From Cultural Purism to Cultural Pluralism: Salman Rushdie and the Hybrid

This thesis examines Rushdie’s treatment of the cultural hybrid in The Satanic Verses and The Moor’s Last Sigh in order to explore the following questions: Does Rushdie have an ultimate view of the immigrant/hybrid position? Does he provide an answer to the drawbacks of such a position? What sort of world does Rushdie envision for the hybrid? Etc. I analyze key elements from The Satanic Verses, The Moor’s Last Sigh, and Haroun and the Sea of Stories in order to answer the above questions.