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. Dr. Nursel İçöz January 2010, 141 pages The aim of this dissertation is to trace the function of parody in the context of Salman Rushdie’s magical realistic fiction. The magical realism of Rushdie’s fiction presents a complex Third World experience which constitutes an alternative to, and challenges the Eurocentrism of western culture. The form and content of Rushdie’s novels are so intense and rich that the whole body of his work comes to the fore, not as an outcome of the two clashing civilisations, that is East and West, but rather as an immense medley of the two cultures. While “writing back to the empire”, Rushdie draws on innumerable sources ranging from such grand narratives as Genesis, Iliad, Ramayana, A Thousand and One Nights, Hindu, Persian, Greek, and Norse mythologies, and local cultural traditions, to modern politics mingling fiction and reality in a broad historical perspective, so that his work becomes a synthesis of East and West, an international aesthetic plane where diversities express themselves freely. The dissertation focuses particularly on Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, The Moor’s Last Sigh,and Shalimar The Clown.; it contains an introductory chapter, a theory chapter, including two subchapters, a development chapter with three subchapters which analyse the above iv mentioned three novels, and a conclusion chapter. The introductory chapter presents an overview of the issues to be investigated in the subsequent chapters. The theory chapter deals with the concepts of colonialism, nationalism, and the past and the present of postcolonial literary theory with reference to its leading theorists, such as M. Foucault, E. Said, H. Bhabha, and other recent critics; this chapter also introduces magical realism by reference to a number of current definitions and approaches. The following three subchapters, which focus on the analyses of the three novels, explore how parody functions both thematically and structurally in relation to Rushdie’s magical realism. The concluding chapter demonstrates that Rushdie’s work creates an unrestrained plane of an international culture where multiple visions and diversities can find a room to assert themselves. Keywords: Parody, carnivalesque parody, magical realism, postcolonial literature, Salman Rushdie. v ÖZ SALMAN RUSHDIE’NIN MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN, THE MOOR’S LAST SIGH VE SHALIMAR THE CLOWN BAŞLIKLI ROMANLARINDA KURGULADIĞI PARODİNİN BÜYÜLÜ GERÇEKÇİLİK BAĞLAMINDA İNCELENMESİ Tekin, Kuğu Doktora, İngiliz Edebiyatı Bölümü Danışman: Prof. Dr. Nursel İçöz Ocak 2010, 141 sayfa Bu tezin amacı Salman Rushdie’nin romanlarında kurguladığı parodinin büyülü gerçekçilikle olan ilişkisini ortaya koymaktır. Rüştü’nün romanlarındaki büyülü gerçekçilik, üçüncü dünyalının batı kültürünün Avrupa merkeziyetçiliğine meydan okuyan farklı ve çetrefilli deneyimlerini aktarmaktadır. Rüştü’nün romanları biçim ve içerik açısından o kadar yoğun ve zengindir ki, ortaya çıkan sonuç doğu ve batı olarak ayrıştırılan iki uygarlığın çatışması değil, bu iki kültürün muazzam bir karışımıdır. Rüştü romanlarında Genesis, A Thousand and One Nights, Iliad, Ramayana gibi büyük anlatıları, Hint, Pers, Yunan ve Kuzey mitlerini, yerel kültürel gelenekleri ve modern siyasi yaklaşımları geniş bir tarihsel çerçeve içinde, kurgu ve gerçekliği harmanlayarak farklı olanın kendini özgürce ifade edebildiği bir doğu-batı sentezi, uluslararası edebi ve estetik bir kültür yaratır.Tez yazarın Midnight’s Children, The Moor’s Last Sigh ve Shalimar The Clown başlıklı romanlarını incelemektedir. Tez, bir giriş bölümü, iki alt bölümden oluşan bir kuram bölümü, yukarıda belirtilen üç romanı inceleyen ve üç ayrı vi alt bölümden oluşan bir gelişme bölümü ve sonuç bölümünden oluşmaktadır. Giriş bölümü tezde incelenen konuları genel olarak tanıtmaktadır. İki alt bölümden oluşan kuram bölümü sömürgecilik ve milliyetçilik gibi kavramlarla, kolonileşme sonrası edebiyat kuramının geçmişini ve şimdiki durumunu Foucault, Said, Bhabha gibi önde gelen kuramcılara göndermeler yaparak incelemektedir, kuram bölümü ayrıca büyülü gerçekçiliği çeşiti kuramcılardan alıntılar yaparak tanımlamaktadır. Üç romanın üç ayrı alt bölümde incelendiği gelişme bölümü parodinin tematik ve yapısal işlevini ve bu kurgunun büyülü gerçeklikle olan ilgisini araştırmaktadır. Tezin sonuç bölümü, Rüştü’nün eserleriyle doğu ve batı arasında çok önceden çizilmiş keskin sınırları silerek farklı görüşlerin ve anlayışların varlıklarını özgürce ortaya koyabildikleri uluslararası bir kültür yarattığını göstermektedir. Anahtar kelimeler: Parodi, karnaval parodisi, büyülü gerçekçilik, kolonileşme sonrası edebiyatı, Salman Rushdie. vii To my loved ones, Uğurtan, Sabiha, Ahmet, Yağız Ahu- Onur, and Duru viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am greatly indebted to Prof. Dr. Nursel İçöz for her invaluable help and guidance throughout this study, also for the constant moral support and encouragement she has given me throughout this study. Without her, this thesis would never have been completed. I wish to express my gratitude to Prof. Dr. Oya Batum Menteşe and Assist. Prof. Dr. Margaret J-M. Sönmez for their positive attitude and constructive criticism throughout this study. My sincere thanks are also forwarded to Assist. Prof. Dr. Gökşen Aras and Instructor Zeynep Rana Selimoğlu for their constant encouragement, technical support and invaluable friendship. I also extend my sincere thanks to Dr. John Mark Vanderheide for providing me with all the primary sources. Finally, I offer my deepest gratitude to my family, Uğurtan, Sabiha, Ahmet, Yağız, Ahu, who have smoothed this path for me with their love and understanding, and above all, to Duru for being my muse, my endless source of inspiration. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM………………………………………………………………………..iii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………….….iv ÖZ………………………………………………………………………………….….vi DEDICATION ..…………………………………………………………………….viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………….…ix TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………………...x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………....1 1.1 The aim and the Scope of the Study…………………………………….....1 2. THE THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY ……………….......6 2.1 History of British Colonial Expansion in the Late 18th and 19th Centuries………………………………………………………………...6 2.2 Colonial Nationalism, Anti-Colonial Resistance, Post Colonialism and Postcolonial Discourse………………………………………………18 3. ANALYSES OF THE NOVELS PARODY in RUSHDIE’S MAGICAL REALISTIC FICTION................................................................................30 3.1 Midnight’s Children.................................................................................30 3.2 The Moor’s Last Sigh…………………………………………………..59 3.3 Shalimar The Clown…………………………………………………... 89 4. CONCLUSION...............................................................................................120 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………...125 x CURRICULUM VITAE……………………………………………………………130 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: TURKISH SUMMARY………………………………………133 xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 The aim and the Scope of the Study This dissertation attempts to explore the function of parody in the context of Salman Rushdie’s magical realistic fiction. To this end, the first step to be taken is to focus on colonial and postcolonial periods. The first part of the theory chapter entitled “British Colonial Expansion in the Late 18th.and 19th. Centuries” deals with the history of British imperialism, its power mechanisms and institutions, its motives and justifications, that is the ideas which brought about the late 18th. and 19th. centuries’ colonial expansion; information about colonial literature, with particular emphasis on Indo-Anglian