Legality of Cannabis by U.S. Jurisdiction

Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Scottshen (talk | contribs)
20 edits
No edit summary
Scottshen (talk | contribs)
20 edits
No edit summary
Line 17: Line 17:
}}
}}


Sir '''Ahmed Salman Rushdie''' ({{lang-hi|सलमान रश्दी}} [[Urdu]]: سلمان رشدی; born [[19 June]] [[1947]]) is a [[United Kingdom|British]]-[[India]]n novelist and essayist. He first achieved fame with his second novel, ''[[Midnight's Children]]'' (1981), which won the [[Booker Prize]]. Much of his fiction is set on the [[Indian subcontinent|subcontinent of India]]. Increasingly, however, the dominant theme of his work has become the long, rich and often fraught story of the many connections, disruptions and migrations between the East and the West.
'''Ahmed Salman Rushdie''' ({{lang-hi|सलमान रश्दी}} [[Urdu]]: سلمان رشدی; born [[19 June]] [[1947]]) is a [[United Kingdom|British]]-[[India]]n novelist and essayist. He first achieved fame with his second novel, ''[[Midnight's Children]]'' (1981), which won the [[Booker Prize]]. Much of his fiction is set on the [[Indian subcontinent|subcontinent of India]]. Increasingly, however, the dominant theme of his work has become the long, rich and often fraught story of the many connections, disruptions and migrations between the East and the West.


His fourth [[novel]], ''[[The Satanic Verses]]'' (1988), provoked violent reactions from [[Islamic fundamentalism|radical Muslims]]. After [[death threats]] and a ''[[fatwa]]'' (religious ruling) issued by [[Iranian]] [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] calling for his [[assassination]], he spent years underground, appearing in public only sporadically. During the last decade, however, he has resumed a normal literary life. He was made a [[Knight Bachelor]] in June 2007,<ref>http://www.honours.gov.uk/upload/assets/www.honours.gov.uk/queens_birthday_list2007.pdf</ref> which has raised eyebrows of the Muslim communities around the world<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6760927.stm</ref>.
His fourth [[novel]], ''[[The Satanic Verses]]'' (1988), provoked violent reactions from [[Islamic fundamentalism|radical Muslims]]. After [[death threats]] and a ''[[fatwa]]'' (religious ruling) issued by [[Iranian]] [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] calling for his [[assassination]], he spent years underground, appearing in public only sporadically. During the last decade, however, he has resumed a normal literary life. He was made a [[Knight Bachelor]] in June 2007,<ref>http://www.honours.gov.uk/upload/assets/www.honours.gov.uk/queens_birthday_list2007.pdf</ref> which has raised eyebrows of the Muslim communities around the world<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6760927.stm</ref>.

Revision as of 18:29, 18 June 2007

Salman Rushdie
Born (1947-06-19) June 19, 1947 (age 76)
Bombay, Bombay Presidency, India
OccupationAuthor
GenreMagic Realism

Ahmed Salman Rushdie (Hindi: सलमान रश्दी Urdu: سلمان رشدی; born 19 June 1947) is a British-Indian novelist and essayist. He first achieved fame with his second novel, Midnight's Children (1981), which won the Booker Prize. Much of his fiction is set on the subcontinent of India. Increasingly, however, the dominant theme of his work has become the long, rich and often fraught story of the many connections, disruptions and migrations between the East and the West.

His fourth novel, The Satanic Verses (1988), provoked violent reactions from radical Muslims. After death threats and a fatwa (religious ruling) issued by Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini calling for his assassination, he spent years underground, appearing in public only sporadically. During the last decade, however, he has resumed a normal literary life. He was made a Knight Bachelor in June 2007,[1] which has raised eyebrows of the Muslim communities around the world[2].

Personal life

Rushdie was born into a Muslim family in Mumbai (then called Bombay), India. He was educated at Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai and Rugby School and King's College, Cambridge, where he read history. Following an advertising career with the firms Ogilvy & Mather and Ayer Barker, he became a full-time writer. Rushdie is married to actress Padma Lakshmi, host of U.S. TV show Top Chef, his fourth wife.

In 1999, Rushdie had an operation to correct a tendon condition that was making it increasingly difficult for him to open his eyes. "If I hadn't had an operation, in a couple of years from now I wouldn't have been able to open my eyes at all," he said.[3]

Career

Major literary work

Salman Rushdie presenting his book Shalimar the Clown

His first novel, Grimus (1975), a part-science fiction tale, was generally ignored by the book-buying public and literary critics. His next novel, Midnight's Children (1981), however, catapulted him to literary fame. It also significantly shaped the course that Indian writing in English would follow over the next decade. This work won the 1981 Booker Prize and in 1993 was awarded the 'Booker of Bookers' as the best novel to have received the prize during its first 25 years.[4] After the success of Midnight's Children, about the birth of the modern nation of India, Rushdie wrote Shame (1983), in which he depicts the political turmoil in Pakistan by basing his characters on Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. Shame won France's Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger (Best Foreign Book) and was a close runner-up for the Booker Prize. Both of these works are characterised by a style of magic realism and the immigrant outlook of which Rushdie is very conscious, as a member of the Indian diaspora. In the 1980s, Rushdie visited Nicaragua, the scene of Sandinista political experiments, and this experience was the basis for his next book, The Jaguar Smile (1987).

In his 2002 nonfiction collection Step Across the Line, he professes his admiration for the Italian writer Italo Calvino and the American writer Thomas Pynchon, amongst others. His early influences included James Joyce, Günter Grass, Jorge Luis Borges, Mikhail Bulgakov, and Lewis Carroll.

India and Pakistan were the themes of Midnight's Children and Shame, respectively, examples of postcolonial literature. In his later works, Rushdie turned towards the Western world with The Moor's Last Sigh (1995), exploring commercial and cultural links between India and the Iberian peninsula, and The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999), which presents an alternative history of modern rock music. Midnight's Children receives accolades for being Rushdie's best, most flowing and inspiring work, and many of Rushdie's post-1989 works have been critically acclaimed and commercially successful. His 2005 novel Shalimar the Clown received, in India, the prestigious Crossword Fiction Award, and, in Britain, was a finalist for the Whitbread Book Awards. It is shortlisted for the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.[5]

Other activities

Rushdie has mentored – though quietly – younger Indian (and ethnic-Indian) writers, influenced an entire generation of 'Indo-Anglian' writers, and is an influential writer in postcolonial literature in general.[6] He has received many plaudits for his writings, including the European Union's Aristeion Prize for Literature, the Premio Grinzane Cavour (Italy), and the Writer of the Year Award in Germany. He is also a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. Rushdie was the President of PEN American Center from 2004 to 2006.

He opposes the British government's introduction of the Racial and Religious Hatred Act, something he writes about in his contribution to Free Expression Is No Offence, a collection of essays published by Penguin in November 2005. Avowedly secular, Rushdie is a self-described atheist. He is a distinguished supporter of the British Humanist Association.

On October 6, 2006, it was announced that Rushdie would be joining the Emory University faculty as Distinguished Writer in Residence for one month a year for the next five years.[7]He is currently working on a book set in the Mughal Empire and Renaissance Italy. Though he enjoys writing, Salman Rushdie says that he would have become an artist if his writing career was not successful. Even from early childhood, he drew pictures and sculpted long before he took an interest in writing.

He was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June 2007. He remarked "I am thrilled and humbled to receive this great honour, and am very grateful that my work has been recognised in this way."[8] The Iranian Foreign Ministry qualified the honoring of "a hated apostate" as Islamophobic.[9]

The Satanic Verses controversy

File:The Satanic Verses.jpg
The Satanic Verses (1988), 2006 Vintage paperback edition

See The Satanic Verses for a timeline of the events.

The publication of The Satanic Verses in September 1988 caused immediate controversy in the Islamic world because of what was perceived as an irreverent depiction of the prophet Muhammad. The title refers to a Muslim tradition that is related in the book. According to it, Muhammad (Mahound in the book) added verses (sura) to the Qur'an accepting three goddesses that used to be worshipped in Mecca as divine beings. According to the legend, Muhammad later revoked the verses, saying the devil tempted him to utter these lines to appease the Meccans (hence the Satanic verses). However, the narrator reveals to the reader that these disputed verses were actually from the mouth of the Archangel Gibreel. The book was banned in many countries with large Muslim communities. Muslim anger is directed mainly at the suggestion in the book that the religion of Islam was founded by Muhammad after experiencing hallucinations caused by smoking hashish and that his vision of the angel Gabriel was only that, a drug-induced hallucination. [citation needed] His biggest critics were his peers, such as Roald Dahl (author of children's books) who called him "a dangerous opportunist", Germaine Greer who called him "an Englishman with dark skin" and Hugh Trevor-Roper who said "I would not shed a tear if some British Muslims should waylay him in a dark street". (http://weeklywire.com/ww/02-08-99/tw_book1.html)

On 14 February 1989, a fatwa requiring Rushdie's execution was proclaimed on Radio Tehran by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran at the time, calling the book "blasphemous against Islam." A bounty was offered for the death of Rushdie, who was thus forced to live under police protection for years to come. On 7 March 1989, the United Kingdom and Iran broke diplomatic relations over the Rushdie controversy. In this manner Khomeini became more popular, even in Sunni countries, and many Sunni figures approved of his fatwa[citation needed].

Meanwhile, further violence occurred around the world, with the firebombing of bookstores. Muslim communities throughout the world held public rallies in which copies of the book were burned. Several people associated with translating or publishing the book were attacked and seriously injured or killed[10].

On 24 September 1998, as a precondition to the restoration of diplomatic relations with Britain, the Iranian government, then headed by moderate Mohammad Khatami, gave a public commitment that it would do nothing to harm Rushdie.[11] But the hardliners in Iran have continued to reaffirm the death sentence.[12] In early 2005, Khomeini's fatwa was reaffirmed by Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a message to Muslim pilgrims making the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.[13] Additionally, the Revolutionary Guards have declared that the death sentence on him is still valid.[14] Iran has rejected requests to withdraw the fatwa on the basis that only the person who issued it may withdraw it.[13]

Salman Rushdie reported that he still receives a "sort of Valentine's card" from Iran each year on February 14 letting him know the country has not forgotten the vow to kill him. He was also quoted saying, "It's reached the point where it's a piece of rhetoric rather than a real threat."[15] Despite the threats on Rushdie, he has publicly said that his family has never been threatened and that his mother (who lived in Pakistan during the later years of her life) even received outpourings of support.[16]

Other controversies

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia

Rushdie supported the 1999 NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, leading Tariq Ali to label Rushdie and other 'warrior writers' as the belligerati.[17]

October 2006 Jack Straw veil controversy

In 2006, Rushdie stated that he supported comments by the Leader of the House of Commons, Jack Straw, criticising the wearing of the niqab. Rushdie stated that his three sisters would never wear the veil, that it was a limitation on women. He said, "I think the battle against the veil has been a long and continuing battle against the limitation of women, so in that sense I'm completely on [Straw's] side."[18]

Salman Rushdie in popular culture

List of published works

Awards

Awards that Rushdie has won include the following:

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.honours.gov.uk/upload/assets/www.honours.gov.uk/queens_birthday_list2007.pdf
  2. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6760927.stm
  3. ^ "Rushdie: New book out from under shadow of fatwa", CNN, April 15, 1999. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  4. ^ "Previous winners - 1981". The Booker Prize Foundation. 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
  5. ^ "The 2007 Shortlist". Dublin City Public Libraries/International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
  6. ^ Rushdie's postcolonial influence
  7. ^ "Salman Rushdie to Teach and Place His Archive at Emory University". Emory University Office of Media Relations. Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  8. ^ "June 15th 2007 Rushdie knighted in honours list". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-06-16.
  9. ^ "British knighthood for Rushdie, clear sign of Islamophobia". Iranian Foreign Ministry / IRNA. Retrieved 2007-06-17.
  10. ^ See Hitoshi Igarashi, Ettore Capriolo, William Nygaard.
  11. ^ "26 December 1990: Iranian leader upholds Rushdie fatwa". BBC News: On This Day. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  12. ^ Rubin, Michael (1 September 2006). "Can Iran Be Trusted?". The Middle East Forum: Promoting American Interests. Retrieved 2006-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ a b Webster, Philip, Ben Hoyle and Ramita Navai (January 20 2005). "Ayatollah revives the death fatwa on Salman Rushdie". The Times Online. Retrieved 2006-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Iran adamant over Rushdie fatwa". BBC News. 12 February 2005. Retrieved 2006-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Rushdie's term". Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  16. ^ "Cronenberg meets Rushdie".
  17. ^ Michael Mandel, How America Gets Away With Murder, Pluto Press, 2004, p60
  18. ^ Wagner, Thomas (10 October 2006). "Blair, Rushdie support former British foreign secretary who ignited veil debate". SignOnSanDiego.com. Retrieved 2006-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ ""An Evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp: Readings and questions #2, August 2, 2006"". Accio Quote!. 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-11.

External links

Interviews


Template:Persondata

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Salman_Rushdie&diff=prev&oldid=139029716