Le port du foulard dit « islamique » ou l’entre-deux culturel

Abstract

For over a decade, the "Islamic" headscarf has been fuelling debates: after agitating the political sphere and becoming the object of media hype in France, it is moving to Québec where it is spreading anxiety and division within society. In this article, I wish to defuse tension and controversy by focusing on certain Koranic verses believed to “prescribe” the veil, on phenomena that led, at a certain time, to its being set aside, and on the reasons that underlie its resurgence nowadays. To this end, I will examine the verses within their social context, and demonstrate that seeing the scarf as a "religious" obligation is inappropriate from both semantic and socio-historical points of view. In this context, I will reiterate the dichotomy made between Ibadat (verses dealing with the relationship of human beings to God and governed by absolute and immutable rules), and Muamalat (verses dealing with interpersonal relations and which is to be read according to specific circumstances). Moreover, using translation as a metaphor of transportation across (linguistic and cultural) borders, I will try to read the "clothing" of some Muslim women as a phenomenon resulting, as the language of translation (third language), from the intersection of two cultures. I will also bring up the meaning the "veil" may have taken on over the time and the meaning it is now being assigned by the Islamic feminists whose reflection falls within the Post-Colonial Studies approach. MOTS-CLÉS Femmes, islam, hijâb, choix, métissage culturel