Forging National Identity. Salman Rushdie and (Post)colonial Violence
Forging National Identity. Salman Rushdie and (Post)colonial Violence

Summary/Abstract: This article deals with the issue of violence in its colonial stages in South-Asia and also in its everyday postcolonial manifestations, as reflected in three novels by Salman Rushdie: Midnight's Children, Shame and Shalimar the Clown. The symbolic violation of the National Body by the Imperial transgressor leads to national identity forging in the case of three territorial units once part of the British Empire: India, Pakistan and Kashmir. Violence is regarded as the basis of this quest for national identity; it is a dimension of people's existence, not something external to society and culture. Moreover, it is a cultural construct, a potential in essence that is given shape and content by specific people (victims and perpetrators, as well as witnesses) caught in conflicts that they can no longer control, within the context of their particular histories. Also, it is an "intricately layered phenomenon", with each participant and witness bringing their own perspectives, which can vary dramatically.

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