Salman Rushdie
Controversial novelist, knighted
Salman Rushdie is a British-American novelist born in India, best known for *The Satanic Verses* (1988), which provoked a fatwa from Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini calling for his death.
The controversy made his name synonymous with debates over free expression, blasphemy, and religious extremism.
His earlier novel *Midnight's Children* won the Booker Prize.
He lived under police protection for years and was stabbed onstage in 2022.
- death sentenceJudicial order of execution
- blasphemyIrreverence toward the sacred
- IranIslamic republic in Asia
- assassination attemptEffort to kill a prominent figure
The Satanic Verses · hiding · security · bounty · exile · underground · protection · defiance
Genre mixing fantasy and ordinary
- postcolonialismStudy of imperial aftermath
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- satireMockery exposing vice
- metafictionLiterature aware of itself
unreliable narrator · historical fiction · nonlinear narrative · pastiche · wordplay · Bombay · cultural hybridity · partition
- book burningIncinerating texts as censorship
- protestsPublic expressions of opposition
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
- religious offenseViolation of sacred beliefs
apostasy · demonstrations · banned · fundamentalism · polarization · public outcry · literary freedom · provocation
British literary fiction award
- knighthoodHonorary title of nobility
- PENWriters' advocacy acronym
- literary awardsHonors for distinguished writing
- honorary degreesAcademic recognition sans study
Ayatollah Khomeini
- death sentenceJudicial order of execution
- blasphemyIrreverence toward the sacred
- IranIslamic republic in Asia
The Satanic Verses · assassination attempt · hiding · security · bounty · exile · underground · protection · defiance · survival
magic realism
Genre mixing fantasy and ordinary
- postcolonialismStudy of imperial aftermath
- allegorySymbolic tale with deeper meaning
- satireMockery exposing vice
metafiction · unreliable narrator · historical fiction · nonlinear narrative · pastiche · wordplay · Bombay · cultural hybridity · partition · migration
The Satanic Verses
- book burningIncinerating texts as censorship
- protestsPublic expressions of opposition
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
religious offense · apostasy · demonstrations · banned · fundamentalism · polarization · public outcry · literary freedom · provocation
Booker Prize
British literary fiction award
- knighthoodHonorary title of nobility
- PENWriters' advocacy acronym
- literary awardsHonors for distinguished writing
The Satanic Verses
- FuryClassical avenging deity
Salman RushdieAyatollah Khomeini
censors · theocrats · inquisitors · silencers · thought police
Salman RushdieErnest Hemingway