--Saleem's view; |
|
India's history | family history |
the world war ended | Aziz + Naseem |
1915---massacre
at Jallianwalla Bagh in Amritsar.
|
Gradfather's
nose
S's skin a crack when telling this story p. 36 |
optimism disease,
Humming bird
1942 Mian Abudullah--1945 8/9 revelation and arrest p. 68 |
cracks in the
earth p. 48
mother's false marriage; p. 70 |
1946-6 | Mumtaz (Amina)+ Ahmed |
transition of power -- British imperialism | W. Methwold 109; residents changed p.113 |
BkII 1947 8/15--Independence |
BkII birth of midnight's children |
confusion 1956: 5 yr plan, election's coming, language marchers | confusion in S's head 203-04 |
businessmen turn white | father turn white 212 |
1956 --the linguistic reorganization of states | the Washing Chest Accident |
1957
--
language marchers |
the Circus ring
accident p. 223
S triggers of the violence that leads to state partition 229 |
1957 election, in which the Communist party won a large number of seats | S follows his
mother to P Cafe
the manslaughter of Homi Catrack by Commander Sabarmati [Nanavati] Cyrus Dubash made into a religious-cult leader |
the blood of the rioters | Monkey and Evie's fight; mother's blush |
mother's affair at the cafe | Sabamarti affair |
1958 | the Midnight
Children's Conference 1957-58
hopes to pull together again in 1962. |
MC attacked Saleem | The Chinese attacked Indians |
The Sinais move permanently to Pakistan early in Feb. 1963. | |
1965--Indo-Pakistani war | |
Shiva's explosion into S's life | India's arrival at a Nuclear age |
1975 6/25,
Indira Gandhi's Emergency Rule
1976--two of Sanjay Gandhi's projects: clearance of Delhi slums and pavements, and mass vasectomy camps to reduce population growth. 1977--election in which Indira Gandhi's Congress is defeated |
1975 6/25
the birth of Aadam Sinai
1976 420 children in captivity 1977 1/18 ectomy |
¥¦æÃö«Y§Y¬O·t³ë¦¡(metaphorical)Ãö«Y¡A¥æ¿ùÃö«Y§Y¬O¹ê»Ú(literal)Ãö«Y¡A
ÂĪL¤S§ó¶i¤@¨B±N¤§¤À¬°¥D°Ê¡Ð¹ê»Ú¡B³Q°Ê¡Ð¹ê»Ú¡B¥D°Ê¡Ð·t³ë¡B³Q°Ê¡Ð·t³ë¥|ºØÃö«Y(285-86)
"The metaphors underlying the literal narrative of history'history as the record of a body's growth, as the detection of a hidden original crime, and as the product of a transpersonal consciousness'are embodied in the life of Saleem Sinai" (47)
"The majority of the magical elements in MC derive from allegory and the literalization of metaphor" (59).
1) the personal take on public meaning
(perforated sheet--fragmented viewpoint--memory--national
fragmentation)
S' s heritage p. 124 Tai's teeth and brandy bottle
Aziz and Naseem's perforated sheet 75--Ahmed and Amina's love in fragments p.75--Saleem's life p. 124 in fragments; 141 daily glimpses of myself--fragmentation
washing chest as a hole in the world, a place which civilization has put outside itself...
2) the public become the personal
a. spittoon--the old men's
--Saleem's family heritage
--an agent of his "purification"
--substituted by an empty Dalda Vanaspati
can
Spittoon-- p. 68; p. 104; p. 45-46 vs.
the Raj; summary of its history 342; 535--appropriated by Saleem, the intellectuals,
as well as Nadir Khan, to mean several different things ; lost it forever
515
"The story of Saleem does indeed lead him to despair. But the story is told in a manner designed to echo, as closely as my abilities allowed, the Indian talent for non-stop self-regeneration. This is why the narrative constantly throws up new stories, why it 'teems'. The form--multitudinous, hinting at the infinite possibilities of the country--is the optimistic counterweight of Saleem's personal tragedy.
"[The optimism] resides in the people, . . . the people have enormous energy and invention and dynamism, are not passive, and that kind of turbulence in the people is, I suspect, where the optimism lies ("Midnight's Children and Shame" 17 Kunapipi 7 (1985): 1-19.).
Saleem'self-centeredness? "I am
the sum total of everything that went before me, of all that I have seen
done, of everything done-to-me....To understand me, you'll have to swallow
the world." 457-58
Saleem's self-centeredness
p. 115; p.124
his telepathy-the thoughts
he jumped into were his 207--illusion of an artist
"the spirit of self-aggrandizement
which seixed me then was a reflex, born of an instinct for self-preservation."
Saleem vs. Shiva -p. 271 dislikes Shiva "I disliked the roughness of his tongue, the crudity of his ideas, and I was beginning to suspect him of a string of terrible crimes--although I found it impossible to find any evidence in his thoughts..."
Saleem vs. Shiva 307;
Shiva the commander; the war hero 486
--490 S "I have allowed
his account too much space"
the rivalry between Saleem
and Sinai=the age 515
the magicians' ghetto
474-// the Communist movement in India 476
Picture Singh
the lower class: | women: change his life 229 |
Lifafa Das p. 82
Wee Willie Winkie p. 116 Mary & Joseph 119 Durga the washerwoman 532 Padma'hate his self-reflexivity 72 dripping in p. 38; paean to Dung 30 impatient 116; angered 142 |
grandmother'being asked to
take off her purdah 33 whatitsname 42
Amima B. Monkey = Jamila Singer--subject to the exaggeration and simplification of self and right-and-wrong nationalism 375 Mary E. Burns Aunt Alia vengeful 395 |
©s¥[©Ô¿W¥ß¾Ô®É¡AÂĪL¿ò§Ñ¹L¥h¡A³Q¤Ú°ò´µ©Z¬F©²§Q¥Î¬°¡uÂy¤ü¡v¡A°l®·©s¥[©Ô¿W¥ßx¡C ¦b¤@ÓÀYÆ`¥|´²¡A¸£¼ß¾î·¸ªº¾Ô³õ¡A¥L¬Ý¨ì¤F¤@¦ì¾ß¬B«ÍÅé¤W¥i¥Î¤§ª«(scavenge)ªº¹A¥Á¡C ®M¤W¼wÁɦ諸µü¡A³o¦ì¹A¥Á°½ÅÑ«ÍÅ骺°]²£¡A¨Ã³c½æ¥Lªº±¡³ø¥H¨D¥Í¡A¬O¥L§Q¥Î²{¦³¸ê·½ ("make do with what¡ehe has¡f")©è¨îÅé¨î(°ê®a¡B¾Ôª§)ªº¤è¦¡¡C¹A¥Á¦Vx¶¤¨DÄǪº¸Ü¹D¥X¤ F¤j²³¤å¤Æªº¥Í©R¤O¡G¡u¼K¡B¬Oªº¡A¼K¡B¬Oªº¡A§Úªº¤j·Ý¡A¤Hn¬¡¤U¥h¡F¥Í·N¤]n§@¤U¥h¡A ¤j·Ý¡A¤£¹ï¶Ü¡H¡v("Ho yes. Ho yes, my sir, life must go on; trade must go on, my sir, not true?" 445) ¦ýÂĪL¹ï³oºØ©è¨î¤O¡A´ýµM¤£Ä±¡F¥L©ÒÃö¤ßªº¥u¬O¹ï¤â¦è¥ïªº®ø®§¡C ¼w¥[¥¤¤ô»Pºë¤O¥R¨K¡A¥Nªí¡u·s©_¡v¡B¡u¶}ºÝ¡v¡C¦ý¹ïÂĪL¦Ó¨¥¡A¦o¬O¡u¹L¤@¤Ñ§Ñ¤@¤Ñªº©Çª«¡v¡B ¡u§l¦å°¡v¡A¥L¡u¦Ñ¤j¤£±¡Ä@¡v»{ÃѦo¡A©Î±N¦o¼g¤J¥»®Ñ¤¤(532)¡C¦Ó¼w¥[©O¡A ¦bÂĪLµ¹¦oµuµuªº½g´T¤¤¡A¤@»y¹D¯}¥L¦æ±N´N¤ìªº¤ßºA¡G¡u§A¸Ó¤F¸Ñ¡A·í¤@Ó¤H¹ï·sªº¨Æª« ¥¢¥h¿³½ì®É¡A¥L´N¤w¥´¶}°ªùÃö¤F¡I¡v("You should understand that when a man loses interest in new matters, he is opening the door for the Black Angel." 533)¡C ¦¦b²Õ´¡u¤È©]¨à¤k¤j·|¡v¤§ªì¡AÂĪL´N«D±`¤£³ßÅw¦è¥ï¡G¡u¤£³ßÅw¥L¨¥»y²Ê«U¡A«ä·Q²Ê³¥¡A ...ÃhºÃ¥L´c³eº¡¬Õ¡Ð¡ÐÁöµM¦b¥L«ä·Q¸Ì§ä¤£¨ìÃÒ¾Ú¡v("I disliked the roughness of his tongue, the crudity of his ideas, and I was beginning to suspect him of a string of terrible crimes--although I found it impossible to find any evidence in his thoughts..." 271)¡C¬°¤F¤½¥¡AÂĪL¨S¦³±N¦è¥ï±Æ°£¦b¥~¡A¦ý¦Ü®Ñ§À¡A¥L©Úµ´ ªá½g´T¸ÑÄÀ¦è¥ïªº°Ê¾÷(490)¡AµM«á¡A¤S¹ïŪªÌ»¡ÁÀ¡A»¡¦è¥ï¦º¤F(529)¡I ³QÂĪL´LºÙ¬°¡u¥Nªí²{¦bªº½¬ªá¤k¯«¡v("lotus-goddess of the present" 177)¡A ©¬ªºº¿¬OӨ嫬ªº¼g¹êªºÅªªÌ(Realist reader)¡AÀH®É´°«PÂĪL±Äª½½u±Ôz¡A¤£n®Ç¥ÍªK¸`¡C ÂĪL©Ó»{©¬ªºº¿¹ï¥L·¥¦³¼vÅT¡G¦oªº¡u¤g®ð¡v("earthiness")º¯¤J¥L¡A¦o±aµ¹¥LªÖ©w("certainties")¡B·Å·x¡A ¨Ï¥L¤£P»P²{¦b²æ¸`(38; 187; 233)¡C¦ý¥t¤@¤è±¡A³o¦ì½¬ªá¤k¯«¤´¬O¥X©ó¡u¦Ãªd¡v¡ÐÁT«Kªº ¡]½¬ªá¤k¯«¤S¦W¡u¾Ö¦³ÁT«Kªº¤H¡v"The One Who Possess Dung"(21¡^¡C ¦bÂĪL²´¤¤¤Îµ§¤U¡A©¬ªºº¿ªº¦a¦ì¬O§C¤Uªº¡C¤@¤è±¦o¬O¤@Ó¤£ºÙ¾ªºÅªªÌ¡G¬JµLªk¯uªº¤F¸ÑÂĪL¡A
¥Ñ¥H¤W¨Ò¤l¡A§ÚÌ¥i¬Ý¥X¡GÂĪLªº¥tÃþ¾ú¥v¦¨¥\¦a¿ÓÀÀ¤F°ê®a¾ú¥v¡A¦ý¹ï¤j²³¤Î¨ä¤å¤Æ¡A
|
the past 12
It maybe be argued that the past is a country from which we have all migrated, that its loss is part of our common humanity. ...Meaning is a shaky edifice we build out of scraps, dogmas, childhood injuries, newspaper articles, chance remarks, old films, small victories, people hated, people loved.
p. 17 This is what the triple disruption of reality teaches migrants: that reality is an artifact, that it does not exist until it is made, and that, like any other artefact, it can be made well or badly, and that it can also, of course, be unmade. ...The migrant intellect roots itself in itself, in its own capacity for imagining and reimagining the world.
Pakistan and Migrants Rushdie
Although I have known Pakistan for a long
time, I have never lived there for longer than six months at a stretch...I
have learned Pakistan by slices...however I choose to write about over-there,
I am forced to reflect that in fragments of broken mirrors...I must reconcile
myself to the inevitability of the missing bits. ...
What is the best thing about migrant peoples and seceded nations? I think it is their hopefulness...
And what is the worst thing? It is the emptiness of one's luggage....We have floated upwards from history, from memory, from Time. (70-71)
"the ability to see at once from inside and out is a great thing, a piece of good fortune which the indigenous writer cannot enjoy." ("A Dangerous Art Form" 4)
Ahmad: As formulations of this kind become the manifest common sense of the metropolitan intelligensia, dutifully reproduced in the literary productions and pronouncements of 'Third World intellectuals' located within that milieu, one wonders what these cultural positions--the idea of origin being a mere 'myth'; the doubleness of arriving at an excess of belonging by not belonging; the project of mining the resource and raw material of 'Third World Literature' for archival accumulation and generic classification in the metropolitan university--might have to do with this age of late capitalism in which the most powerful capitalist firms, originating in particular imperialist countries but commanding global investments and networks of transport and communication, proclaim themselves nevertheless to be multinationals and transnationals." (In Theory. p. 130)
Krishnaswamy--1. Myth of migrancy vs. historical reality:
"Rushdie dematerializes the migrant into an abstract idea." (132) Indians of different classes and gender migrate to different places.
2. [Naipaul's eternal exile and Rushdie's permanent migrancy share one feature]: "a deterritorialized consciousness freed from such collectivities as race, class, gender, or nation, an unattached imagination that conveniently can become cosmopolitan and subaltern" (139).
Issue for discussion:
compare Rushdie's identity politics
with B. Muherjee's (loss-of-face meltdown," "reincarnation") or Suleri's
(meatlessness)?