A postmodern study of politics, language, magic realism and oral tradition in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Abstract

This paper will discuss on two of Salman Rushdie’s novel Midnight’s Children and Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Firstly a brief introduction about postmodernism is given along with how its ideas clashes with modernism’s doctrines. It will also talk on how the notion of politics and history is deconstructed by postmodernism, and also on the role memory plays while writing the historical narratives. Magic realism and oral tradition also plays a role in novels which will also be covered. Rushdie’s alterations of the English language and how his style inspired new writers has will also be discussed. The rest of the paper will focus on how Salman Rushdie delegitimizes politics, language and history and his intentions for using magic realism and oral tradition in the two novels.