Re-Visiting Rushdie’s Fictional Oeuvre: An Overview of his Experimental Narrative Strategies that have Charmed Readers Worldwide

Abstract

Salman Rushdie has maintained a lasting presence in the world of literature for a considerable span of over forty years and continues to enjoy a global celebrity status even today. His most characteristic trait as a novelist has been inventive experimentation with narrative strategies and literary devices, something that intrigues literary scholars and general readers alike. This article critically examines ten novels by Salman Rushdie (Grimus, Midnight’s Children, Shame, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Fury, Shalimar the Clown, The Enchantress of Florence, Luka and the Fire of Life) with the objective of tracing the experimental narrative strategies employed in each of these and the impact created by them upon the narrative. Further, the paper also reflects upon the correlations between Rushdie’s convictions as a writer (including his individual world-view, sensibility and vision) and the specific narrative strategies devised by him to weave his fictional yarns.