SALMAN RUSHDIE

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Born June 19, 1947- same year that India gained
independence
Father was a teacher, and Rushdie was always
surrounded by books
Attended a private school in Bombay and a
boarding school in England

 Grew up in a Muslim family

Grandfather was devout, but
held conversations with Rushdie
when he questioned the
religion.
Targeted by Muslim extremist
after publishing The Satanic
Verses
After graduating from
Cambridge, he moved back
with family in Pakistan

WORKS
From Imaginary Homelands
An outsider: viewing everything from different
perspectives

WORKS
The Satanic Verses
Cultural Exile
Personal Identity/ Metamorphosis
What is being expressed is a discomfort with a
plural identity. And what I am saying to you and
saying in the novel - is that we have got to come
to terms with this. We are increasingly becoming
a world of migrants, made up of bits and fragments
from here, there. We are here. And we have
never really left anywhere we have been. -Rushdie

CULTURAL CONTEXT
British Colonization ended in 1947
Reluctant to leave due to tension between Hindus
and Muslims
Created 2 separate countries when ending
colonization (Pakistan and India)
Over 2 million people fled into the country of their
religion (including Rushdie's family)

REFERENCES
"Salman Rushdie." - Literature. Web.
"Salman Rushdie." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web.
Kakutani, Michiko. "Critic's Notebook; 'The Satanic Verses': What Rushdie Wrote." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Feb. 1989. Web.
MOJTABAI, A. G. "Magical Mystery Pilrimage." NYTimes. 29 Jan. 1989. Web.
"The National Archives | Education | British Empire | End of the British Empire | India |
Background." The National Archives | Education | British Empire | End of the British
Empire | India | Background. Web.
Towers, Robert. "Always the Outsider." NYTimes. 2 June 1991. Web.