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Interested
Joined: 10 Feb 2003
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 Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:23 pm Post subject: The Salman Rushdie Affair (for those in their 30s +) |
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Curious.
For those old (or aware) enough to pay attention to the happenings in the late 80s and early 90s regarding the controversy over the Satanic Verses: What did you make of it at the time? |
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Kimbop
Joined: 31 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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| I maked of it the same thing I maked of the controversy surrounding the mohammat cartoons. |
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Interested
Joined: 10 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Kimbop wrote: |
| I maked of it the same thing I maked of the controversy surrounding the mohammat cartoons. |
Yeah, but at the time it was something quite unprecedented in recent times. The only thing that came near was the controversy over Lady Chaterley's Lover. Most Britons had never really thought about Muslims (or even knew they or the Quran existed). Hitchens described it as "The opening shot in a war on cultural freedom." So I'm interested in what people recall of their thoughts/feelings during that particular incident. I'm interested in the perspectives/revelations/etc they had in that time. I'm not so interested in how it is seen in hindsight. |
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patongpanda
Joined: 06 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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I went on a Boy Scouts outing to the IMAX cinema in Bradford.
There were lots of angry goat-bearded men protesting with threatening sign-boards. We laughed at them and they glared at us.
Later that day, I got mugged at knifepoint whilst eating a chip butty.
(By an indigineous native).
My dad went out and bought Satanic Verses, though he had no intention of reading it.
In those days we had onions on our belts, it was the style at the time. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:00 pm Post subject: |
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At the time, I was on Barnes & Nobles' mailing list because of some previous mail-order book purchases. When the controversy started some book stores announced they were taking Satanic Verses off the shelf to 'protect their sales clerks'. B & N was one of them.
I wrote to them telling them, because of their cowardly decision, I wanted them to remove me from their mailing list. Never bought another book from them. |
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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee
Joined: 25 May 2003
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:12 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Japanese Translator of Rushdie Book Found Slain
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN,
Published: Saturday, July 13, 1991
Japanese translator of "The Satanic Verses," by Salman Rushdie, was found slain today at a university northeast of Tokyo.
The translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, 44 years old, was an assistant professor of comparative culture who reportedly studied in Iran in the 1970's. The police said he was stabbed several times on Thursday night and left in the hallway outside his office at Tsukuba University.
It is the second time this month that someone involved with the production of the novel by Mr. Rushdie, the Indian-born author condemned to death by the Iranian authorities two years ago, has been assaulted. On July 3, Ettore Capriolo, 61, the Italian translator of "The Satanic Verses," was stabbed in his apartment in Milan... |
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/13/world/japanese-translator-of-rushdie-book-found-slain.html?sec=&spon=&&scp=2&sq=Japanese%20Translator%20of%20Rushdie%20Book%20Found%20Slain%20&st=cse |
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Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:49 am Post subject: |
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I started reading it out of curiosity, but I guess God made me put it down. 
Actually, the guys falling out of the airplane was just too far fetched and I never get back to it.
Now the book that I really enjoyed was The Haj, by Leon Uris. Excellent historical (novel) account of Jews and Arabs living side-by-side in Palestine. And as for it being pro-Israeli, I didn't find that at all. On the contrary, my sympathies lie with the Palestinians who called the land home. THAT was good storytelling, imho. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:52 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| For those old (or aware) enough to pay attention to the happenings in the late 80s and early 90s regarding the controversy over the Satanic Verses: What did you make of it at the time? |
As far as the fatwa itself went, I think I basically just shrugged it off as the kind of craziness you'd expect from the Ayatollah and Company.
I recall at my university, the English faculty held a public reading of the novel in protest. I was rather ambivalent about this method of protest. Supposedly they were just defending Rushdie's right to free speech, but if the Ayatollah had launched a fatwa against Larry Flynt, I doubt any academics would be reading from Hustler at public gatherings. Even if they did support Flynt's right to publish what he wants.
Overall, it does seem to me that Rushdie, for whatever reason, gets a bit of a pass from the "politically-correct" Left. I know leftists who were foaming at the mouth about the supposed racism of the Danish cartoons, and when I asked them if they felt the same way about The Satanic Verses, they said "Oh well, that's different blah blah blah". This despite the fact that Muslims seemed as offended by the Verses as they were at the cartoons, and Rushdie himself is as vehement as anyone in his attacks on Islam. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Kikomom wrote: |
Now the book that I really enjoyed was The Haj, by Leon Uris. Excellent historical (novel) account of Jews and Arabs living side-by-side in Palestine. And as for it being pro-Israeli, I didn't find that at all. On the contrary, my sympathies lie with the Palestinians who called the land home. THAT was good storytelling, imho. |
The Haj was pretty pro-Israeli, though. |
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Interested
Joined: 10 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee wrote: |
| Quote: |
Japanese Translator of Rushdie Book Found Slain
By STEVEN R. WEISMAN,
Published: Saturday, July 13, 1991
Japanese translator of "The Satanic Verses," by Salman Rushdie, was found slain today at a university northeast of Tokyo.
The translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, 44 years old, was an assistant professor of comparative culture who reportedly studied in Iran in the 1970's. The police said he was stabbed several times on Thursday night and left in the hallway outside his office at Tsukuba University.
It is the second time this month that someone involved with the production of the novel by Mr. Rushdie, the Indian-born author condemned to death by the Iranian authorities two years ago, has been assaulted. On July 3, Ettore Capriolo, 61, the Italian translator of "The Satanic Verses," was stabbed in his apartment in Milan... |
http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/13/world/japanese-translator-of-rushdie-book-found-slain.html?sec=&spon=&&scp=2&sq=Japanese%20Translator%20of%20Rushdie%20Book%20Found%20Slain%20&st=cse |
What's the point of this? You haven't discussed your own recollections.
Yes, the Japanese translator was killed. The Norwegian translator was also attacked (but survived). More gruesome than any of this, the hotel where the Turkish translator was staying was set on fire, and although he escaped, 37 others lost their lives.
But what were your thoughts at the time? |
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Interested
Joined: 10 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| Overall, it does seem to me that Rushdie, for whatever reason, gets a bit of a pass from the "politically-correct" Left. I know leftists who were foaming at the mouth about the supposed racism of the Danish cartoons, and when I asked them if they felt the same way about The Satanic Verses, they said "Oh well, that's different blah blah blah". This despite the fact that Muslims seemed as offended by the Verses as they were at the cartoons, and Rushdie himself is as vehement as anyone in his attacks on Islam. |
Not sure who the "politically-correct" left are, or if I've ever talked to one, so I'm not sure where they are coming from. But, for arguments sake, I might point out that Rushdie came from a muslim background, and was to some extent exploring his own experiences as an Indian born Muslim turned atheist brought up in Britain.
What was the editor who asked for cartoons of Mohommad trying to achieve? I think their objectives were probably different.
Rushdie knew very well he'd cause some outrage, but expected it to be limited with things like angry letters to the Observer, and a few Imams having a hissy fit. That Danish editor must surely have known he was dealing with something very explosive. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:00 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Not sure who the "politically-correct" left are |
Yeah, I really debated my terminology before posting that. I don't usually use the phrase "politically correct", because I regard it as basically a right-wing buzzword. But I couldn't come up with another term to express the ideological tendency I was trying to get at.
I guess what I meant was leftists who take it upon themselves to champion the interests of various marginalized cultural groups. Which I suppose would include me, going by that definition. Perhaps the quickness with which some people take offense is the defining criteria.
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But, for arguments sake, I might point out that Rushdie came from a muslim background, and was to some extent exploring his own experiences as an Indian born Muslim turned atheist brought up in Britain.
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True, but it's pretty obvious to me that the leftists who opposed the Danish cartoons were taking their cues from the reaction of some Muslims. Had no Muslims expressed offense at the cartoons, I really doubt that these leftists would have bothered protesting by themselves.
My point is that a lot of Muslims expressed the same sort of sentiments about The Satanic Verses, yet there was much less criticism from the Left against that book. Furthermore, whatever his original intention in writing the novel, Rushdie is now pretty clearly in the "highly critical of Islam" camp. Here's a friendly interview he did with Irshad Manji, a woman despised among the leftist tendency I was referencing earlier.
http://tinyurl.com/cwdmcx
As you can see from reading the interview, Rushdie is pretty much on the same page as Manji when it comes to Islamic issues. Yet, in some progressive circles, Manji is subjected to vitriol of an intensity that I rarely, if ever, see directed against Rushdie. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:03 am Post subject: |
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| Wow in the hell would "progressive circles" find offense at the most progressive muslim Canadian around? |
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Rum Jungle
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: North Asia
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| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 11:08 am Post subject: |
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Studying at USyd at the time. Not much noise on campus about the fatwa, I remember arguing it with it an older student and he said, re the increasing number of hijabs that women Muslim students were wearing, "This will fade out, given assimilation.'
The BBC panel discussion I saw later on tv about the fatwa with Cat Stevens and Fay Weldon was more lively. "Why don't you call the police (to the host) and arrest this man?" said Fay after Cat clumsily tried to explain what the Ayatollah was meaning. |
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Leslie Cheswyck
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile
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| Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:25 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Not sure who the "politically-correct" left are |
Yeah, I really debated my terminology before posting that. I don't usually use the phrase "politically correct", because I regard it as basically a right-wing buzzword. But I couldn't come up with another term to express the ideological tendency I was trying to get at.
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Needn't fuss about it too much; the lefties coined the term themselves in all earnestness. |
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