Tag Archives: Salman Rushdie

Why the GOP Is Quoting 1984

American authoritarians appropriating Orwell’s “1984” for their own use is itself an Orwellian move.

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Rushdie, a Voice for Reason

In a recent fantasy novel, Rushdie describes the forces that, last Friday, led to an attempted stabbing of the author.

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Liberal Arts vs. Authoritarians: Who Wins?

Can the liberal arts counter authoritarianism? I consider an optimistic argument that they can.

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Lit as Truth in a Self-Deceiving World

When many are suffering from cognitive dissonance, the truth of literature more important than ever.

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The Classics Represent a No Bullshit Zone

In a world where fake news threatens to bury us (and prolong the pandemic), literature represents a “no bullshit zone.”

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Trump’s Wall, Symbolic or Literal?

Monday Literature majors will find their training useful in understanding why Donald Trump has chosen to shut down the government. It has to do with the difference between the symbolic and the literal. A literal wall makes very little sense, with the $5.5 billion dollars that Trump is demanding from American taxpayers (not from Mexico) […]

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On the Damage Done by Religious Fanatics

Rushdie’s “Prophet’s Hair” is a humorous look at the damage that can be inflicted by fundamentalism. The observations apply to all kinds of fundamentalism.

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Using Lit to Battle Fake News

Authors can fight back against autocratic attempts to define reality but can no longer resort to classic realism, Salman Rushdie argues.

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Islamic Philosophy vs. Muslim Fanatics

In his fantasy novel “Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights,” Salman Rushdie engaged in a debate within Islam about Reason vs. Faith. Good and bad jinn weigh in on each side.

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