The Terrible Power of Metaphor

Two novels by Salman Rushdie, "Midnight's Children" and "The Satanic Verses", are here analyzed, together with some essays contained in "Imaginary Homelands" and "Step Across This Line". The starting point is the concept of performativity as expressed in the works of Austin and Derrida, de Man and Wittgenstein. How powerful can language be when it creates things? Several characters in both novels are considered both in the effects words have on their identities and personal history, but also as metaphors and metonymies of greater realities. In his essays Rushdie expresses his awareness of the power of literature to create and reveal the truth, and the connection between literature and otherness is to be an important key to interpret his works.

Autorentext

Born near Treviso, Italy, Martina Bertazzon studied Intercultural Studies in Trieste and Padua before focusing on Postcolonial English Literature at Ca' Foscari University of Venice. She edited the collection of essays "Scorci improvvisi di altri orizzonti" with Prof. Mario Faraone in 2008. She currently resides in London.

Klappentext

Two novels by Salman Rushdie, "Midnight's Children" and "The Satanic Verses", are here analyzed, together with some essays contained in "Imaginary Homelands" and "Step Across This Line". The starting point is the concept of performativity as expressed in the works of Austin and Derrida, de Man and Wittgenstein. How powerful can language be when it creates things? Several characters in both novels are considered both in the effects words have on their identities and personal history, but also as metaphors and metonymies of greater realities. In his essays Rushdie expresses his awareness of the power of literature to create and reveal the truth, and the connection between literature and otherness is to be an important key to interpret his works.