How Much West Is in East, West? Deconstruction and Stereotypes in Rushdie's Short Stories
Introduction
The whole is more than its parts. This is definitely true for a collection of short stories like this. This essay at hand will concentrate on the Western elements in the nine short stories of East, West by Salman Rushdie. Special attention will be given to the composition of the book. The division into East, West and East, West will be examined, too. It will be followed how Rushdie deconstructs the seeming oppositions East and West and how stereotypes play a part in this. The thesis is the volume of short stories contains a very stereotypical picture of the West. Apart from stereotypes, magical and fairy tale elements will be studied.
There is few literature about East, West in general, so most of the essay will rely on close reading and the analysis of the results. Most critics pay more attention to the stories set in the East. They can be approached similar to other postcolonial fiction. It is the stories about the West that have to offer novelties, that are unusual for Rushdie.
The Title and the Composition
The title East, West is by any means chosen deliberately. At first sight, the natural opposition of the two directions is already obvious, but much more is connected with these two words than mere geographical points of the compass. There is a further meaning of these terms: an inescapable clash between the so-called Eastern i.e. Muslim world and the Western, which means mainly Europe and North America. The two cultures seem to be naturally opposed and incompatible. Already with the title, Rushdie enters a political debate that seems to be far from any solution. In his collection of short stories, Rushdie undertook the bold try of using these known categories and deconstruct them at the same time. Already with using a comma in the title, the possibilities for interpretations start. Rudolf Beck argues that a comma can as well combine as separate. This way of putting it shows us a kind of playfulness with these categories
The whole is more than its parts. This is definitely true for a collection of short stories like this. This essay at hand will concentrate on the Western elements in the nine short stories of East, West by Salman Rushdie. Special attention will be given to the composition of the book. The division into East, West and East, West will be examined, too. It will be followed how Rushdie deconstructs the seeming oppositions East and West and how stereotypes play a part in this. The thesis is the volume of short stories contains a very stereotypical picture of the West. Apart from stereotypes, magical and fairy tale elements will be studied.
There is few literature about East, West in general, so most of the essay will rely on close reading and the analysis of the results. Most critics pay more attention to the stories set in the East. They can be approached similar to other postcolonial fiction. It is the stories about the West that have to offer novelties, that are unusual for Rushdie.
The Title and the Composition
The title East, West is by any means chosen deliberately. At first sight, the natural opposition of the two directions is already obvious, but much more is connected with these two words than mere geographical points of the compass. There is a further meaning of these terms: an inescapable clash between the so-called Eastern i.e. Muslim world and the Western, which means mainly Europe and North America. The two cultures seem to be naturally opposed and incompatible. Already with the title, Rushdie enters a political debate that seems to be far from any solution. In his collection of short stories, Rushdie undertook the bold try of using these known categories and deconstruct them at the same time. Already with using a comma in the title, the possibilities for interpretations start. Rudolf Beck argues that a comma can as well combine as separate. This way of putting it shows us a kind of playfulness with these categories