A highly perceptive analysis of the grounds and moral but not necessarily legal limits of free speech. It both retains and goes beyond the important insights of liberalism. Its theoretical discussion enriches and is in turn enriched by a shrewd analysis of concrete cases. A most welcome and timely book. Lord Bhikhu Parekh, author of The Parekh Report: The Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain and Rethinking Multiculturalism In contrast to much journalism and commentary on these issues, this is an important, reasoned and patient account of these inflammatory matters. Mondal s book is crucial reading for those interested not only in the work and impact of Salman Rushdie, not only for those working in contemporary literature more widely, but also those with a concern for issues of freedom, expression and the future of cosmopolitan and multicultural democracy. Professor Robert Eaglestone, Professor of Contemporary Literature and Thought, Royal Holloway, University of London Anshuman Mondal has performed the considerable service of puncturing the unexamined clichés and self-serving cant that characterise the freedom of speech debate. He refuses to accept at face value the assumed contention between liberal secular notions of free speech and the supposed censorious strictures of Muslim intolerance, as played out in numerous recent controversies. Instead, he strips the discussion back to first principles, pointing out how all speech and writing is a dialogic act of communication that anticipates a response from its recipient. Offence is seen as the product of the relationship between speaker, addressee and all-important contextual power relations. In an era when liberals from both the right and left have come together to denounce Islam as an intolerant force and a geopolitical enemy, Mondal reveals how professions of liberal reasonableness and neutrality mask an absolutist cultural supremacism wherein the right to offend is separated from its consequences. He demonstrates how the central traditions of Western liberalism are each blind to the power relations which mark all societies and which take a particularly intractable form in multicultural ones. At the heart of the book is the question, what is free speech for? Is it an end in itself? Or does it serve a higher purpose, such as safeguarding democracy, as is often claimed? In a brilliant, forensic analysis of some of the rhetoric around freedom and offence, Mondal asks how notions of a good and fair society can possibly be furthered by the deliberate denigration of a portion of its membership. Recognising ethics as central to the proper exercise of rights, he calls for an ethics of propriety in writing and reading where mutual obligations are acknowledged. Through detailed readings of controversies such as the Satanic Verses affair, the Danish cartoon controversy, the outrage caused by the novel, The Jewel of Medina, and comedy films which have flirted with the sacred and the blasphemous, Mondal charts the dead-ends reached by conventional interpretations, while suggesting more fruitful ways to write, read and understand. This book is an important clarion call for care and sensitivity in our fraught multicultural world, while still emphasising a critical robustness that makes demands of all those who engage in public utterance. Peter Morey, Professor of English and Postcolonial Studies, University of East London, UK
Also by Anshuman A. Mondal AMITAV GHOSH NATIONALISM AND POST-COLONIAL IDENTITY: Culture and Ideology in India and Egypt YOUNG BRITISH MUSLIM VOICES
Islam and Controversy The Politics of Free Speech After Rushdie Anshuman A. Mondal Reader in English, Brunel University, UK
Anshuman A. Mondal 2014 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-137-47167-3 ISBN 978-1-137-46608-2 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137466082 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mondal, Anshuman A. (Anshuman Ahmed), 1972 author. Islam and controversy : the politics of free speech after Rushdie / by Anshuman Mondal, Reader in English, Brunel University, UK. pages cm Summary: Was Salman Rushdie right to have written The Satanic Verses? Were the protestors right to have protested? What about the Danish cartoons? Is giving offence simply about the right to freedom of expression, and what is really happening when people take offence? Using case studies of a number of Muslim-related freedom of speech controversies surrounding (in)famous, controversial texts such as The Satanic Verses, The Jewel of Medina, the Danish cartoons of Muhammed and the film Submission by Theo van Gogh, this book examines the moral questions raised by such controversies, questions that are often set aside at the time, such as whether the authors and artists involved were right to have done what they did and whether those who protested against them were right to have responded in such a way. In so doing, it argues that the giving and taking of offence are political performances that struggle to define and re-define freedom, and suggests that any attempt to establish a language of inter-cultural communication appropriate to multicultural societies is an ethical as opposed to merely political or legal task, involving dialogue and negotiation over fundamental values and principles. Overall, this important book constitutes a sustained critique of liberal arguments for freedom of speech, in particular of the liberal discourse that took shape in response to the Rushdie controversy and has, in the twenty-five years since, become almost an orthodoxy for many intellectuals, artists, journalists and politicians living and working in Britain (and elsewhere in the West) today. Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Islam and literature. 2. Freedom of speech in literature. 3. Freedom of the press History 20th century. 4. Freedom of the press History 21st century. 5. Rushdie, Salman. Satanic verses. 6. Literature and society. 7. Censorship. 8. East and West in literature. I. Title. PN605.I8M66 2014 809.9338297 dc23 2014026278 Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
For Leo and Leila
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Contents Acknowledgements viii Introduction 1 Part I 1 From Blasphemy to Offensiveness: the Politics of Controversy 13 2 What is Freedom of Speech For? 32 3 A Difficult Freedom: Towards Mutual Understanding and the Ethics of Propriety 57 Part II 4 The Self-Transgressions of Salman Rushdie: Re-Reading The Satanic Verses 97 5 Visualism and Violence: On the Art and Ethics of Provocation in the Jyllands-Posten cartoons and Theo Van Gogh s Submission 147 6 Romancing the Other: The Jewel of the Medina and the Ethics of Genre 167 Part III 7 Satire, Incitement and Self-Restraint: Reflections on Freedom of Expression and Aesthetic Responsibility in Contemporary Britain 185 Notes and References 212 Index 242 vii
Acknowledgements This book began as part of an idea for another book before it took on a life of its own, and, like a giant tree under whose shade all other forms of life wither and die, that other project has long since been consigned to oblivion. Nevertheless, it is only right that I acknowledge Brunel University for awarding me a period of research leave in 2008 9 for that other work. The seed of this book grew in response to an invitation by Elleke Boehmer and Ankhi Mukherjee to present a seminar at the Oxford Postcolonial Seminar at Wadham College in January 2009. The lively discussion that ensued convinced me that it was an idea worth pursuing. On the other hand, the book would probably still not be complete had it not been for the generous support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, which awarded me a Research Fellowship in 2012 13. During that time, I was also able to take up a Visiting Research Fellowship at the University of Melbourne and I am sincerely grateful to Ken Gelder and Rachel Fensham for giving my family an opportunity to reside in that wonderful city for three months, and for giving me the opportunity to research and write in the English Library; having an entire library at hand s reach is an unforgettable experience. I would also like to thank the staff and students of the English programme in the School of Culture and Communication at Melbourne for their stimulating responses to my seminars, and to Andrew Smith in particular for his highly congenial and relaxed company. In the course of the five long years it has taken to complete this project, many others have given me a helping hand. Bob Eaglestone, in particular, has been tremendously supportive throughout, and I wish to acknowledge my debt of gratitude to him. Towards the end of the project, I was invited by Abdulrazak Gurnah to deliver a seminar at the University of Kent s School of English in March 2014, which enabled me to test some of the ideas in the last chapter while it was still hot off the press, as it were. My sincere thanks are due to Abdulrazak and the staff and students at the seminar for their engaged and astute comments and feedback. I have been fortunate, over the past few years, to have been able to work closely with a number of scholars who share many of my research interests. Together, we constitute a small research group called Multicultural Textualities and my discussions and exchanges with Rehana Ahmed, Claire Chambers, Peter Morey, Stephen Morton and Amina Yaqin have enriched this book, and their friendship and collegiality has been a great boon to me. I would like to thank Rehana, Claire and Stephen in particular for reading several parts of this book and making their incisive but supportive comments, and Amina and Peter viii
Acknowledgements ix for inviting me to contribute to their Framing Muslims and Muslims, Multiculturalism and Trust projects, which have helped over the years to clarify much of my thinking. Ben Doyle at Palgrave Macmillan has offered nothing but enthusiasm and support for this book, and has been incredibly efficient in expediting the reviewing and editorial process. In particular, the way he managed to secure readers reports so quickly is, in my publishing experience, a first. I would like to thank all the readers and respondents who have, in their various ways, contributed to the shaping of the book although, of course, the responsibility for any errors that remain is mine alone. From my childhood, a group of friends have provided me with vital emotional sustenance and, when necessary, welcome distraction from the cares and frustrations of academic life and research. In particular, I would like to thank the Reverends Stephen Griffith and Nigel Dawkins for bringing their faith, knowledge, experience and wisdom to bear on an illuminating exchange that helped me clarify my ideas on Monty Python s Life of Brian in the final chapter. Finally, I must acknowledge the love and support of my family. My mother, Anjulika Mondal, remains a rock, and she always will be; sadly, however, this was the first book I have written without the encouragement of my late father, Ansar Ali, who died shortly before I began this project. In another sense, however, his presence can be felt in every sentence because our perennial discussions and arguments over The Satanic Verses, Islam and Muslims have been, in hindsight, enormously formative in numerous though impalpable ways. To my wife, Joanna, I cannot adequately express my gratitude for her astonishing forbearance, especially during the latter stages when she lost me to my study most evenings; I cannot fathom the depth and extent of that sacrifice and I am overwhelmed by my luck in being able to share our lives together hopefully we can now share much more. My children, Leo and Leila, were not even born when this work began, but they will soon become readers and writers themselves, and I hope they will absorb the moral lesson that one must write and read with care and precision because words are powerful and can do much harm as well as great good. I dedicate this book to them for all the joy they have brought me. The epigraph is from Martin Amis by Patrick McGrath commissioned by and first published in BOMB 18/Winter 1987. Bomb Magazine, New Art Publications, and its Contributors. All rights reserved. The BOMB Digital Archive can be viewed at www.bombmagazine.org. Parts of Chapter 4 were first published as Representing the very ethic he battled : Islam(ism), Secularism and Self-Transgression in The Satanic Verses, in a special issue of Textual Practice edited by Lucienne Loh and Malcolm Sen, 27:3, 2013, pp. 419 37; and Re-visiting the The Satanic Verses: the fatwa and its legacies in Robert Eaglestone and Martin McQuillian, eds. Salman
x Acknowledgements Rushdie: Contemporary Critical Perspectives (Bloomsbury, 2013) pp. 59 71. I gratefully acknowledge Bloomsbury Academic and Taylor and Francis Journals for granting permission to re-use this material here.
What does [the accountability of the author in fiction] mean morally? Is one accountable for it? Martin Amis Not one of you truly believes until you love for the other what is loved for the self. Prophet Muhammad xi