“Bastardizing” The Conference of the Birds in Salman Rushdie’s Grimus

Grimus has been largely ignored by postcolonial critics and is seldom studied on its own terms. This paper examines the iconoclastic, pattern-breaking pattern of Rushdie’s first novel. A parody of The Conference of the Birds – an allegory by the major twelfth-century Persian poet Attar – Grimus is c...

Descrizione completa

Salvato in:
Dettagli Bibliografici
Pubblicato in:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/ces,
Autore principale: Heydari-Malayeri, Mélanie
Natura: Article ou chapitre numérique
Lingua:Anglais
Pubblicazione: Commonwealth Essays and Studies 2021
Accesso online:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Descrizione
Riassunto:Grimus has been largely ignored by postcolonial critics and is seldom studied on its own terms. This paper examines the iconoclastic, pattern-breaking pattern of Rushdie’s first novel. A parody of The Conference of the Birds – an allegory by the major twelfth-century Persian poet Attar – Grimus is characterized by a carnivalesque sense of the world. The novel challenges the foundation upon which this masterpiece of Sufi literature is constructed, revealing Rushdie’s deep-seated aversion to the bogey of authenticity.