Book contents
- The British Novel of Ideas
- The British Novel of Ideas
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Dedication
- Introduction The British Novel of Ideas
- Part I 1850–1900
- Part II 1900–1945
- Part III 1945–1975
- Part IV 1975–Present
- Chapter 20 Comedy, Sincerity, and Hypocrisy in the Novel of Ideas
- Chapter 21 Malcolm Bradbury
- Chapter 22 Hanif Kureishi
- Chapter 23 Ian McEwan
- Chapter 24 Kamila Shamsie
- Chapter 25 Zadie Smith
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 22 - Hanif Kureishi
Fundamentalism and Multiculturalism
from Part IV - 1975–Present
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2024
- The British Novel of Ideas
- The British Novel of Ideas
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Dedication
- Introduction The British Novel of Ideas
- Part I 1850–1900
- Part II 1900–1945
- Part III 1945–1975
- Part IV 1975–Present
- Chapter 20 Comedy, Sincerity, and Hypocrisy in the Novel of Ideas
- Chapter 21 Malcolm Bradbury
- Chapter 22 Hanif Kureishi
- Chapter 23 Ian McEwan
- Chapter 24 Kamila Shamsie
- Chapter 25 Zadie Smith
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
This chapter explores the work of Hanif Kureishi and, in particular, his 1995 novel The Black Album. Set in London in 1989, the novel engages with the fall of the Berlin Wall, with terrorism, and, most prominently, with the Rushdie Affair. It stages debates around religion, free speech, and cultural identity. Kureishi conceives of multiculturalism as premised on a vibrant exchange of ideas, and in The Black Album he portrays Islamism – and, by extension, fundamentalism of any kind – as a pseudo-idea which can only constitute a threat to, and never a part of, an effective multiculturalism. However, this chapter identifies a key paradox in The Black Album: it implores readers to treat ideas seriously, and yet there is very little serious treatment of particular ideas in the novel itself. As such, Kureishi’s novel is far more invested in the idea of ideas than in any particular body of them.
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- Information
- The British Novel of IdeasGeorge Eliot to Zadie Smith, pp. 378 - 394Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024