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Exploring Postcolonial and Magic Realism in Salman Rushdie's "The Prophet's Hair"

This session examines the thematic functions of postcolonial elements and magic realism in Salman Rushdie's story "The Prophet's Hair" (1981). We will discuss the interplay between literary and cultural studies, considering how the text reflects and constructs cultural identities. The lecture will delve into postcolonial narratives, highlighting the complexities of former colonies as hybrids. We'll also touch on the significance of language in cultural expression, using insights from Ngugi wa Thiong'o and John Agard. Join us for a critical exploration of identity, representation, and narrative strategies.

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Exploring Postcolonial and Magic Realism in Salman Rushdie's "The Prophet's Hair"

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  1. TextualAnalysis and TextualTheory Session Six Søren Hattesen Balle English Department of Culture and Identity

  2. Agenda • Introduction: the summary assignment for today and next time • Introduction: today’s session • Presentation: • cultural studies, postcolonial studies, postcolonialism • magicrealism • Classroomdiscussion: • Salman Rushdie, ”The Prophet’sHair” (1981) • the thematicfunctionsof postcolonial and magic realist elements in Rushdie’s story

  3. Narrative: literary studies vs. cultural studies • the literarytext vs. the culturaltext • highliterature vs. products of popularculture, massculture, media culture, consumerculture, minorityculture • autonomousaesthticwhole vs. ’signifyingpractices’ (of modernculture): meaning, identity, representation, and agency • complexity, beauty, insight, universality, value vs. the functioning of culturalproductions/theconstruction of culturalidentities

  4. Narrative: literaryintocultural studies • the literarytextstudied as a cultural ’signifyingpractice’ (just likeanyotherculturalobject) • the literarytextexpressesorrepresentsculture vs. the literarytextcreatesorconstructsculture • culture is the sourceorcause of literaryrepresentations (foreground< background) vs. culture is the effectof literaryrepresentations (foreground> background) • the literarytext has an ideologicalorpolitcalfuntion • the literarytext as oppressiveorsubversive (of oppressivecultural forms)? • the relevance for postcolonialliteratures: English language and literature as expressions of colonialism

  5. Narrative: the postcolonial situation • Former coloniesare independent and free of colonialrule (postcolonial) • However, former coloniesremain dependent politically, economically, socially, ideologically, linguistically, aesthetically, etc. (neo-colonial) • Thus, former coloniesare hybrids, mongrels, and in-betweens (post-colonial)

  6. Narrative: copingwith the postcolonial situation Ngugivs John Agard and Rushdie • Ngugi • Return to ’harmony’ by transcendingcolonial alienation and embracingyour original culture and language (Gikuyu) • ”Languagecarriesculture …(2538)

  7. Narrative: copingwith the postcolonial situation Ngugivs John Agard and Rushdie • John Agard: embracing the languages of the colonised (West Indian Creole, British Guiana) and the coloniser (the Queen’s English). Writingbroken English is an attempt at breaking English linguistically, aesthetically, politically, etc…)

  8. Narrative: copingwith the postcolonial situation Ngugivs John Agard and Rushdie • John Agard, ”Listen Mr Oxford don” (1985) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywy-Tthdg7w

  9. Narrative: Copingwith the postcolonial situation Ngugivs John Agard and Rushdie • Rushdie: Embracing English as a global language (”The English languageceased to be the sole possession of the English some time ago”(2541)), but chutnifying it, spicing it up according to how it is used.

  10. Narrative: Salman Rushdie and ideas of multiplicity, pluralism, and hybridity • ‘My’ India has always been based on ideas of multiplicity, pluralism, hybridity: ideas to which the ideologies of the communalists are diametrically opposed. To my mind the defining image of India is the crowd, and a crowd is by its very nature superabundant, heterogeneous, many things at once. (2852)

  11. Narrative: Ethnic,cultural, ideological, politicallinguistic, aestheticvariety, diversity, and difference • Multiplicity vs. uniformity • Pluralism vs. essentialism, nationalism • Hybridity vs. purity • Heterogeneity vs. homogeneity

  12. Jean Rhys, ”The Day TheyBurned the Books” • Creoleidentity • A story aboutcolonialism • Images of colonialism

  13. Narrative: magicrealism • ”Thesewritersinterweave, in an ever-shiftingpattern, a sharplyetchedrealism in representingordinary events and descriptivedetailstogetherwithfantastic and dreamlike elements, as well as materialsderived from myth and fairy tales” (Abrams)

  14. Salman Rushdie, ”The Prophet’sHair” (1981) • Is "The Prophet'sHair" a work of magicrealismorpostcolonialismorboth? • Elements of realism, of magic? Why and howaretheyused? • Elements of postcolonialism: multiplicity, pluralism, hybridity. Why and howaretheyused?

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