An Analysis Of Cultural Fusion In Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress Of Florence

Salman Rushdie is regarded as one of the most important post-colonial writers in the 20th century.Critics consider him as one of the "three heroes of British immigrant writers"together with Vidiadhar Surajprassad Naipaul and Kazuo Ishiguro.Rushdie is known as the most important person of the Magic Realism writers in the 20th century because of his great achievement in Magic realist writing.The Enchantress of Florence is of the great literary value among the works by Salman Rushdie.The novel attracted a great attention as soon as it came out in 2008.It won a number of literary awards successively.By depiction of the heroine Qara Koz's personal destiny and the story of her family,with a wide vision of politics and society,Rushdie represents Indian political turbulence,social changes,religious issues and the other complicated phenomena before 16th century in India and successfully unfolds a vivid picture of the convergence,collision and coexistence of cultures in the multidimensional world.With the guidance of the postcolonial theory,in particular Edward Said's Orientalism and Cultural Pluralism and Homi Bhabha's theory of Hybridity,the thesis investigates the cultural fusion presented in Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence from the fusion of language,religion and cultural identities.At the same time,the political and cultural strategies to prompt the development of the postcolonial countries in the modern time are put forward.Firstly,it is found that the cultural fusion in The Enchantress of Florence is manifested in the fusion of different languages,including the mutual penetration and influence of English,French,Persian and Indian Languages.Secondly,the cultural fusion is also represented by the fusion of various religions,and the religious tolerance represented by Debate House and characters5 conversion to new religions.Finally,the fusion of cultural identities can also be seen as a manifestation of the cultural fusion,such as the potential occidental identity,the potential oriental identity and the typical identity of "Hybridity".From the discussion of the cultural fusions,this thesis strives to reveal Rushdie's cross-cultural consciousness and cosmopolitan thought.It helps to understand the contradictions between the marginal culture of the third-world countries and the Western mainstream culture.It is beneficial to advocate equality,friendship,philanthropy and understanding for different cultures and civilizations,and it is helpful to achieve tolerance and lenience.All in all,it contributes to the construction of a harmonious society and harmonious world in which all cultures will be open,comprehensive and coexistent.