of the girl in the van from Parvaiz’s chapter, where she is captured and held in the van, awaiting punishment, because her veil had been “indecent.” While I was previously familiar with the strict nature of the Islamic State, I hadn’t quite realized how serious and severe it was. 

By comparison, Isma and Aneeka’s decision to wear a hijab or turban in America and London was a decision that put them in the minority, the kind of decision that would get them stopped in airports or ostracized by other Brits.

I settled on 4 settings:

  • Amherst, Massachusetts

  • London, England

  • Raqqa, Syria

  • Karachi, Pakistan

And I decided to research 3 components:

  • The legal policies regarding hijabs

  • The cultural treatment of hijabs

  • Why women in each area chose to or to not wear the hijab

In concluding my research, I certainly felt I had a better understanding of the hijab and the role it played in Home Fire. The appeal of the hijab, as Aneeka referenced in Eamonn’s section, was in choice. For women with the right to do so, it’s a sign of agency, of refusal to assimilate, an act of resistance against a broader culture particularly in America and Britain. 

Isma, sensible and rule-abiding as she is still resisted in her own, unspoken manner, and Aneeka, as culturally “British” and “modern” as she was, still saw value in the agency and choice it offered her. My increased knowledge of the hijab gives me a greater understanding of the women of Home Fire, the character they possess, and the choices they made.

 

 

Bibliography

Kamal, Anila, and Waseem Fayyaz. "CONDITIONS OF WEARING HIJAB AND OTHER FORMS OF DRESS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY." Pakistan Journal of Women's Studies = Alam-e-Niswan = Alam-i Nisvan, vol. 23, no. 2, 2016, pp. 91-102. ProQuest, https://login.libproxy.scu.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fconditions-wearing-hijab-other-forms-dress%2Fdocview%2F1855033732%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D13679.

 

Anthony Loyd. “Niqabs Thrown down in the Sand as Women Flee Raqqa.” Times, The (United Kingdom), May 2017, p. 22,23. EBSCOhost, search-ebscohost-com.libproxy.scu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=7EH125245663&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

 

Tarlo, Emma. “Hijab in London: Metamorphosis, Resonance and Effects.” Journal of Material Culture, vol. 12, no. 2, July 2007, pp. 131–156. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1177/1359183507078121.

 

Williams, Rhys H., and Gira Vashi. "Hijab and American Muslim Women: Creating the Space for Autonomous Selves*." Sociology of Religion, vol. 68, no. 3, 2007, pp. 269-IV. ProQuest, https://login.libproxy.scu.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fhijab-american-muslim-women-creating-space%2Fdocview%2F216752776%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D13679, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/socrel/68.3.269.