Haroun and the Sea of Stories Background

Author: Salman Rushdie

• Discuss...

What is the purpose of telling stories that are not true?

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Rushdie was born in Bombay (Mumbai), India in 1947 to a middle class Muslim family.

His family moved to Pakistan as part of the Muslim exodus during the war between Pakistan and India.

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Rushdie went to boarding school and college in England in the 1960s. He later lived in London.

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In 1988, Rushdie wrote this book, the Satanic Verses, and that’s when his troubles began.

Extremism

• Holding extreme views (usually political or religious) and acting in extreme ways based on those views.
• Intolerance of any other viewpoints.
• Use of or encouragement of violence against those who hold other views.
• Use fear/terrorism to accomplish goals.

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The Satanic Verses

• A magical realism novel by Rushdie inspired by the life of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam
• The text received very positive reviews from the United Kingdom, but resulted in an outrage amongst Muslims
• Political controversy in the aftermath of the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses.

In February, 1989 Ayatollah Khomeini (religious leader and politician) issued a fatwa against Rushdie, and

offered a $1 million reward for his death.

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Fatwa: a ruling given by a recognized authority

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• Khomeini saw the text as a blasphemous insult to Islam

The actual Fatwa Text:

“The author of The Satanic Verses, a text written, edited, and published against Islam, against the Prophet of Islam, and against the Koran, along with all the editors and publishers aware of its contents, are condemned to capital punishment. I call on all valiant Muslims, wherever they may be in the world, to execute this sentence without delay, so that no one henceforth will dare insult the sacred beliefs of the Muslims.” Fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini, Feb. 1989.

The Impact

• The Satanic Verses was banned in India and many other countries. Some countries imposed fines and prison.
• B. Dalton and Waldenbooks chains removed the novel from their shelves, 1/3 of the bookstores in the country.
• Two bookstores in California and five in Britain were bombed.
• Japanese translator was stabbed to death.
• Italian translator was wounded.
• Hotel where Turkish translator was staying was burned down.
• Norwegian translator was shot, but survived.
• 19 people were killed and 160 people were injured in riots around the world.

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Rushdie went into hiding in London under the protection of the British government.

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He has issued two apologies, but the fatwa has not been withdrawn.

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The Iranian state news agency repeated that the fatwa “will be in effect forever.”

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The bounty on Rushdie’s life is now at $3 million.

Attack on Rushdie: 8/12/22

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When the fatwa went into effect, Rushdie was forced to separate from his family, for his safety and theirs. His son Zafar was nine at the beginning of the fatwa.

• Rushdie wrote Haroun and the Sea of Stories for Zafar, in 1990 just after he went into hiding in London.

Rushdie said it was important that Zafar read it as a child to maintain the connection with his father.

He said it was important that Zafar read it as an adult to understand what had happened to his father and their family.

Rushdie has continued to publish novels and win awards.

Haroun’s Dedication:

Z embla, Zenda, Xanadu

A ll our dream-worlds may come true.

F airy lands are fearsome too.

A s I wander far from view

R ead, and bring me home to you.

Allusions

Review: what is an allusion?

• This novel is FULL of allusions to literature, music, and pop culture.
• Even the dedication has allusions:

Haroun’s Dedication:

Z embla, Zenda, Xanadu

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Zembla is a reference to Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Pale Fire

• A king is forcefully removed. The new rulers of Zembla then send an assassin to kill him.

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Zenda is a reference to the novel The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope.

• A king is drugged and kidnapped before his coronation amongst political unrest

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Xanadu

• The location of Coleridge’s poem, “Kubla Khan”

HATSOS is an Allegory

• Allegory: Characters and events are symbols that stand for ideas about human life or for a political or historical situation

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• Haroun appears to be a children's book, but it is truly an allegory of the fight between the imagination, the forces of freedom, and the forces of censorship
• Rushdie becomes the character Rashid, a professional storyteller

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Magic Realism

• Magic elements are a natural part in an otherwise mundane, realistic environment

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“When a highly detailed, realistic setting is invaded by something too strange to believe.“

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