Shame on Them: : When Culture and Politics Meet in Salman Rushdie’s Shame

Abstract

Contemporary Indian writer Salman Rushdie has become a famous author, celebrated by his witticism and his courage to touch upon themes considered dangerous, such as politics and religion, more specifically, Islam. Although his most famous novels are Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses, his third novel Shame, continues to explore many issues raised in Midnight’s Children, such as the ethnic tension between Indians and Pakistanis, and anticipates others found in The Satanic Verses, such as criticism of religion. This thesis attempts to explore such themes and others in this third novel, Shame. The novel fictionalizes historical events, adding many cultural elements to its narrative. This work’s project uses such cultural elements, such as family and marriage, to analyze the political situation in Pakistan.The main goal to analyze the delicate relationship between politics and culture, going through a variety of other themes such as women, the role of history, colonial and postcolonialism and religion, using concepts from literary theory, such as postcolonialism, magical realism and satire.