Scrapbook Entry 5
Natalie Powers
Book Title- The Satanic Verses
Author- Salman Rushdie
Terms and Concepts:
The Satanic Verses is written by the controversial writer,
Salman Rushdie. I did not have much background knowledge of Muslim culture or religion, aside from mainstream media portrayals, before reading the Satanic
Verses. Many of the Hindi words used I did not know the meaning of. There are too many of these words used to define individually, but I understand that the author was trying to intertwine cultures this way. Unfamiliarity with the
Muslim religion caused some confusion when reading this book. For example, I
don’t know the story of Muhammad, who the prophets are, or the 5 pillars of
Islam. Researching these topics gave me a greater understanding of the novel.
Qur’an- When I first saw this word I didn’t know how to
pronounce it in Arabic so I didn’t make the connection that this word in
English is commonly seen as the Koran. I know the Koran is the sacred text of
the Muslim religion and would be the Muslim equivalent of the Bible. It was
helpful to do some general research about Muslim religion and Islamic culture
because I was fairly unfamiliar with many terms before reading The Satanic
Verses. It would be nearly impossible to define them all, but it is important
to know that there were many words in Arabic used throughout the text.
Multicultural- While the theme of the novel surrounds
Islamic culture, allusions to other cultures and religions are made.
International- While this is not the novel that originally
made Salman Rushdie famous, it certainly did grab international attention.
Critics and supporters from around the globe gave their opinions about the
novel. In the extreme cases, some nations and cultures supported political
actions against Rushdie that still continue on today including the fatwa from
Khomeini and recent travel restrictions in India. The range of international
impact The Satanic Verses has had reaches all the way to our university when
Salman Rushdie visited ECU last semester.
Magical Realism- This is the writing style which blends elements of fantasy
and reality to convey themes through symbolism. Rushdie uses magical realism in
The Satanic Verses when he
Islam- The religion which strongly opposes idolatry, polytheism, associating
anything or anyone with God. This monotheistic religion is dictated by the Qur’an,
with 5 specific pillars of Islam stating detailed ideals of Islam. Islam
believes that Muhammad is the last prophet of God, Allah.
The Author’s Conclusion:
The Satanic Verses
is a novel that is complex, allegorical, and widely praised and criticized. As
proven by the world-wide media, interpretation of the novel can be taken in a
variety of ways. When reading or interpreting the novel, it is hard not to
think of the controversy it has caused internationally. The extreme nature of
the fatwa from Ayatollah Khomeini placed on Rushdie in 1989 is one major
instance among many that are still occurring today. Knowledge of the
controversies this novel has caused led me to read it with a critical eye,
looking out for themes or sections that would be the cause of this controversy.
Salman Rushdie is not trying to necessarily convince the
reader to subscribe to a certain belief, or to side with a particular argument.
The Satanic Verses does make references to religion through magical realism,
but in an effort to make the reader question different values associated with
religion and society.
The Author’s Argument:
The complexity of The Satanic Verses is conveyed through the
many themes of death and re-birth, transformation, good vs. evil, validity of
religion, and identity just to name a few. While each is developed concurrently
throughout the novel, I would agree with a statement made during our class
discussion that through the many symbolisms and themes, Rushdie’s main goal was
to make the reader question everything in life.
The reader should not only question what is right and wrong, good and
evil but rather what does “right” even mean? What does “evil” really mean? Where do we get these traditional definitions
we have always known and how do we know they are true? Rushdie uses religious
sub-contexts because religion removes the aspect of questioning what is good
and what is evil from devout followers. Blind faith traps individuals into
thought patterns that don’t allow for deviation or inclusion of any people who
have different beliefs.
There is irony of specific character traits and behaviors
being associated with titles that do not align. For example, angelic qualities
that are typically associated with being pure, holy, righteous, and inherently
good do not define the behaviors or qualities of Gibreel who is said to have
become “angelic” after the plane crash. Instead of being righteous, Gibreel,
whose name relates to the archangel Gabriel in Christianity, throws someone off
a roof! In contrast, after the plane crash Saladin transforms into and evil
goat like creature but behaves nicely and makes an effort to fit into English
culture.
Magical realism plays a
large part in developing the characters throughout the novel. A series of
dreams weave together several plots within the minds of Gibreel and Saladin.
Rushdie uses events from real life, such as the crash of flight AI-420 or the
attempted walk on water to Kerbala in Iraq of 38 fanatical Shi’ites in 1983, to
further emphasize the blend of reality and fantasy. The stories of Mahound, Mirza
Saeed Akhtar, Ayesha, and Baal are all intertwined with the ongoing
transformations of Gibreel and Saladin. Rushdie crafts the novel in this way in
order to make allusions and connotations to larger political, social, and
religious issues through fictitious stories.
Place in Course content:
Throughout our course we have been discussing the role of
post-colonial writers and what their purposes are in writing certain novels.
This refers to not only the themes and message the writer is trying to convey,
but the larger view he or she holds about what the writer’s purpose is in
relation to society as a whole. Salman Rushdie exerts his power as a
post-colonialist writer in a way which identifies with the mission of many
other literary-greats who also write novels that make society question the
current status quo of multicultural relations. Rushdie held the belief that
Islam had been taken over by a powerful clan of clerics and wrote “The Satanic
Verses” as way of responding.
Salman Rushie was not writing to get famous, and he did not
intend to write this novel in a controversial manner so that the book itself
would gain fame. His role as the writer was to make people question the meaning
of traditional values, in a non-traditional method. The writing style which
Salman Rushdie uses in this novel, magical realism, is similar to that
innovated by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I
thought that the use of magical realism and symbolism to tell allegorical
stories makes the reader question these values on a subconscious level. This all goes back to the chapters from
Mindsets we read towards the beginning of the semester. A person’s world-view
is the lens through which they view all other people, thoughts, and ideas.
Conflict is reduced and can even be eliminated when a person is able to
understand their own worldview, yet still accept that other people possess
their own mindsets that may be different, but no less in value.
During our discussion of The Satanic Verses the issue of
controversy came up several times. The notion that controversy spreads messages
quickly is definitely one that is demonstrated in this novel. During this
discussion I thought it was interesting that someone brought up the KONY 2012
viral facebook video. While my classmates brought up the point that it is “sad”
that many people only know about issues like this through a social media sight,
I stand by my belief that any way of spreading knowledge to bring about
positive change for humanity is a good one. Sometimes educating the world about
an issue or suppressed group of people is done by raising awareness. This
awareness can be done in many cases how we have been studying this semester
post-colonial literature. Although the stories are different and the goals of
the writers aren’t all the same, the common thread is to give light to that
which has been hidden in the darkness and a voice to those that have been
silenced for far too long. We in this class, at this university are lucky to
have the opportunity to discuss such issues. I think this opportunity of
knowledge acquisition also presents us with a responsibility to spread
awareness and education to those not presented with the same opportunities. By
all means, if facebook and twitter can get the word out about international
issue to reach billions of people in one day, then it is a useful tool and
shouldn’t be discounted because it is social media. Literature has been a vehicle for awareness
and change, and I think now as technology evolves it is sharing the stage with
the world wide web.
Additional Interesting Information
I think it is important to learn about the books and the
authors through other articles or videos about them because it gives us a new
perspective on the work and author. The overall goal of many of these novels is
to give a new perspective to one that has been formerly unheard. Therefore, I
think it does justice to the writers and their novels to learn about them from
a variety of sources.
Guardian article- http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jan/11/salman-rushdie-satanic-verses
This article, “How one book ignited a culture war,” provides
an interesting take on how the Satanic Verses shaped the geopolitical and
literary world in the past 20 years. It raises the point that threats like the
fatwa from Khomeini are a type of censorship by fear.
But The Satanic Verses remains a book about the struggles of
migration and the frictions of cultural exchange. It pokes fun at all manner of
targets, not least America and Britain. Above all, perhaps, it dramatises the
conviction that there is nothing more sacred than the freedom to question what
is sacred. Twenty years on, it's a principle that urgently needs to be
remembered.
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