From Fatwa to Fabulism: Salman Rushdie Takes Stock of the 21st Century So Far
Salman RushdieCredit.Rachel Eliza Griffiths
By Ismail Muhammad
LANGUAGES OF TRUTH
By Salman Rushdie
The venerable novelist Salman Rushdie’s new essay collection, “Languages of Truth,” has big ambitions. As its subtitle suggests, it aims to tackle this still-young century’s political and cultural upheaval. Rushdie spreads his arms wide here, embracing everything from the novels of Philip Roth to the death of Osama bin Laden to the art of Kara Walker, in an attempt to convey a sense of the challenges that those 18 years have presented to Western literary culture. But in trying to get his arms around so much so indiscriminately, Rushdie serves up a confused vision of this century, presenting a self-absorbed and exhausted thinker whose eye has been tracking yesterday’s concerns.
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The Satanic Verses, thirty years on Submitted by AWL on 10 October, 2018 - 11:31
Author: Matt Cooper
The Satanic Verses.
Rushdie’s sprawling novel defies summary: interlinking stories meld scurrilous fantasies, dark humour and cutting political satire directed not only at Islam, but British racism and Indian immigrants’ attempts to adapt. It is an honest attempt to deal with the warping pressures of racism, religion and cultural dislocation.
When it was published in September 1988 there was no spontaneous grassroots opposition. According to Kenan Malik in From Fatwa to Jihad, one early move against the book was in India, where pressure from Jammat-e-Islami led to the book being banned there in October. (Jammat is an Islamist organisation with the main goal of bringing in Islamic states in Pakistan and Bangladesh.)