Contemporary fiction's most international and influential writer, Salman Rushdie, is one of the most controversial figures in recent literary history. An author of Indian heritage, Rushdie has garnered countless accolades and prestigious international literary awards, as well as political opponents, resulting in a fatwa condemning him to death and the fatal stabbing of the author in August 2022. Drawing on his heritage as a migrant and multiculturalist, Rushdie is considered “the great chronicler of the global village”. His fiction is celebrated for its intellectual and linguistic playfulness, historical understanding, and its engagement with border crossings, both literal and figurative. In this course, we will consider questions such as what makes Salman Rushdie a global author? Is Rushdie a champion of free speech and multiculturalism or is he an author feeding the “cosmopolitan alterity industry” that invests in exoticizing cultural differences? Situating Rushdie’s work within socio-political, and historical contexts, we will approach his writings from various theoretical positions, including but not limited to postcolonialism, nationalism, globalization, identity, religion, multiculturalism, gender, representation, and popular culture. We will read Rushdie’s seminal fiction such as Midnight’s Children and Satanic Verses, as well as more recent novels such as Quichotte.

This course examines theoretical and aesthetic reflections on contemporary, large-scale environmental issues, such as sea-level rise, extreme weather, ecosystem collapse, and species extinction. These problems exacerbate existing racial, gender, sexual, economic, national, and geographic inequalities and injustices. How do writers from around the globe approach the vast topic of the Anthropocene—the current epoch characterized by significant mass extinctions, where human industry has become a force comparable to catastrophic geological events? Can we give a voice to non-human species through language or imagery? Is there a way to discuss environmental crises that also allows for human agency—and therefore hope? We will explore a variety of cultural theories, literature, and films that engage with the current ecological crisis and envision alternative futures.