The Secret Society: Descendants of Crypto-Jews in the San Antonio ...

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Moreover, Rushdie’s celebrity represents the susceptibility of the Western public to images
of “authenticity,” such that Rushdie’s claims to nativity (his Muslim heritage) bear greater
importance than his apostasy in the public’s perception of what qualifies him to speak about
Islam.
1 Rushdie won the Booker Prize for Midnight’s Children in 1981. In 1993, he subsequently won the ‘Booker of
the Bookers’, which designated Midnight’s Children as the best of the Booker Prize winners of the past 25
years.
2 A fatwa is “a ruling on Islamic law that is given by a recognized authority” [fatwa. Dictionary.com.
WordNet® 2.1. Princeton University. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fatwa (accessed: March 15,
2007).]
3 Thomson Gale. “Salman Rushdie,”Encyclopedia of World Biography [encyclopedia on-line]; available from
http://www.bookrags.com/biography/salman-rushdie/; Internet; accessed 26 May 2007.
4 Shikha Dalmia, “The Iconoclast,” Reason Magazine, August/September 2005 [magazine on-line]; available
from http://www.reason.com/news/show/33120.html; Internet; accessed 13 March 2007.
5 “Salman Rushdie,” Encyclopedia of World Biography.
6 Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children (London: Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1980; New York: Penguin, 1991), 359.
Further quotations will be cited parenthetically as (Rushdie, 359).
7 As “Pakistan” literally means “Land of the Pure”, Rushdie plays on the idea of religious and cultural “Purity”,
or homogeneity, as a requirement for Pakistani citizenship.
8 “Purdah” refers to the seclusion of women from the sight of men. The term may also refer to the physical
screen, curtain, or veil used for the purpose of seclusion. [purdah. Oxford English Dictionary Online (2 nd ed.).
(accessed: May 26, 2007).]
9 Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children (London: Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1980; reprint, New York: Penguin,
1991), 32. Page citations are to the print edition. Further citations will be parenthetical as (Rushdie, 32).
10 “Chadar” is an Urdu word for “shawl.” In the context of the Subcontinent, the word refers to the large sheet
of material that women wear over their clothes to cover their heads and upper bodies. [chadar. Oxford English
Dictionary Online (2 nd ed.). (accessed: May 26, 2007).]
11 “Salman Rushdie,” Encyclopedia of World Biography.
12 Thomas Wagner, “Rushdie: Veils Take Power from Women,” ABC News, 10 October 2006 [newspaper online];
available from http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2548740; Internet; accessed 15
February 2007.
13 While I take up the Jack Straw veil controversy here, Rushdie has also made similarly un-nuanced and
oversimplified comments regarding both the September 11 th attacks and America’s involvement in Iraq. See the
following: Salman Rushdie, “Yes, This is about Islam,” New York Times, 2 November 2001 [newspaper online];
available from http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/rushdie/yes_its_about_islam.htm; Internet; accessed
29 April 2007. See also: Salman Rushdie, “A Liberal Argument for Regime Change,” Washington Post, 4
November 2002 [newspaper on-line]; available from http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wpdyn?pagename=article&contentId=A49220-2002Oct31&notFound=true;
Internet; accessed 29 April 2007.
14 Timothy Brennan, Salman Rushdie and the Third World (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989), 33. Further
quotations will be cited parenthetically as (Brennan, 33).
15 Jacob Cherian, “Salman Rushdie: Veils Take Power from Women,” All Headline News, 10 October 2006
[newspaper on-line]; available from http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005134801; Internet; accessed
15 February 2007.
16 Johann Hari, “Salman Rushdie: his life, his work, and his religion,” The Independent, 13 October 2006
[newspaper on-line]; available from http://news.independent.co.uk/people/profiles/article1868548.ece; Internet;
accessed 15 February 2007.
17 Salman Rushdie, “Imaginary Homelands,” in Imaginary Homelands (New York: Penguin, 1991), 17-18.
18 Milan Kundera, The Art of the Novel, trans. Linda Asher (New York: Grove Press, 1986), 43. Further
quotations will be cited parenthetically as (Kundera, 43). Incidentally, while I cite here The Art of the Novel,