Writing Islam from a South Asian Muslim Perspective

This book explores whether the post-9/11 novels of Rushdie, Hamid, Aslam and Shamsie can be read as part of an attempt to revise modern 'knowledge' of the Islamic world, using globally-distributed English-language literature to reframe Muslims' potential to connect with others. Focussing on novels including Shalimar the Clown, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, The Wasted Vigil, and Burnt Shadows, the author combines aesthetic, historical, political and spiritual considerations with analyses of the popular discourses and critical discussions surrounding the novels; and scrutinises how the writers have been appropriated as authentic spokespeople by dominant political and cultural forces. Finally, she explores how, as writers of Indian and Pakistani origin, Rushdie, Hamid, Aslam and Shamsie negotiate their identities, and the tensions of being seen to act as Muslim representatives, in relation to the complex international and geopolitical context in which they write.               

Madeline Clements is Research Lecturer in English at Teesside University, prior to which she was Assistant Professor of English at Forman Christian College, Lahore. She completed her doctoral thesis at the University of East London. Her articles have been published in journals and books including Sohbet, Wasafiri, and Imagining Muslims. She reviews regularly for Dawn's Books and Authors supplement, and for the TLS.