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Nation, religion, and gender
pp. 185-210
Abstract
The last decade of the twentieth century is characterized by conflicts, wars, and genocide in the Balkans and by the reaffirmation of religion in the public realm. Within the discussion about ethnic/national and religious identification among Bosnian Muslims, through the analysis of the Muslim woman's magazine Zehra, this chapter focuses on the postwar interconnectedness of nation, religion and gender in the rebuilding of Bosniak Muslim women's identity in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). Zehra, launched by the prominent Muslim women's NGO Kewser, was named after the Prophet Muhammad's daughter. It is well known and widely distributed in Bosnia-Herzegovina and among the Bosniak diaspora in Europe and America. This chapter explores the magazine's gender politics, the perception of the Bosniak Muslim Woman as reproducer and keeper of the Bosniak nation, and to what extent the magazine portrays the wearing of the hijab as an internal and external marker of the Bosniak nation.
Publication details
Published in:
Ognjenović Gorana, Jozelić Jasna (2014) Politicization of religion, the power of symbolism: the case of former Yugoslavia and its successor states. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
Pages: 185-210
Full citation:
Spahić Šiljak Zilka (2014) „Nation, religion, and gender“, In: G. Ognjenović & J. Jozelić (eds.), Politicization of religion, the power of symbolism, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 185–210.