How spot on. My caveat, though, is that I hesitate to disregard the actual palpable violent impact of physical agony, such as Rushdie did suffer. I think we sometimes shortchange the pain of others a bit easily. The body has its own calculus, right? My second thought is a different reading at least of Midnight’s Children. I feel there Rushdie applied his knife/cudgel democratically to the west AND the nonwest, though of course he was also playing the provocateur role as you incisively say. He was young and cocky. Also, be it India or Pakistan, or some fluidity straddling both, I’d argue that not to critique the neonationalisms of both post-1947 is a bit myopic.
In closing may I say that your The Upstairs Wife is one of my favorite reads of the last some years, and I’ve taught it in graduate courses.
No surprise that he's a mouthpiece for PEN America.
Dear Rafaria,
How spot on. My caveat, though, is that I hesitate to disregard the actual palpable violent impact of physical agony, such as Rushdie did suffer. I think we sometimes shortchange the pain of others a bit easily. The body has its own calculus, right? My second thought is a different reading at least of Midnight’s Children. I feel there Rushdie applied his knife/cudgel democratically to the west AND the nonwest, though of course he was also playing the provocateur role as you incisively say. He was young and cocky. Also, be it India or Pakistan, or some fluidity straddling both, I’d argue that not to critique the neonationalisms of both post-1947 is a bit myopic.
In closing may I say that your The Upstairs Wife is one of my favorite reads of the last some years, and I’ve taught it in graduate courses.
Best,
Nandini