Concetti Chiave
- Salman Rushdie, born in 1947 in Bombay, gained fame with his controversial novels, especially Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses.
- Midnight’s Children is a comical allegory of Indian history, blending fantasy and realism, and is a prime example of "magic realism".
- The Satanic Verses, considered sacrilegious by some, led to a fatwa against Rushdie, forcing him into hiding due to threats.
- Rushdie's writing style includes a mix of different styles and an ironic, sometimes satirical tone, often focusing on themes of exile and change.
- Midnight’s Children features a narrative around Saleem Sinai and children born at India's independence, each with unique magical abilities.
Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay in 1947 into a middle-class Muslim family. He was sent to school in England, and graduated in History at Cambridge University. He worked for some time in television as an actor. He is currently living in England.
Rushdie gained international fame with his first novel Midnight’s Children.
It gave rise to much controversy in India because of its negative portrait of Indira Gandhi and her son, who at the time was involved in a much criticized sterilization campaign trying to solve country’s overpopulation and hunger problems.
He also wrote The Satanic Verses that were considered sacrilegious and enraged the Iranian ayatollah who in 1989 issued a fatwa (an Islamic sentence) condemning the writer to death.
It is an allegorical novel, covering several fields, from social to political, from philosophical to religious. Violence occurred in cities where the book was sold and Rushdie had to go into hiding.
Rushdie’s favorite themes are exile, metamorphosis and rootlessness, presented in allegorical form.
Midnight’s Children
Midnight’s Children is a comical allegory of Indian history and takes its title from Nehru’s speech delivered at the stroke of midnight, 14 August 1947, as India gained its independence from England.
Rushdie draws on a vast range of Eastern and Western traditions, languages and genres: fantasy, mythology, religion and oral tradition.
This realistic and, at the same time, fantastic narrative work, where supernatural facts, blend and combine with precise historical and cultural references, can be placed in the trend known as “magic realism”.
It means the combining of realism with the fantastic, of historical facts with the dream and the inexplicable.
His narrative technique is composite; his novels are written in sequences of different styles, using a flexible method described as bricolage. His prose has a definite ironical tone which sometimes become satirical.
The story revolves around the narrator, Saleem Sinai, and the one thousand children born in the precise moment when India became independent (the midnight between 14 and 15 August 1947).
All of these children have been given some magical feature. Saleem has a large nose which gives him the ability to see into the heart and minds of men. His chief rival is Shiva, who has the power of war.
Saleem, dying in a factory near Bombay, tells his tragicomic story.
Domande da interrogazione
- ¿Cuál fue la razón principal de la controversia en India por la novela "Midnight’s Children" de Salman Rushdie?
- ¿Qué consecuencias tuvo la publicación de "The Satanic Verses" para Salman Rushdie?
- ¿Qué técnica narrativa utiliza Rushdie en "Midnight’s Children" y cómo se describe su estilo?
La controversia surgió debido al retrato negativo de Indira Gandhi y su hijo, relacionado con una campaña de esterilización muy criticada en ese momento.
La novela fue considerada sacrílega, lo que llevó al ayatolá iraní a emitir una fatwa condenando a Rushdie a muerte, obligándolo a esconderse debido a la violencia en las ciudades donde se vendía el libro.
Rushdie utiliza una técnica narrativa compuesta, descrita como bricolaje, combinando realismo con lo fantástico, y su prosa tiene un tono irónico que a veces se vuelve satírico.
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