DOCSLIB.ORG

In Salman Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
In Salman Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown “Most Present of Absences” in Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown A Deconstructive Reading of Proper Names, Political and Military Terms, and Narration Word count: 25,109 Suparna Arora Student number: 01707814 Supervisor(s): Prof. Dr. Stef Craps A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Linguistics and Literature Academic year: 2018 – 2019 2 Acknowledgements To my parents, for always encouraging me to learn and supporting me unconditionally. To my sister, for conversations, thinking, love abound. To my grandparents, the most present of absences, whose lives I wish I could remember, and whose lives flicker amidst what I have read and written. A special thank you to Fien, without whom I would not have a PDF to upload at all. To Elliot, my personified Routledge companion to literature since 2013, and the only other person who could be bothered (bribed) to proofread this. And to Professor Stef Craps, for helping me find my way to this project from my initial urge to write about Partition trauma, and for taking a great deal of time out to discuss the topic with me and to edit this in its many stages of development. 3 Table of Contents 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 5 2 A Brief History of Partition and Kashmir ......................................................................... 8 2.1 Making the Case for Post-1947 .............................................................................................. 8 2.2 On Kashmir ........................................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Kashmir in Discourses of Nationhood ................................................................................. 17 3 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................... 22 3.1 Narrative Structure: Perspective and Temporality ........................................................... 22 3.2 Derrida and Deconstruction ................................................................................................. 25 3.3 Trauma Theory and Narrative (Im)possibilities ................................................................ 29 4 Proper Names and Absences: Kashmira/India and Her Mothers .................................. 31 4.1 “India” ................................................................................................................................... 31 4.2 The Absences of Kashmir and the Kashmiri Mother ........................................................ 33 4.3 The Deaths of Boonyi ............................................................................................................ 37 5 A Deconstructivist Approach to Political and Military Terms ........................................ 40 5.1 Hindus, Muslims, and “Kashmiriyat” .................................................................................. 40 5.2 “Integrity”, “integral”, and “integer” ................................................................................. 44 5.3 “Freedom” ............................................................................................................................. 46 6 Narrative (Im)possibilities: Who Speaks and Who Can Speak? .................................... 49 6.1 “Crackdown” and “ethnic cleansing” ................................................................................. 49 6.2 The Fate of Pachigam ........................................................................................................... 53 7 Conclusion: Kashmiris, the “Most Present of Absences” Now ...................................... 59 8 Works Cited ....................................................................................................................... 64 Word count: 25,109 4 1 Introduction “Yet what did such maps and news about territory mean to those who had never known any place but their own home?” (Khan 125) The year of 1947 marked a major turning point in the history of the subcontinent. Undivided India under British rule comprised most of the subcontinent, including the princely states with which the British government established treaties of cooperation. The demand for independence did not culminate in a stable exchange of power but instead marked the beginning of a chaotic period amidst which two modern postcolonial states emerged. A Muslim homeland carved out of two disjointed ends of the subcontinent, Pakistan grew into an Islamic state, contrary to the ‘plural’ vision of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Muslim League’s leader and the country’s first governor general (Khan 155). More than one million people were killed in the prolonged period preceding and following the announcement of independence and Partition, while an estimated fifteen million people migrated across hastily drawn borders seeking safety in nascent postcolonial states that had attained their long- awaited independence, but had few or no institutional structures to support the immense humanitarian support that was necessary for the unplanned and unexpected exodus and violence that followed the announcement of a new boundary that would cut through the subcontinent. A post-Partition novel set primarily in Indian-administered Kashmir, Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown singles out the contested territory between India and Pakistan as a space of significance. Disguised as a tale of love and vengeance centring around the characters of Shalimar and Boonyi, the novel transforms into a “magical realist crash-course on the history of Kashmir since Partition”, as summarised cleverly by Theo Tait (2). Their inter-religious marriage in a small village situated in Kashmir starts to fall apart, parallel to the growing animosity between religious groups in the aftermath of the Partition that begins to undo the religious coalescence of Kashmiriyat, of Kashmiriness. Boonyi’s extramarital affair with Max Ophuls, the American ambassador to New Delhi, and the birth of their daughter Kashmira/India, sets off a series of vengeful murders by Shalimar, a clown who transforms into an assassin. The plot moves forward in time from the Partition onwards, incorporating multiple events from Kashmir’s complex sociopolitical history that affect the characters of the novel in myriad ways and their distinct experiences through nuanced changes in perspective. This thesis analyses the significance of three examples of the “most present of absences” in the text, specifically in the case of proper names, military and political terms, and narration. 5 The tripartite analysis focuses on how the novel interrogates the nature of language, and rhetorically performs the anxiety about language before, during, and after conflict. The historical overview examines how and why the tensions between the two countries are concentrated and exacerbated in the region of Kashmir specifically, exploring the significance of the region to concepts of nationhood and identity for the Indian state. Taking Yasmin Khan’s analysis of the Partition and the aftermath as its focal reading, the historical overview evaluates the anxiety towards language during the Partition years, the retrospective accumulation of meaning for the terms “Pakistan”, “swaraj” [independence/self-rule], and “Partition”, and the unanticipated ways in which the people of the subcontinent were, and still are, affected. Stemming from this concern with language, the theoretical framework examines theories of language and signification according to structuralism and poststructuralism, elaborating on Derrida’s concepts of “différance”, “trace”, “supplement”, as well as his theory regarding proper names. Furthermore, the section also sketches the narrative structure of the novel, focusing on how the narrator focalises through different characters in the text. The theoretical framework additionally summarises relevant aspects of trauma theory, especially about the narration of trauma. Titled after its male protagonist Shalimar, the novel encloses the narratives of its myriad characters between introductory and concluding chapters named instead after a female character, doubly named “India” and “Kashmira” by her two mothers. The literary analysis begins with Kashmira/India, who is marginalised to the edges of the text, contained within these two introductory and concluding chapters, and absent from the central chunk of the novel. The thesis evaluates the significance of the two names ascribed to this character by her two biological and adoptive mothers in light of Derrida’s discussion of proper names. The following chapter extends the analysis of absences within names as perceivably present to an evaluation of the novel’s emphasis on the failure of political and military terms to incorporate their own consequences and the lived realities of people affected by the terms themselves, contending that the text challenges the singularity of hegemonic institutional narratives of nationhood and memory. The final chapter evaluates the tension between the possibility and the impossibility of narration, focusing on the role of the third-person focalising narrator in the depiction of trauma in the novel. This thesis attempts to fill an absence itself amidst current research on the novel. Pei-Chen Liao’s analysis proves that the novel lends itself to a deconstructive reading but focuses on the depiction of Shalimar
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Midnight's Children
    Midnight’s Children by SALMAN RUSHDIE SYNOPSIS Born at the stroke of midnight at the exact moment of India’s independence, Saleem Sinai is a special child. However, this coincidence of birth has consequences he is not prepared for: telepathic powers connect him with 1,000 other ‘midnight’s children’ all of whom are endowed with unusual gifts. Inextricably linked to his nation, Saleem’s story is a whirlwind of disasters and triumphs that mirrors the course of modern India at its most impossible and glorious. ‘Huge, vital, engrossing... in all senses a fantastic book’ Sunday Times STARTING POINTS FOR YOUR DISCUSSION Consider the role of marriage in Midnight’s Children. Do you think marriage is portrayed as a positive institution? Do you think Midnight’s Children is a novel of big ideas? How well do you think it carries its themes? If you were to make a film of Midnight’s Children, who would you cast in the principle roles? What do you think of the novel’s ending? Do you think it is affirmative or negative? Is there anything you would change about it? What do you think of the portrayal of women in Midnight’s Children? What is the significance of smell in the novel? Midnight’s Children is narrated in the first person by Saleem, a selfconfessed ‘lover of stories’, who openly admits to getting some facts wrong. Why do you think Rushdie deliberately introduces mistakes into Saleem’s narration? How else does the author explore the theme of the nature of truth? What do you think about the relationship between Padma and Saleem? Consider the way that Padma’s voice differs from Saleem’s.
    [Show full text]
  • Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow Volume 10 : 1 January 2010 ISSN 1930-2940
    LANGUAGE IN INDIA Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow Volume 10 : 1 January 2010 ISSN 1930-2940 Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D. Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D. Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D. B. A. Sharada, Ph.D. A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D. Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D. K. Karunakaran, Ph.D. Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D. Language and Literature: An Exposition - Papers Presented in Karunya University International Seminar Editor: J. Sundarsingh, Ph.D. Language in India www.languageinindia.com 10 : 1 January 2010 S. Jenefa Kiruba Malar „Fall from Grace into Grief‟: Putting into Perspective the Outrages of Terrorism in Salman Rushdie‟s Shalimar the Clown 308 ‘Fall from Grace into Grief’: Putting into Perspective the Outrages of Terrorism in Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown S. Jenefa Kiruba Malar Mastering the Art of Keeping Oneself in the News! Salman Rushdie has mastered the difficult and somewhat perilous art of keeping himself in the news. Rushdie stands out in the universe of English fiction for politically charged writing. As a storyteller of the highest class, his trademark tendency is to take on sensitive themes from history or current affairs without pulling punches. His characterization, plotting and language flow are not ends in into the viscera of terrorism's interconnectedness - how dots of violence, justice and revenge link together across time and space into blood-soaked lines. Shalimar the Clown Undermined by Its Own Cleverness Rushdie‟s eighth novel, Shalimar the Clown, he carries us spellbound from Hinduism to Nazism, Krishna to Allah, and Kashmir to California. Along the way, he examines and shatters traditional notions of love, vengeance, nationalism, seduction, and betrayal.
    [Show full text]
  • Midnight's Children, the Moor's Last Sigh, and Shalim
    PARODY IN THE CONTEXT OF SALMAN RUSHDIE’S MAGICAL REALISTIC FICTION: MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN, THE MOOR’S LAST SIGH, AND SHALIMAR THE CLOWN KUĞU TEKİN JANUARY 2010 PARODY IN THE CONTEXT OF SALMAN RUSHDIE’S MAGICAL REALISTIC FICTION: MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN, THE MOOR’S LAST SIGH, AND SHALIMAR THE CLOWN A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY KUĞU TEKİN IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LITERATURE JANUARY 2010 Approval of the Graduate School of (Sciences) ___________________ (Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata) Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ___________________ (Prof. Dr. Wolf König) Head of Department Foreign Language Education This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. __________________ Prof. Dr. Nursel İçöz Supervisor Examining Committee Members Professor, Dr. Oya Batum Menteşe (Atılım, İDE) __________________ Assistant Professor, Dr. Margaret Sönmez (METU, FLE) __________________ Assistant Professor, Dr. Nurten Birlik (METU, FLE) __________________ Assistant Professor, Dr. Nazan Tutaş (AÜ, İDE) __________________ I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Tekin, Kuğu Signature : iii ABSTRACT PARODY IN THE CONTEXT OF SALMAN RUSHDIE’S MAGICAL REALISTIC FICTION: MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN, THE MOOR’S LAST SIGH, AND SHALIMAR THE CLOWN Tekin, Kuğu Ph.D., Department of English Literature Supervisor: Prof.
    [Show full text]
  • Reconstructing Transnational Identities in Salman Rushdie's
    Reconstructing Transnational Identities in Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown. Mukul Sharma Assistant Professor Department of English Govt. College Hamirpur (H.P) India The present paper attempts to address the issues of mobility, identity crisis, transnationalism and global terrorism in Salman Rushdie‟s Shalimar the Clown (2006). In other words, the attempt is to investigate the representation of the relationship between the distant and the close, the local and the global, and the foreign and the exotic through an in- depth analysis of the novel. This paper argues that the narrative structure of Shalimar the Clown encodes this dis-ordered temporality, driven as it is by personal and political resentment. The temporality of resentment negates the structure of revenge.The narrative of Shalimar the Clown continually blurs the dividing line between the personal and the political. Diasporic communities and post-colonial world have traditionally served as a bridge between the particular and the universal. In this respect, Bill Ashcroft maintains that: (P)ost-colonial experience demonstrates the fact that the key to the resistance of the global by the self-determination of the local lies not in dismissal, isolation and rejection but more often in engagement and transformation. The diffuse and interactive process of identity formation proceeds in global terms in much the same way as it has done in post-colonial societies, and it is the model of post-colonial appropriation which is of most use in understanding the local engagements with global culture. (209) The condition of diaspora is born out of a twin process: it originates at the moment of displacement from familiar systems of knowledge, and develops into a lived phenomenon when other spaces emerge in a transnational sphere of communication.
    [Show full text]
  • Salman Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown
    Lapis Lazuli –An International Literary Journal / Vol.II/ Issue I /SPRING 2012 ISSN 2249-4529 Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar The Clown: Tragic Tale of a Smashed World Saurabh Kumar Singh ______________________________________________________________________________ Salman Rushdie is, perhaps, the most controversial and political novelist of our troubled times. The world of his fictions and non-fictions accurately portrays the complex and confusing state of postcolonial world. Almost all of his major writings bear the testimony of his understanding and interpretation of history and the world, and their lasting influence on the life of common humanity. Shalimar The Clown (2005) is his most engaging book since Midnight's Children(1981). For so long a devout celebrant of postcolonial hybridity and diversity, of cultural fusion and merging, Rushdie is here grappling imaginatively with the shock of 11 September 2001 and the wars that have followed. He renders this very complex phenomenon in the following words: Everywhere was now a part of everywhere else. Russia, America, London, Kashmir. Our lives, our stories, flowed into one another’s, were no longer our own, individual, discrete. This unsettled people. There were collisions and explosions. The world was no longer calm. (Rushdie 2005:37) This fine novel reminds us that, unfortunately, we forget this at our peril. In this novel Rushdie has brilliantly portrayed the recent tragic history of Kashmir, the homeland of Rushdie’s maternal grandfather and one-time favourite location for Rushdie family holidays, had appeared only as a shadowy original for the Valley of K in the children’s fantasy Haroun and the Sea of Stories (1990), and as the point of departure for Aadam Aziz, cast out of paradise after losing his faith in Midnight’s Children.
    [Show full text]
  • Mapping out the Rushdie Republic
    Mapping out the Rushdie Republic Mapping out the Rushdie Republic: Some Recent Surveys Edited by Tapan Kumar Ghosh and Prasanta Bhattacharyya Mapping out the Rushdie Republic: Some Recent Surveys Edited by Tapan Kumar Ghosh and Prasanta Bhattacharyya This book first published 2016 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2016 by Tapan Kumar Ghosh, Prasanta Bhattacharyya and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-9784-1 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-9784-6 CONTENTS Preface ...................................................................................................... viii Abbreviations .............................................................................................. xi Introduction ............................................................................................... xii Salman Rushdie: Biography ............................................................... xxxviii An Interview: Timothy Brennan shares his views about Salman Rushdie with Tapan Kumar Ghosh and Sisir Kumar Chatterjee ........................... xliii Rushdie Worldview: Macro-Analyses Writing beyond Borders: Salman Rushdie and
    [Show full text]
  • Gilmour I ZOOMORPHISM in SALMAN RUSHDIE's NOVELS By
    Gilmour I GOATS AND GODS, DEMONS AND DOGS: ZOOMORPHISM IN SALMAN RUSHDIE'S NOVELS by Michael J. Gilmour A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of English University of Manitoba V/innipeg Copyright @ 2007 by Michaei J. Gilmour THE UNTVERSITY OF MANITOBA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STT]DIES *Jrtrrl¡t COPYRIGIIT PERMISSION GOATS AND GODS, DEMONS AND DOGS: ZOOMORPHISM IN SATMAN RUSHDIE,S NOVELS BY Michael J. Gilmour A ThesislPracticum submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The Universify of Manitoba in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree MASTER OF ARTS Michael J. Gilmour @2007 Permission has been granted to the University of Manitoba Libraries to lend a copy of this thesis/practicum, to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) to lend a copy of this thesis/practicum, and to LAC's agent (UMlÆroQuest) to microfilm, sell copies and to publish an abstract of this thesis/practicum. This reproduction or copy of this thesis has been made available by authority of the copyright owner solely for the purpose of private study and research, and may only be reproduced and copied as permitted by copyright laws or with express written authorization from the copyright owner. Salman Rushdie makes widespread use of bestial imagery in writings about the postcolonial subcontinent. This thesis examines Rushdie's use of zoological language and the metamorphosis of human characters into animals in Midnight's Children (1981), Shame (1983), The Satanic Verses (1988), and Shalimar the Clown (2005).
    [Show full text]
  • The Inheritance of a Lost Paradise: a Re- Evaluation of Salman Rushdie’S Shalimar the Clown Jenny Rathod, Ph.D
    International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences (IJELS) Vol-3, Issue-6, Nov - Dec, 2018 https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijels.3.6.44 ISSN: 2456-7620 The Inheritance of a Lost Paradise: A Re- Evaluation of Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar The Clown Jenny Rathod, Ph.D. Abstract— This research paper critically examines Salman who were born at that same hour, which marked the Rushdie’s novel Shalimar the Clown from a postcolonial, beginning of a new age in the history of the Indian historical and allegorical perspective. It looks at a key issue subcontinent. The novel has been seen as a fable about in the work: the loss of the Paradise that was Kashmir and modern India . Rushdie’s third novel Shame, which was the implications and consequences of that loss. The novel is published in 1983, is about the political history of Pakistan, a combination of fiction, history, magic realism and depicted through characters who are based on Zulfikar Al allegory. It looks at the terrible tragedy of Kashmir through Bhutto and General Zia Ul Haq. Both these novels employ the powerfully drawn characters of Boonyi, Shalimar, Max the technique of magic realism and represent the the outlook and India. The characters reflect the fates of their nations. of an immigrant, especially as a member of the post- They are doomed to self-destruct. Their inheritance is an independence diaspora.. It was the publication of The inheritance of pain and loss. Shalimar is Rushdie’s tribute Satanic Verses in 1988, which ran into controversy leading to a lost homeland which has been destroyed by violence.
    [Show full text]
  • Theme of Love in Shalimar the Clown
    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH CULTURE SOCIETY ISSN: 2456-6683 Volume - 4, Issue - 2, Feb – 2020 Monthly, Peer-Reviewed, Refereed, Indexed Journal Scientific Journal Impact Factor: 5.245 Received on : 20/02/2020 Accepted on : 28/02/2020 Publication Date: 29/02/2020 THEME OF LOVE IN SHALIMAR THE CLOWN DR.PRABHA PARMAR Assistant professor, department of English School of humanities and social sciences SGRR University, pathri bagh campus, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India Email- prabhaparmar122gmail.com Abstract: Shalimar the clown is a famous novel written by famous writer Salman Rushdie. Love is an important theme among other themes taken by Salman Rushdie in his novels. He describes many types of love in his novels. First of all, it is important to discuss about love as what it is. Laurence Lerner writes about love ‘What is Love ? And what can we know about it?’ ‘In a yet unpublished monograph, ’ writes a sociologist, ‘ the writer has developed a theory of intersexual attraction and love which holds that love is an affectionate response to one who is instrumental in the gratification of an individual's needs. One more philosopher Walter Dias also defines love as it is popularly asserted glibly that love is a euphemism or euphuism for the magnetic sexual attraction, or lust-ridden infatuation, generated by the sex-urge seeking satisfaction of the desires of the flesh. We can define the categories of love as - sexual love, parental (and filial) love, friendship, spiritual (and divine) love. Salman Rushdie also involves various types of love in his novels.This is a novel about love and revenge.
    [Show full text]
  • Rewriting History: a Study of Shalimar the Clown and the Collaborator As Counter Narratives of the Kashmir Conflict
    Rewriting History: A Study of Shalimar the Clown and The Collaborator as Counter Narratives of the Kashmir Conflict A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Philosophy in English by B. Raghavi (Reg. No.1630018) Under the Supervision of Abhaya N B Associate Professor Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University) BENGALURU, INDIA July, 2018 Approval of Dissertation Dissertation entitled Rewriting History: A Study of Shalimar the Clown and The Collaborator as Counter narratives by B Raghavi 1630018 is approved for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in English. Supervisor ___________________ ___________________ Chairperson ___________________ ___________________ General Research Coordinator ___________________________________________ Date: ………………… Place: Bengaluru Declaration I B Raghavi hereby declare that the dissertation, titled ‘Rewriting History: A study of Shalimar the Clown and The Collaborator as Counter narratives’ is a record of original research work undertaken by me for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in English. I have completed this study under the supervision of Abhaya N B, Associate Professor, Department of English. I also declare that this dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship or other title. It has not been sent for any publication or presentation purpose. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation.
    [Show full text]
  • 'ANTI-LOVE' in SALMAN RUSHDIE's SHALIMAR the CLOWN Dr. V
    International Journal of Asian History, Culture and Tradition Vol.5, No.4, pp.1-10, December 2018 ___Published by European Centre for Research Training and Development UK (www.eajournals.org) INTERPLAY OF ‘LOVE’ AND ‘ANTI-LOVE’ IN SALMAN RUSHDIE’S SHALIMAR THE CLOWN Dr. V. Vidya Assistant Professor, Bishop Heber College, Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu. ABSTRACT: The lines - “They killed you,” Zoon Misri told Boonyi ... “They killed you because they loved you and you were gone.” (SC 235) – epitomize the interplay of love and anti-love in Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown. This paper aims to study how this unique interplay falls in line with Hillis. J. Miller’s concept about polar opposites. The love between Boonyi and Shalimar in this novel, like a membrane, ‘divides inside from outside’ into constructive and destructive forces and yet joins in ‘a hymeneal bond’ and allows ‘an osmotic mixing’, making love constructive, love destructive, love hatred, love revenge, love joy, love humiliation, love pain, love violence, love pleasure, love suffering, love source of life, love death and so on. This paper analyses how this queer juggling of love and anti-love catches up with that of Miller’s explanation about the logic of the ‘para’ (Miller 443). KEYWORDS: Love, Anti-Love, An Osmotic Mixing, Uncanny Antithetical Relation INTRODUCTION Interplay of ‘Love’ and ‘Anti-love’ in Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown Is love desire? Is love pleasure? Is it ambition? Is it power? Absolutely no! It is pure sensitivity – being sensitive to the other without getting caught in the shenanigans of ego. When love is entangled in the grip of ego, one thinks about his/her wants and the conflict with the other begins, and this disrupts the sense of belonging.
    [Show full text]
  • LITERATURE F
    International Journal of English and Education 306 ISSN: 2278-4012, Volume:3, Issue:1, January 2014 STRIPPING OFF HUMANITY IN SALMAN RUSHDIE’S SHALIMAR THE CLOWN Dr. Vijeta Gautam, M.A., B.Ed., M.Phil., Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of English Government Raza Post Graduate College Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, India Abstract: This article focuses on the transformation of an innocent clown into an international terrorist in Salman Rushdie’s novel ‘Shalimar the Clown’. It shows the globalization of terror, intricately mingling lives and countries and finding unexpected and sometimes tragic connections between the seemingly disparate. This article reminds that nationhood and identity are not one and the same. People are too mutable to be contained by borders, too good at shape-shifting, and yet, wars are still fought in spite of this knowledge. Sometimes a person fights for an idea, other times he does so because someone has stolen his wife. The novel delves deep into the roots of terrorism and explores the turmoil generated by different faiths and cultures attempting to coexist and shows the global consequences of actions and emotions like love, honour, betrayal and revenge. Keywords : Globalization, Terrorism, Turmoil, Revenge, Emotion. The world is growing smaller day by day. We hear this idea expressed and witness its reality in our lives through the people we meet, the products we buy, the food we eat and the movies we watch. Salman Rushdie’s novel ‘Shalimar the Clown’ shows private and public, poor and rich, East and West are intimately connected everywhere especially in this age of the globalization of markets, media, state violence and fundamentalist movements.
    [Show full text]