Denial Of Orientalism: Women In The Post-Colonial Society

Salman Rushdie is hailed as the godfather of the post-colonialism. Midnight's Children is his masterpiece, which brings him the Booker Prize and international fame. The novel recounts the saga of a middle-class Indian family, whose life experiences are all intertwined with the history of the entire nation. Since its publication in 1981, it has been approached from the post-colonial perspective by critics both at home and abroad. This thesis is no exemption. It adopts the theories expounded in the seminal post-colonial work, Orientalism, written by Edward W. Said, as the theoretical device for understanding the anti-Orientalism theme imbedded in the novel. In this way, it tries to unveil India as the culturally and politically diversified country portrayed in Midnight's Children, rather than the stereotype kept in the works of Orientalism. Nevertheless, this thesis still maintains its innovativeness in the fact that it chooses the female side of the family as the angle to probe the political and social turbulence during the independence period of India.The Introduction tells the general information about Salman Rushdie and his works. Then it tries to give a general idea about the anti-Orientalism theme embedded in the novel by adopting the theories in Orientalism. It also makes a brief introduction about Orientalism and the book of Orientalism.Chapter One reveals the anti-Orientalism theme of the novel through the denial of the Oriental model of women's role both in and outside the house. It picks up"the speaker and the represented"model, which is implicitly mentioned in Said's Orientalism, to deny the Oriental model of women of the East.Chapter Two reveals the anti-Orientalism theme of the novel through the denial of the Oriental view on Islam in the family history of female members. By linking the life experiences of the females and their belief in Muslim, it shows Muslim as a true faith, rather than the heresy declared by the Orientalists. Chapter Three reveals the anti-Orientalism theme of the novel through the denial of the Oriental idea of unified identification in the metaphor of fragmented female body. It explains the analogy between the fragmented female body and a divided nation so as to belie the Oriental idea that the Oriental world is a consistent unity.The Conclusion summarizes the above-mentioned anti-Orientalism ideas embodied in Midnight's Children, and states the meaningfulness of unbiased cultural understanding in the current world.