Salman Rushdie’s New Novel is About Political Correctness and the Culture Wars – Heat Street
Salman Rushdie, the writer marked for death by the Ayatollah of Iran for writing The Satanic Verses, is working on a new novel set in contemporary America.
His new book, The Golden House, is a thriller set against the backdrop of modern-day American culture. It covers the eight-year Obama presidency and incorporates the cultural zeitgeist. It includes the rise of the conservative Tea Party movement, 2014s GamerGate hashtag campaign, social media, identity politics, and the ongoing culture war against political correctness.
In other words, its the modern world through the lens of Salman Rushdie, an author who received numerous death threats and even attempts on his life after he penned a novel critical of Islam.
Many stores refused to carry the book following its publication in 1988, and those that did were targeted by terrorists with firebombs and explosives.
The Iranian government put out a hit on Rushdie, which lasted until 1998, calling on jihadists and their allies to take the authors life.
In more recent years, Rushdie has called for the defense of freedom of speech. As the target of assassination attempts over his ideas and writing, the Booker Prize-winning author is uniquely intimate with the subject.
During the election last year, Rushdie spoke out against the furor over the pro-Trump chalk slogans in Emory University in what became known as #TheChalkening. Campuses that saw the rising incidences of chalk messages banned the calcium carbonate writing tool.
Rushdie called the dust-up silly and said there was no reason for art to be politically correct.
When people say, I believe in free speech but , then they dont believe in free speech, he said. The whole point about free speech is that it upsets people.
Its very easy to defend the right of people whom you agree with or that you are indifferent to, Rushdie said. The defense [of free speech] begins when someone says something that you dont like.
There are no safe spaces against offensive ideas, said Rushdie.
Rushdie has come to lose his confidence in the progressive leftincluding those who once defended his controversial book. Speaking in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, Rushdie expressed dismay at the leftist protests that followed the PEN writers association to honor the fallen artists and writers.
Speaking to French magazine LExpress, Rushdie said that people learned the wrong lessons from the threats he faced in the 80s and 90s.
Instead of realizing that we need to oppose these attacks on freedom of expression, we thought that we need to placate them with compromise and renunciation.
Ive since had the feeling that, if the attacks against The Satanic Verses had taken place today, these people would not have defended me, and would have used the same arguments against me, accusing me of insulting an ethnic and cultural minority, said Rushdie. We are living in the darkest time I have ever known.
In Rushdies new book, the main villain is described as a ruthlessly ambitious, narcissistic, media-savvy villain sporting makeup and colored hair. Make what you will of that.
The books publishing director at Jonathan Cape, Michal Shavit, describes The Golden House as being about identity, truth, terror, and lies for a new world order of alternate truths. Its out this September.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken mediacritic. You can reach him through social media at@stillgray on Twitterand onFacebook.
Read the original:
Salman Rushdie's New Novel is About Political Correctness and the Culture Wars - Heat Street
- Work and money worry young people more than culture wars or climate, UK poll finds - The Guardian - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Ag Secretary Uses Purse Strings to Press Culture Wars in States - DTN Progressive Farmer - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Lionel Shriver: Trump has ended US culture wars but UK is lagging - The Times - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- No 10 happy to dip its toe into culture wars in row with Sentencing Council - The Guardian - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Canada ditches divisive culture wars for focused hyper-nationalism thanks to Donald Trump - Daily Maverick - April 1st, 2025 [April 1st, 2025]
- Disneys New Snow White Film Fights Culture Wars and Wins - Bloomberg - March 22nd, 2025 [March 22nd, 2025]
- Culture wars reach the classroom: What is the best way to teach children about gender and identity? - The Irish Times - March 22nd, 2025 [March 22nd, 2025]
- 'I thought we were done with the culture wars': Democrats push back on measure clarifying what makes school books 'harmful to minors' - Creative... - March 22nd, 2025 [March 22nd, 2025]
- Letter: Culture wars drove me away from the GOP - Bangor Daily News - March 9th, 2025 [March 9th, 2025]
- Beth Ann Rosica: Pennsylvania culture wars to be waged in the courtroom - Broad + Liberty - March 9th, 2025 [March 9th, 2025]
- I have a pathological need to be right: Ash Sarkar on culture wars, controversy and Corbyns lost legacy - The Guardian - March 7th, 2025 [March 7th, 2025]
- Alex Gibney to Exec Produce Doc About College Culture Wars and Freedom of Speech (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety - March 7th, 2025 [March 7th, 2025]
- Embrace of authoritarianism in US fueled by culture wars more than economy, study finds - The University of Kansas - March 7th, 2025 [March 7th, 2025]
- Memo to Hollywood: Theres No Running or Hiding From the Culture Wars - TheWrap - March 7th, 2025 [March 7th, 2025]
- Culture wars reach warfighters as area military bases ordered to scrub online content - Fredericksburg Free Press - March 7th, 2025 [March 7th, 2025]
- The WA election campaign has been about big promises, but culture wars are inescapable in contemporary politics - The Conversation Indonesia - March 7th, 2025 [March 7th, 2025]
- How the Right Hijacked the Working Class for Culture Wars - Social Europe - March 1st, 2025 [March 1st, 2025]
- Culture wars: Trumps takeover of arts is straight from the dictator playbook - The Guardian - March 1st, 2025 [March 1st, 2025]
- A correspondence from the Culture Wars - Carter County Times - March 1st, 2025 [March 1st, 2025]
- Hands on Wisconsin: School children are pawns in the culture wars - The Daily News - March 1st, 2025 [March 1st, 2025]
- Is a Trump backlash on its way? Well, eggs are as expensive as ever and you cant eat the culture wars - The Guardian - March 1st, 2025 [March 1st, 2025]
- How Donald Trump and his MAGA inner circle plan to win the culture wars - New York Post - February 9th, 2025 [February 9th, 2025]
- Gaming Is Becoming More Diverse, Opening a New Front in the Culture Wars - New Lines Magazine - February 9th, 2025 [February 9th, 2025]
- The Creed vs. the culture wars: Hunkered down in the Catholic demilitarized zone - America: The Jesuit Review - February 9th, 2025 [February 9th, 2025]
- The Guardian view on class politics: it has faded as culture wars have risen | Editorial - The Guardian - February 9th, 2025 [February 9th, 2025]
- US spending suggests that Irish culture wars are indeed imported by the Left - Gript - February 9th, 2025 [February 9th, 2025]
- How Donald Trump and his MAGA inner circle plan to win the culture wars - NewsBreak - February 9th, 2025 [February 9th, 2025]
- Port: Not every issue has to be a part of the culture wars - INFORUM - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Jaguar May Prove to Be the Latest Casualty in Culture Wars - autoevolution - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Is language the key to resolving the WFH v back-to-the-office culture wars? | Emma Beddington - The Guardian - January 27th, 2025 [January 27th, 2025]
- Sundance: Tame Stories Reflect an Indie World Battered by Economics, Culture Wars - TheWrap - January 27th, 2025 [January 27th, 2025]
- Trump Pulls the Military Back Into Political and Culture Wars - The Seattle Times - January 27th, 2025 [January 27th, 2025]
- Trump Pulls the Military Back Into the Political and Culture Wars - The New York Times - January 26th, 2025 [January 26th, 2025]
- March for Life in San Francisco Sparks Clashes and Culture Wars - SFist - January 26th, 2025 [January 26th, 2025]
- The worlds most embarrassing inauguration was led by the Culture Wars President - The Independent - January 26th, 2025 [January 26th, 2025]
- 'Culture wars' are costing school districts billions of dollars annually - Audacy - January 26th, 2025 [January 26th, 2025]
- Under The Malign Influence Of Trump, Britains Draining Culture Wars Are About To Get Even More Toxic - British Vogue - January 26th, 2025 [January 26th, 2025]
- Open spot will set future of this metro-east library board embroiled in culture wars - Yahoo! Voices - January 26th, 2025 [January 26th, 2025]
- Culture Wars And DJ Mailbox To Open For Maroon 5 Manila Concert - Billboard Philippines - January 26th, 2025 [January 26th, 2025]
- Trade Wars, Culture Wars, and Anti-Immigration: Trumps Big Promises - Kyiv Post - January 26th, 2025 [January 26th, 2025]
- Trans Georgians and allies brace for another year of culture wars in state Legislature - Decaturish.com - January 9th, 2025 [January 9th, 2025]
- Trans Georgians and allies brace for another year of culture wars in state Legislature - Georgia Recorder - January 9th, 2025 [January 9th, 2025]
- The Forgotten Book Genre That Explains a Lot About Todays Culture Wars - Slate - January 9th, 2025 [January 9th, 2025]
- Simon Schama on the culture wars: There is a faint smell of the 1930s - The Times - January 9th, 2025 [January 9th, 2025]
- The culture wars are coming for children with special needs Labour must tread carefully - The Guardian - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- AI chip race, antitrust challenges, and culture wars: What lies ahead for Big Tech in 2025 - The Indian Express - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- How to take climate change out of the culture wars - National Catholic Reporter - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Biblical grammar enters the culture wars - The Times of Israel - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Battles over books led the way in culture wars over education - Suncoast News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- David M. Lantigua: At 88, Pope Francis dances the tango with the global Catholic Church amid its culture wars - TribLIVE - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Eggs, coffee, chocolate, and the culture wars: Foodtech in 2024 - AgFunderNews - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- #Woke to anti-woke, its the era of culture wars - The Times of India - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Disney withdraws from culture wars amid bruising encounters with Trump and DeSantis - The Independent - December 25th, 2024 [December 25th, 2024]
- Disney reportedly backing away from culture wars: Politics is bad for business - Fox8tv - December 25th, 2024 [December 25th, 2024]
- The Whole Hog End of Year Special: "Climate change has also been sucked into the culture wars" - hotpress.com - December 25th, 2024 [December 25th, 2024]
- Culture wars in the Church has innocent victims: The parishioners - Crux Now - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- At 88, Pope Francis dances the tango with the global Catholic Church amid its culture wars - The Conversation Indonesia - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Reilly Riffs on the Culture Wars - Bacon's Rebellion - December 22nd, 2024 [December 22nd, 2024]
- Woodstock: From World War to Culture Wars - New York Almanack - December 2nd, 2024 [December 2nd, 2024]
- Class, the Culture Wars, and Contempt for Politics: Why we Lost in 2024 - Daily Kos - December 2nd, 2024 [December 2nd, 2024]
- Democrats should abandon government force in culture wars - Washington Examiner - December 2nd, 2024 [December 2nd, 2024]
- Anthony Jeselnik Reclaims Gallows Humour From The Culture Wars On New Special 'Bones And All' - DeadAnt - December 2nd, 2024 [December 2nd, 2024]
- Kitchen-table issues, not culture wars, helped Democrats avoid 2024 wipeout - Washington Examiner - December 2nd, 2024 [December 2nd, 2024]
- Child Protection: Hungarys Far-Right Is Grabbing the Initiative in the Culture Wars - Balkan Insight - December 2nd, 2024 [December 2nd, 2024]
- Climate change and even tethered bottle caps have got sucked into the culture wars - The Irish Times - December 2nd, 2024 [December 2nd, 2024]
- Column | Can our spending habits help explain the culture wars? - The Washington Post - November 21st, 2024 [November 21st, 2024]
- Lawmakers Are Trying to Take the Culture Wars Out of Defense Budget Negotiations - NOTUS - November 21st, 2024 [November 21st, 2024]
- Religion-state separation is about to take center stage in the US culture wars - The Times of Israel - November 21st, 2024 [November 21st, 2024]
- Did Democrats lose on the economy or the culture wars? Three strategists weigh in - KUOW News and Information - November 17th, 2024 [November 17th, 2024]
- In Conversation with Culture Wars: New Single It Hurts - Flaunt Magazine - November 17th, 2024 [November 17th, 2024]
- No more faggots and Gypsy Creams! How the culture wars came for cookery - The Telegraph - November 17th, 2024 [November 17th, 2024]
- Trump Will Bring The School Culture Wars To Every State - HuffPost - November 17th, 2024 [November 17th, 2024]
- How the mega-rich are throwing their financial heft into culture wars on college campuses - The Telegraph - October 18th, 2024 [October 18th, 2024]
- What kind of person would drag autistic children into the culture wars? The Kemi Badenoch kind - The Guardian - October 18th, 2024 [October 18th, 2024]
- Have hurricanes gotten swept up in the culture wars? - KCRW - October 18th, 2024 [October 18th, 2024]
- OUTRAGE: Movies and the Culture Wars, 19871996 - BAM | Brooklyn Academy of Music - October 18th, 2024 [October 18th, 2024]
- What is Platos Symposium, the classic book drawn into the Gender Queer culture wars? - The Conversation - October 18th, 2024 [October 18th, 2024]
- The EV Culture Wars Arent What They Seem - The Atlantic - October 7th, 2024 [October 7th, 2024]
- British history is being destroyed before our eyes and it has nothing to do with culture wars over statues - The Guardian - October 7th, 2024 [October 7th, 2024]
- 'Culture wars' burning in B.C.s combative election - Vancouver Sun - October 7th, 2024 [October 7th, 2024]