Affirming Identity Through Literacy: Islamic Identity in Children of Muslim Immigrants

• In Event: Literacy, Identity, and Learning: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study With Immigrant Families

Abstract

Theoretical Frame: An individual’s identity is derived from group membership, intricately intertwined with diverse meanings and ways of knowing, becoming and being literate (Rogoff, 1990; Ferdman, 1990). Conceptions of culture and personhood affect the types of literacy activities people enact and their levels of engagement. Developing and maintaining continuity among cultural and religious identities is crucial for Muslims living in the diaspora (Berns McGown, 1999). Recently the labels attached to Muslim immigrants in western countries have shifted from national and ethnic labels to religious labels that reflect globalizing trends that de-emphasize the boundaries of nation states (Bauman, 1998). These labels, however, point to the emergence of an essentialized religious identity that is often used by westerners to “other” Muslims.
Islamic identity is often imbued with suspicions and fear - perceived as dangerous and frightening yet exotic (Said, 1978). Because of this pressure, many Muslim immigrants experience cultural dissonances among their Islamic identities and the values of Western society. Grounded in sociocultural theory, this study is informed by Bakhtinian (1981) notions of: dialogism, heteroglossia, utterance and addressivity.
This paper examines how two Muslim immigrant families construct religious identification and how they forge connections between literacy practice, language choice and negotiation of cultural dissonance. Data is drawn from two case studies - one Muslim family from Morocco and another Muslim family from Somalia.
Findings: Findings reveal two significant processes relative to Muslim identity construction in the United States. These processes stand in stark contrast to eachother; while they operate as an ironic binary, they are mutually enabling. The first is described as a “cocooning process” in which parents continually seek to protect their children from the fitna, temptations or evil disorders, of American society (e.g., popular media texts, Western social practices). The second process, similar to Lareau’s (2003) notion of “concerted cultivation,” involves parents continually engaging children in activities that they trust will allow entrance into privileged circles of American society. For example, parents actively encouraged students to engage in literacy practices that they believed were valued in school and in the larger society alongside literacies valued in Muslim communities. Data also revealed children’s refusal to speak their heritage language as a tension for parents who advocated for both heritage language proficiency and success with English.
As this case study reveals, children come to school with diverse funds of knowledge (Gonzalez et al., 2005); however, both conflicts and compromises can accompany the activation of funds of knowledge in novel contexts. This research illustrates how families continually manage these conflicts and suggests that schools must affirm immigrant learners’ diverse identities and backgrounds allowing them comfortable spaces for being Muslim while providing a sense of belonging. By understanding these processes, we can begin to understand breakdowns and compromises that too often lead to tensions for Muslim immigrant students.

Author

• Rohany Nayan, University of Wisconsin - Madison