Articles
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Volume : V Issue : 2 Year: 2025
Negotiating Identity in the Shadow of Internalised Stereotypes: A Critical Study of Reem Edan’s Stand-up Comedy
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Abstract
Comedians bring joy to audiences through their artistic performances. Muslims also laugh, and Muslim comedians, as immigrants or members of the diaspora in America and Western societies, are contributing to the entertainment industry, both artistically and professionally. Muslim women also play a vital role in uplifting the morale of their community. The present study aims to analyze Reem Edan’s stand-up performances using triangulation of intersectionality and Re-Orientalism as a framework. It is a qualitative study, and the collected and transcribed data consist of stand-up performances. These performances include jokes and/or funny stories explored in light of Crenshaw’s notion of intersectionality and Lau’s view of Re-Orientalism. The main aim of the study is to investigate how the Muslim women comedians succeed in constructing their identity within American society, where, as a minority, they have internalized Orientalist stereotypes. The findings reveal that the comedian, as a representative of second-generation Muslims in America, often encounters Orientalist and Islamophobic stereotypes. She draws on these experiences to create humour and make the audience laugh with stereotypes about Muslims internalized. The study is significant because it covers the struggles of a Muslim woman comedian to both entertain and challenge stereotypes about Muslims to construct identity. Furthermore, while shaping identity in American society under the influence of internalized stereotypes, the comedian re-Orientalizes Eastern culture and society to entertain the audience. Key Words: Identity, Intersectionality, Orientalist stereotypes, Muslim Woman Stand-up comedian, Reem Edan
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Nasar Iqbal , Dr Hafiz Abid Masood
