Corso di Laurea (Vecchio Ordinamento, ante D.M. 509/1999) in Lingue e Letterature Straniere Tesi di Laurea Titolo The Rushdie Affair: an hypothesis of reading in the light of the publication of Salman Rushdie's memoir Joseph Anton Relatore Ch. Prof. Shaul Bassi Correlatore Ch. Prof. Roberta Cimarosti Laureando Valeria Pistolato Matricola 756946 Anno Accademico 2013 / 2014 A mio padre che è il mio passato e il mio presente A Jacopo che è il mio presente e il mio futuro A tutti coloro che non hanno mai smesso di credere in me anche nei momenti in cui io stessa avevo smesso di crederci ... E un po' anche a me stessa per tutto quello che è stato e che sarà RINGRAZIAMENTI Desidero ringraziare innanzitutto il mio relatore per avermi permesso di approfondire un argomento che da tempo destava il mio interesse personale. Desidero ringraziare il personale della Biblioteca di Area Linguistica BALI di Palazzo Cosulich per l'aiuto ricevuto in merito alla ricerca della bibliografia, nonché il personale della segreteria didattica e i tanti professori e colleghi che ho incontrato nel mio lungo e tortuoso percorso di studi che mi hanno sostenuto nel perseguimento di questo mio obiettivo. Desidero inoltre ringraziare la mia famiglia che ha rispettato la mia scelta di voler continuare gli studi nonostante il tempo trascorso inesorabilmente. Ringrazio mia cugina Silvia per il sostegno ricevuto nei momenti più difficili e per l'aiuto che mi ha dato nel disbrigo di alcune pratiche burocratiche. Ringrazio sentitamente i colleghi di lavoro che mi hanno sempre sostenuto e spinto a non mollare nei momenti in cui la stanchezza si faceva sentire maggiormente. Il mio pensiero va soprattutto ad Emanuele, che mi ha permesso di vedere e di discutere della mia tesi in un'ottica diversa, nuova, forse più attinente al suo percorso di studi che al mio, ma che in ogni caso si è rivelata essere un ottimo stimolo ad aprire la mente e a non vedere sempre le cose in un'unica direzione. Un particolare ringraziamento per il grande sostegno ricevuto va anche ad Elisa, Debora, Nicola, Lucia, Azzurra, Laura, Barbara, Silvia, Sandro e ai tanti colleghi che mi hanno sostenuto in questi anni passati fianco a fianco in tante situazioni. Ringrazio i tanti amici che mi hanno incoraggiata, sostenuta, ma anche sopportata nei miei momenti no, e che hanno sempre gioito con me per ogni mio piccolo passo avanti. Ringrazio gli amici di ogni giorno, gli amici di Facebook e gli amici di Twitter, in taluni casi ancora solo virtuali, ma per me ugualmente molto reali. Fra di essi, in nome della nostra pluridecennale amicizia, ringrazio Lara, Silvia, Erica, e i tanti che in questo momento sicuramente sto dimenticando. Non posso però dimenticare Raffaele, Monique, Emiliano e Maurizio, ma anche la dolce Georgia che, dal Regno Unito, ha passato lunghe serate a conversare con me su Twitter per aiutarmi a rendere più fluido il mio inglese. Ringrazio Giovanni che mi ha aiutato tanto nell'impaginazione della tesi, la dolce Nancy, Giuseppe, Cristiana, Cristina, Ketty, Rossella e tutto il favoloso gruppo dedicato agli Spandau Ballet, gruppo musicale della mia adolescenza i cui compontenti ringrazio uno per uno, per come mi è possibile, per essere stato l'inconsapevole ispirazione della mia passione per la cultura e la lingua inglesi. Come dimenticare, infine, il grande sostegno ricevuto su Twitter dai ragazzi di Radio Ca'Foscari? Grazie ragazzi, grazie davvero a tutti! Un ringraziamento speciale va ad Andrea, senza la cui spinta propulsiva non sarei mai stata capace di trovare la forza di arrivare a questo giorno. Grazie veramente a tutti, con tutto il mio cuore. ABSTRACT My dissertation examines The Satanic Verses Affair in the light of the recent publication of Salman Rushdie's memoir Joseph Anton, trying to offer an hypothesis of reading of the controversial Rushdie's book The Satanic Verses. Firstly, after an introductory part on Salman Rushdie's biography and a summary on the events narrated in the book object of my analysis, I try to focus on the context in which Rushdie lives and causes him to write the book, then I review the events related to the publication and the diffusion of The Satanic Verses with particular reference to the case of Italy. Secondly, I focus on the narrative characteristics of the text including the title, the construction of the text, the main characters and the point of view. Subsequently my discussion goes on with the analysis of the novel in relation to the author, the context and the main themes treated (particularly blasphemy and migration) trying to focus on my personal interpretation in the light of all the analysis. TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................7 1. THE CONTEXT .......................................................................................14 2. SALMAN RUSHDIE AND THE SATANIC VERSES ..............................25 2.1. Salman Rushdie Biography ................................................................25 2.2. The Plot of The Satanic Verses ...........................................................34 3. THE RUSHDIE AFFAIR...........................................................................42 4. THE SATANIC VERSES: AN HYPOTHESIS OF READING..................56 4.1. The Satanic Verses: A Narrative Analysis ..........................................63 4.2. The Satanic Verses: Themes ...............................................................83 4.3. The Satanic Verses: My Hypothesis of Reading ................................91 CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................99 APPENDIX .........................................................................................................105 BIBLIOGRAPHY…............................................................................................110 CRITICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................114 INTRODUCTION On 18th September 2012 Salman Rushdie published his memoir Joseph Anton dedicated to the thirteen years, one month and thirteen days, since 14th February 1989 to 27th March 2002, that he lived under protection, due to a death sentence (fatwa) issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran for the publication of his book The Satanic Verses, considered blasphemous. The fatwa was issued on Rushdie, on his publisher, the translators and, generally, on all the people involved in the publication of the book. Joseph Anton was the name that Rushdie chose for himself for his life under protection, due to his admiration for, respectively, Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov1. In particular these two authors could clearly explain the situation in which Rushdie was: Conrad wrote spy stories, but in particular the novel The Nigger of the 'Narcissus' which is the story of a sea voyage. The protagonist of The Nigger of the 'Narcissus gets on board even though he is suffering from tuberculosis. A passenger asks him why he put on the road even though he knew he was sick and he replies "I must live until I die", which is not only a sentence 1 "Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Consequences." Interview. Exberliner. Iomauna Media GmbH, 8 Nov. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. <http://www.exberliner.com/culture/salman-rushdie-i-must-live- until-i-die/> that recurs at the beginning and towards the end of The Satanic Verses but also the key concept emboding the perspective from which the novel was written. In writing Joseph Anton, Salman Rushdie refers to all the private and public events that have taken place over time following the publication of The Satanic Verses, on 26 September 1988. The wider protest movements spread all over the world, took place at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists who regarded Rushdie's novel as a blasphemous book, offensive to their religious beliefs because it ridiculed many aspects of the Qur'an, the sacred book of Islam. On 14th February 1989 Rushdie received a call from a BBC journalist who informed him of the death sentence issued on him by the Iranian leader. Since then, Rushdie has spent his time in lectures, discussions and interviews to explain that his intention was not to write a book making fun of the religion of Islam, being himself a Muslim, but to take a cue from some elements of the Muslim religion in order to write a novel, claiming the possibility, usually accorded to writers, to enjoy freedom of expression. also in terms of choice of the subject matter dealt with in the narrative. This was not enough to make sure that his life and that of his family did not suffer an abrupt change for more than thirteen years. Many writers devoted themselves to his defense, claiming the right to freedom of expression as an inviolable human right. Comments and opinions on The Satanic Verses spread in many intellectual circles, sometimes in favor, but in majority against the book. Among them most commentators admitted that they had not read the book, but to base their opinion on reviews appeared in newspapers or magazines. Who was against the book challenged mostly the unequal treatment designed to Islamic religion and its most representative figures, for the irreverence with which they are described. Anyway it is important to mention also Feroza Jussawalla, who attempted a different interpretation of The Satanic Verses on the basis of the past of India as British colony and as part of the Mughal Empire from Persia. Rushdie's language was the Persian Urdu and he was influenced by the Islamic religion for the form and content of his writings, as they have an Indian- Muslim background. According to Indo-Mughal tradition, love for the beloved is expressed in the form of lyric poetry (dastan-e-dilruba) or in a narrative form (dastan). For The Satanic Verses Rushdie chose the qissa, the story of legendary adventures in the form of dastan, but The Satanic Verses comes to be in the form of dastan-e-dilruba. Feroza Jussawalla asserts that: "[...] it is not the "rejection of Islam" - the beloved - [...] that Rushdie represents as much as love for the Islam - the religion - of the subcontinental soil, where it flourished under the Mughals and came into question at the end of Mughal dominance, where it was and is practiced in an atmosphere of mixing and merging."2 Rushdie's choice to use the Persian poetic form was misinterpreted, for example by Franz Fanon who saw this choice as a gimmick to hit the sensitivity of the Mughal and British colonizers, but also by Sara Suleri who saw this choice 2 Jussawalla, Feroza "Rushdie's Dastan-e-Dilruba: The Satanic Verses as a Love Letter to Islam" Critical Essays on Salman Rushdie. Ed. M. Keith Booker. New York: G. K. Hall, 1999. 82. as an obsessive attitude toward Islam; in fact Rushdie considered himself as a writer who defend Islam, but it is an Islam that he did not know, a secularized Islam, so when the fatwa was issued on him, he did not understand the reasons why the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini condemned him to death. In addition the form of the novel, what is important for my thesis is the interpretation that Rushdie gives about the text of The Satanic Verses. Very recently, in his memoir Joseph Anton, published in September, 2012, in an attempt to give his personal interpretation and explanation of The Satanic Verses, Rushdie makes reference to the act of migration and says "So if this novel is a novel about migration it must be that act of putting in question."3 My thesis stems from this statement, that is from the analysis of the several aspects of the text to find the appropriate grounds for the interpretation of The Satanic Verses as a text on migration. Looking at the course of history, the characters, the places, the language used, any narrative techniques, the point of view adopted and any other relevant matters of the text, I try to find all the appropriate justifications for this type of interpretation, that is all the elements that help to consider The Satanic Verses a text on migration. The first general part is dedicated to the context in which Rushdie writes his book. The second part dedicated to Rushdie's biography, integrated with the events that have taken place in the world following the publication of The Satanic Verses, and to the exposition of the plot. 3 Rushdie, Salman. Joseph Anton: A Memoir. London: Jonathan Cape, 2012. 72.