From Covering to Manifestation. Hijab in the Perspective of European Muslim women
The aim of my article is to present the alterations of the meaning of hijab. Shifting meanings of this element of outfit reflect the historical and social processes that have shaped the contemporary identity of European Muslim women. Referring to the categorization provided by Manuel Castells, I argue that hijab has come a long way from a strictly religious symbol (pursuing the command to cover a woman’s body) to the manifestation of certain status and belonging to a social group. Moreover, I argue that even nowadays Muslim women wearing a headscarf interpret this in different ways and that various denotations of hijab can oppose each other. This phenomenon has its roots in the heterogeneity of the Muslim population in Europe. A Muslim headscarf is regarded as a metaphor of European Muslim women’s identities which are themselves subject to constant modification and renegotiation.
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