Salman Rushdie (1947- )
- 1947: Born in Bombay, India to a middle-class Muslim,
Cambridge-educated businessman whose family is originally from Kashmir,
to which Haroun refers
in relation to the ongoing
conflict over who should rule the country (currently part of
India, Pakistan, and China)
- Educated at The Cathedral Boys’ School
- 1961: Sent to Rugby School in England
- 1964: Parents move to Pakistan, joining Muslim exodus
- 1968: Graduated from Cambridge and worked in Pakistani t.v.
- 1971-81: Worked as a freelance advertising copywriter
- 1976: Married
- 1981: Midnight’s Children won Booker Prize
- 1988: The Satanic Verses won Whitbread Award and
banned in India and South Africa; married a second time
- 1989: the Iranian Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini puts a fatwa (death/assassination) on
Rushdie for his critique of Islam in The Satanic Verses
- 1990: Haroun and the Sea of Stories written for
children; “In Good Faith”
- 1993: Rushdie’s Norwegian publisher wounded in an attack
- 1995: The Moor’s Last Sight
- 1998: Iranian government has said fatwa is not in effect;
1999: The Ground Beneath Her Feet
- 1999: Ayatollah
Hassan Sanei offers $2.8 million for Rushdie’s life
- 2010: Luka and the Fire of
Life (follow up to Haroun)
Links:
Overview
at Postcolonial Web
What is the novel?
-
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, new,
from Latin novellus,
from diminutive of novus
new (adjective); Italian novella
(noun)
-
Definition: an invented prose narrative that is
usually long and complex and deals especially with human
experience through a usually connected sequence of events
-
Started as epistolary (Richardson, Clarissa)
-
18th century: the loss (and reclamation of) virtue
(Defoe, Moll Flanders);
-
19th century: orphan rediscovers noble heritage /
inheritance (Bronte sisters); the Bildungsroman (literally,
novel of education; journey of protagonist from imprisonment of childhood
toward mature freedom
-
Additional vocabulary: exposition, turning point(s),
climax, and denouement
Lecture Day 1
see "Names in this Book," p. 215
1. Fairy Tale Elements in
Haroun
2. Political Allegories in Haroun:
Allusion #1: The 2 Kashmirs
Allusion #2: Rushdie's experience with the fatwa
- What is the use of fiction in today's world?
- p. 39
Discussion
Day 2: In groups of 2-4, brainstorm answers to questions 1
& 3 or 2 & 3 (your choice):
1. In what ways is Haroun a critique on modern
life? (57, 85, 90, 92)
2. What does Rushdie suggest is the
nature of all stories? What qualities do they share?
3. What might any of the following symbolize: the Water Genie
(54-6, 63-4), the exchange of the turtle- and peacock-beds
(52-4), the conflation of the "Mail Coach Driver, Butt" with
the "Hoopoe" (65, 80) and then the Walrus (89-90), and the
Floating Gardener, Mali (82-3).
Party game:
Ask yes or no questions about your character, such as: Am I
male? Am I from Chupwala? Am I human? etc. Sit down when you
finish and write a 1-3 sentence sketch of your character: Who
are you?
Blabbermouth
General Kitab (119)
Haroun Khalifa
Hoopoe
Iff
Khattam-Shud
King Chattergy (99)
Mail Coach Driver, Butt
Mali
Miss Oneeta
Mr. Buttoo
Mudra the Shadow Warrior
Princess Batcheat
Prince Bolo
Rashid Khalifa
Soraya
the Walrus
Questions for End of Novel:
1. What does Haroun teach readers about how to combat
fanaticism?
2. In what ways can this be considered an “anti-fairy tale”?
3. Is this an “authentic” piece of world literature? Does such
a thing exist? Why does this book in particular interest
Western readers?