Unearthing the Social Oppression of Muslim Identity under American Imperialism in The Submission by Amy Waldman

Abstract

This study is centred on the first novel published by the contemporary American author, Waldman, in 2011, entitled The Submission. The novel recounts the story of a Muslim architect named Mohammad who wins a contest to design the 9/11 memorial. Set in 2003, New York, the consequence is a serious public outrage swirling around Mohammad or, more precisely, the fact that he is a Muslim. This study highlights the issue of the social oppression of the identity of Muslim minority characters in America, and how they are perceived as inferior by their American counterparts using the concept of cultural imperialism and its related critical insights of oppression by the American socio-feminist philosopher, Young (1990). The objective of this study, accordingly, is to examine the author’s depictions of the American society as the cultural imperialism persecuting Muslim characters. The findings show the multifarious peculiarities of oppression as a social phenomenon embodying the genuine critical nuance of America as the miniatures of cultural imperialism that oppresses Muslim characters.