Welsh Muslim womanhood & Nosferatu the lascar
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As the population of Muslim lascars grew in number and permanence in Cardiff, so did the marital unions between local low-income Welsh women and mostly Yemeni lascars (Despite this mention of class, it is unclear if marrying lascars elevated/changed their economic status in any relative way). These women often converted to Islam, in the process gaining a close-knit community that easily extended resources and support as needed. (At the same time, we are not given much of a picture of what the white Welsh community network looked like). For example, al-Hakimi noted the phenomena of female converts and established female focus groups to strengthen their understanding and belief in Islam, but this was also with the ulterior motive of making sure they had the tools to raise their “half-caste” children well-versed and faithful. To the greater Muslim community, the demonstrated faith of these women was inseparable from their responsibilities as women. The same sense of closeness that provided a network of support also meant greater scrutiny of the Welsh women’s adherence to Islam, namely their performance of Muslim womanhood. Gilliat-Ray notes that these wives' behaviors, like their conduct with men or the discipline of their children, were especially surveilled during periods when their husbands were away working at sea.
Outside of the Muslim community, the negative views of mixed-race relations isolated converts from the rest of white society, including estrangement from their own families who likely opposed the miscegenation. So while they gained one variably sympathetic Muslim community, they lost one prejudiced but privileged white community. This also fed into the proprietary, white supremacist fear of white women being ravaged/violated by men of color. I just watched the 1922 Nosferatu last night and was stunned to see that Nosferatu/Count Orlok is made to resemble a Semitic/Muslim caricature, depicted as turbaned and seafaring on his way to the Western country to feed on the blood of a “fair maiden.” Based on the 1897 classic Dracula, these narrative choices reveal that fear of takeover by a racial other and tainted racial purity made up a decent portion of white European concerns.