Description
Book SynopsisIn 2007, Little Mosque on the Prairie premiered on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation network. It told the story of a mosque community that worshiped in the basement of an Anglican church. It was a bona fide hit, running for six seasons and playing on networks all over the world.
Kyle Conway’s textual analysis and in-depth research, including interviews from the show’s creator, executive producers, writers, and CBC executives, reveals the many ways Muslims have and have not been integrated into North American television. Despite a desire to showcase the diversity of Muslims in Canada, the makers of Little Mosque had to erase visible signs of difference in order to reach a broad audience. This paradox of ‘saleable diversity’ challenges conventional ideas about the ways in which sitcoms integrate minorities into the mainstream.
Trade Review‘A valuable study of media and multiculturalism. Highly recommended.’ -- C.L. Clements * Choice Magazine vol 55:01:2017 *
‘Conway provides a great deal for the scholar of religion….For those who want to understand the diversity of Muslims in North America; this offers a Canadian perspective that is often left out of the equation. We should certainly add Little Mosque on the Prairie to the list of key works on Muslims in media, television, and cinema.’ -- Kristen Petersen * Reading Religion – December 2017 *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction. Muslims and Sitcoms in Post-9/11 North America 1. Sitcoms, Cultural Translation, and the Paradox of Saleable Diversity 2. Representation Between the Particular and the Universal 3. The Paradoxes of "Humanizing Muslims" 4. Saleable Diversity and International Audiences 5. Religion as Culture Versus Religion as Belief Conclusion. Identity and Difference in North American Sitcoms Notes References
