"A Dialogue with Edward Said" March 5, 2003
Midnights Children Festival Events
Moderated by Akeel Bilgrami
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(0:00) Intro of Segment and Akeel Bilgrami, moderator.
(2:29) Trajectory of Salman Rushdie's writing
(11:47) What was the impact of "Midnight's Children" on writers in the middle east?
(15:18) Does "Midnight's Children" accurately capture the legacy of colonial rule in India?
(17:30) Were the hopes of ex-colonized people ever really redeemed with the coming of independence?
(21:04) Rushdie's book "Shame" emphasizes tremendous corruption among leaders in the context of being colonized, who true does that ring for you?
(26:14) The importance in Rushdie's work of having a genuine understanding of history
(29:41) Forcastings and interplay between "Satanic Verses" and "Midnight's Children"
(32:37) Rushdie seems to be saying that there is something tyrannical about fundamentalist Islam that must be fought, even with a war if
necessary.
(37:28) Yet most muslims aren't like that. Still they find it difficult to openly and strongly criticize the fundamentalists in their midst even
then they oppose them. How can these people gain the confidence to do that? Don't Rushdie's stances make this more difficult?
(45:39) How should we think and live with hope in the face of such gross and powerful mis-representation in the world politically?
(52:39) Audience Questions: What are your views and Rushdie's views about how Kashmir ought to be handled going forward?
(54:30) Please elaborate on Richard Perle's advisement of Netanyahu about new policies in 1996.
(1:02:11) What influence have Rushdie's writings had on people in places where colonialism is further in the past?
(1:07:30) Has any of Rushdie's work been translated into any of the Indian languages or Arabic?
(1:09:18) Does the fact that Rushdie has a somewhat distanced relationship form experiencing the kind of multiculturalism that he's advocating
make it easier for him to take that position?
(1:13:13) Rushdie's view that Islam has been captured by the worst elements of dogmatism and fanaticism.
(1:19:56) How would you say that Rushdie continues the tradition set forth by Gabriel Garcia Marquez of magical realism and national allegory?
(1:22:26) What do you see as the further of Islam in the west in the post 9/11 and how can muslims proliferate a progressive division of Islam that
respects human rights and a culture of democracy in the muslim world?