April 5-6, 2019
Institute of Modern Languages Research
School of Advanced Study, University of London
Keynotes: Salim Bachi and Professor Daniel Enstedt
In recent years, the phenomenon of apostasy from Islam has become increasingly politicized. The intense polarization around apostasy in Islam—and the consequently high political stakes involved in representing apostasy and apostates—is perhaps one reason why there is a dearth of scholarship, across disciplines, on the socio-political and cultural aspects of apostasy from Islam, especially from an on-the-ground, lived-experience perspective. Thus, while scholars have extensively examined the works and lives of numerous Francophone cultural figures of Muslim heritage—such as writers Salim Bachi, Boualem Sansal, and Rachid Boudjedra—they have neglected to consider these individuals’ public dis-identification and disaffiliation from—and/or disavowal of—Islam.
This symposium seeks to address this lacuna by (re-)examining the works and lives of Muslim-heritage Francophone public figures—be they writers, actors, singers, filmmakers, politicians, or individuals—in light of their public apostasy, within the broader polarized and politicized context surrounding ‘ex-Muslims’ and the phenomenon of apostasy from Islam.
Friday 5 April
14:00 Registration
14:30 Panel 1: Representations of apostasy in literature and film
Chair: Adi Bharat (University of Manchester)
Natalie Khaazal (Texas A&M)
Mohamed Choukri: Resisting ideological appropriation and the poetics of apostasy
Rebekah Vince (University of Warwick)
Un musulman de mauvaise foi ? Slimane Benaissa’s Confessions
Fraser McQueen (University of Stirling)
The ‘Ex-musulman’ and the ‘Musulman Laïc’ in Contemporary French Literature and Film
16:00 Coffee break
16:15 Panel 2: Entre l’antiracisme et l’islam : vers une sociologie de l’islam en France
Chair: TBC
Houssame Bentabet (PSL Research University / EHESS, Paris)
L’Abandon de l’islam : De l’irréligiosité au reniement de la foi chez les musulmans en France
Nedjib Sidi Moussa (Centre européen de sociologie et de science politique, CNRS, Paris)
Une apostasie impensable ? De la lutte anticoloniale à l’antiracisme « politique » : retour sur une problématique marginalisée dans l’espace franco-algérien
17:15 Keynote Session 1: Daniel Enstedt (University of Gothenburg, Sweden)
Chair: Joe Ford (IMLR, School of Advanced Study)
Leaving Islam in contemporary Sweden: Taking lived religion, materiality and the use of nonfiction in autobiographical narratives into account in apostasy studies
18:15 Drinks reception
19:30 Conference dinner
Saturday 6 April (Room 243)
09:30 Panel 1: Islam and Race in France and beyond: socio-political perspectives
Chair: Nick Harrison (KCL)
Fabrice Roger (University of Bristol)
‘Losing my religion’: is the quintessential enlightened Muslim an apostate? An analysis of Mohammed Sifaoui’s representation of Islam in Mes « frères » assassins
Alice Bullard (Initiative for the Resurgent Abolition Initiative – USA)
When Advocating Racial Equality Merits Conviction for
Apostasy and Execution: The Writing of Mohamed Cheikh Mkhaitir in Mauritania
Chris Jardine (University of Edinburgh)
Islam and laïcité : La nouvelle guerre des deux France
11:00 Coffee break
11:30 Panel 2: Literature, apostasy and the political
Chair: Jane Hiddleston (Exeter College, University of Oxford)
Sura Qadiri (St. Catherine’s College, University of Cambridge)
Abdelwahab Meddeb: Apostate or Reformer?
Max Silverman (University of Leeds)
Apostasy and literary transgression
Nick Harrison (KCL)
Secular apostates
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Panel 3: Apostasy and ‘ex-Muslims’ beyond France
Chair: Max Silverman (University of Leeds)
Adi Bharat (University of Manchester)
Between ‘Race’ and Religion: Ex-Muslims and the Politics of Apostasy in Singapore
Laura Thompson (Harvard University)
Coffee shops, Art, TVs and Toilets : Post-Arab-Spring and Pre-Independence Blasphemy Cases against Tunisian Muslims
Zainab Salloo (University of Manchester)
Exploring British ex-Muslim narratives through ‘confessional-style’ Youtube videos
15:30 Coffee break
16:00 Keynote Session 2: Q & A and Roundtable with Salim Bachi
Chair: Adi Bharat (University of Manchester)
Discussants: Nick Harrison, Jane Hiddleston & Sura Qadiri
17:15 Closing remarks
(Ex-)Muslims and Public Apostasy from Islam in Francophone Cultures, Societies, and Politics 