Famous for multifarious writing, Salman Rushdie himself is a multifaceted personality, often emerges as an unpredictable figure with an unfathomable depth of creativity and criticism. Being an iconoclast, Rushdie never chooses the trodden road: he rather plunges headstrong into the unexplored territories of literature, not yet attempted.
The present volume strives to find how Rushdie is germane in the twenty first century politics of globalization, literary schema, and cosmopolitanism. The book has been divided into two broad heads—the first section intrinsically deals with the most popular book of Rushdie, Midnight’s Children while the second section contains Rushdie’s latter fictions which have been researched and presented in the light of intertextuality, hybridity, diaspora and, of late, autobiography.
The essays are written by Suhaina Bi, Sutanuka Ghosh Roy, Ram Bahawan Yadav, T. Sasikanth Reddy, Asis De, Vikrant Sehgal, Indah Lestari, Ajit Kumar, Hetal K. Kachhia, Hetal M. Doshi, Nesha Sabar/Pramod Kumar Das, Ramesh Tibile, Bini B. S., Manjeet Kumar Kashyap and Valiur Rahaman.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION: The Novels of Salman Rushdie: A Postcolonial Reading
Section-A: Midnight’s Children: Fiction, History and the Nation
1. Presentation of a Wounded Civilization: A Cosmopolitan Perspective of Midnight’s Children
2. The Dichotomous Nature of Decolonisation of India in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children
3. Interfacing Myth vs. History: A Postcolonial Study of Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children
4. Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children: A Kaleidoscopic View
5. In Time of Narrating the Nation: Rushdie’s Transcendence of National History in Midnight’s Children
Section-B: Diasporic Identity, Intertextuality, Treatment of History and Autobiography
6. Diasporic Identity in Salman Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown
7. Indianness and Satire of History in Salman Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh
8. Journey towards New World in the selected Novels of Salman Rushdie
9. Globalization and Cosmopolitanism: Major Themes in the Works of Salman Rushdie
10. Theological Aspects and Diasporic Sensibilities in Rushdie’s Satanic Verses
11. Salman Rushdie’s Shame: A Study of Narrative Strategies
12. Salman Rushdie: A Self-Proclaimed Controversialist
13. Chutneys, Pickles, Palimpsests and Collages: Lived and Imagined Temporalities in the Works of Salman Rushdie
14. Nation and Non-narration: Multiplicity, Hybridity and Heterogeneity in Salman Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh
15. Metautobigraphicity: Some Observations on Salman Rushdie’s Enchantress of Florence
Objectives and Themes
This anthology explores the literary significance of Salman Rushdie’s body of work within the context of the new millennium, specifically examining how his novels intersect with postcolonialism, history, and diasporic consciousness. It seeks to analyze how Rushdie transcends national boundaries and blends historical reality with fiction and magic realism.
- The intersection of postcolonial discourse and personal identity in Rushdie’s characters.
- The reconstruction of Indian history through the lens of memory, myth, and satire.
- The impact of globalization and cosmopolitanism on migrant experiences.
- The narrative strategies, including intertextuality and magic realism, employed by the author.
- The sociopolitical critique of nation-states, borders, and cultural hybridity.
Excerpt from the Book
Presentation of a Wounded Civilization: A Cosmopolitan Perspective of Midnight’s Children
Salman Rushdie has helped the Indian Writing in English to gain a reputation in World Literature in addition to win the prestigious prize of Booker of the Bookers for himself in 2008. He is the foremost writer who presented the Sub-continental Diaspora with all its geographical and psychological pros and cons both in real and virtual sense. Most of the characters of his novels suffer from the disease of alienation and rootlessness because of their frequent and forced displacements. This is perhaps the reflection of his own personality for he had to leave his home, not once but several times; sometimes at will and at other occasions by force. Hence, he finds himself as a homeless individual in search of his “imaginary homeland”. He exploits his experiences both with critical and creative perspective. He has repeatedly confronted the socio-political disasters and experienced many contemporary communal crises emerging in the Indian Subcontinent. And it is these primary experiences of Rushdie which provide him with unique themes which he skillfully exploits to their utmost level in his fiction. Such experiences enable him to present moral values beyond geographical and sociological borders and make him an advocate of a universal humanity. His novels present themselves through the eyes of a cosmopolitan or a rootless individual; because it is the cosmopolitan individual who can best analyze the civilization which gets continuously wounded in the name of patriotism and nationalism or because of the loyalty concerned only to a specific community, doubtlessly happening on the cost of one’s own conscience in this age of multiculturalism and globalization.
Summary of Chapters
Chapter 1: Analyzes the cosmopolitan and diasporic elements in Midnight’s Children, viewing Saleem Sinai as a representation of rootlessness and universal humanity.
Chapter 2: Explores the dichotomous nature of decolonization in Midnight’s Children, highlighting how history is fused with memory and personal narrative.
Chapter 3: Examines how Rushdie blends myth with history in Midnight’s Children to assert an Indian identity that is liberated from colonial ideologies.
Chapter 4: Discusses the narrative techniques in Midnight’s Children, focusing on the complex, multi-layered episodic structure and the author's mastery of language.
Chapter 5: Investigates how Midnight’s Children transcends rigid national historiography by focusing on the 'non-stop self-regeneration' of the Indian experience.
Chapter 6: Explores diasporic identity in Shalimar the Clown, specifically focusing on the political upheaval in Kashmir and the global phenomenon of terrorism.
Chapter 7: Analyzes the use of satire and the search for identity in The Moor’s Last Sigh, emphasizing the hybridity of Indian culture and history.
Chapter 8: Compares the diasporic themes and narrative techniques in various novels of Rushdie, focusing on the immigrant's search for a new world.
Chapter 9: Investigates the concepts of globalization and cosmopolitanism across Rushdie's oeuvre, noting how his characters embody multiple allegiances.
Chapter 10: Explores the theological and diasporic aspects of The Satanic Verses, discussing how migration impacts the author's perception of religion.
Chapter 11: Analyzes the narrative strategies in Shame, such as mimicry, metafiction, and intertextuality, to reveal the political conditions of Pakistan.
Chapter 12: Examines Rushdie’s reputation as a self-proclaimed controversialist and the political motivations behind his literary critiques.
Chapter 13: Explores the use of metaphors like 'chutnification' and 'pickling' in Rushdie’s novels to represent fragmented temporality and history.
Chapter 14: Focuses on the concepts of non-narration and hybridity in The Moor’s Last Sigh as a means to deconstruct traditional national historiography.
Chapter 15: Discusses the 'metautobiographical' nature of The Enchantress of Florence and how the author’s 'creative leitmotif' shapes the narrative.
Keywords
Salman Rushdie, Postcolonialism, Diaspora, Midnight's Children, Myth, History, Hybridity, Cosmopolitanism, Globalization, Identity, Metafiction, Satire, Nation-building, Narrative Strategy, Intertextuality.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this volume?
This volume provides a comprehensive critical analysis of Salman Rushdie’s major works, examining his unique literary contributions to the postcolonial and postmodern canon, particularly his treatment of national identity, history, and diaspora.
What are the central themes covered in these essays?
The essays primarily revolve around themes of hybridity, cultural displacement, the interplay between myth and history, the impact of globalization on identity, and the narrative strategies Rushdie uses to critique political realities.
What is the primary objective of the editor?
The editor aims to explore how Rushdie remains relevant in the political context of the 21st century by analyzing his influence on postcolonial literature and his role as a voice for the 'new Diaspora'.
Which literary methods does Rushdie frequently employ?
Rushdie is noted for his use of magic realism, metafiction, intertextuality, and the blending of history with fantasy, which he uses to challenge official, objective accounts of history.
How is the book structured?
The book is divided into two sections: Section A concentrates on critical analyses of Midnight’s Children, while Section B covers other notable works including Shalimar the Clown, The Moor’s Last Sigh, Shame, and The Enchantress of Florence.
Which keywords best describe this collection of essays?
Key terms include postcolonialism, diaspora, identity, hybridity, historiography, narrative technique, cosmopolitanism, and the political critique found within Rushdie's fiction.
How does this anthology view Rushdie's portrayal of history?
The contributors suggest that Rushdie views history as subjective and fluid, preferring 'chutnified' or palimpsestic versions that prioritize personal and communal memory over singular, colonial, or state-sanctioned narratives.
In what way does the volume address the 'Rushdie Affair'?
Several chapters explore the controversy surrounding The Satanic Verses, contextualizing it as an outcome of the collision between uncompromising religious ideologies and western liberalism, while emphasizing the author's identity as an intellectual who challenges dogmatism.
What does the volume say about the concept of 'home' in Rushdie’s works?
The authors argue that 'home' in Rushdie’s fiction is often an 'imaginary homeland,' a psychological construct necessitated by the migrant experience of displacement and the quest for belonging in an increasingly globalized world.
- Citar trabajo
- Ajay K Chaubey et al. (Autor), 2014, Salman Rushdie. An Anthology of Critical Essays in New Millennium, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/289364
