THE POLITICS OF A CHILDREN’S BOOK Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Abstract

Rushdie’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories is a multifunctional tale, representing and arguing for, among other things, political expression, opposition to censorship and not least a movement for free speech. Disguised as a children’s book, Haroun raises many issues central for Rushdie the author after he had been censored by a fatwa issued against him as a consequence of publishing the religious satire The Satanic Verses. The aim of this essay is to uncover political and autographical elements in the novel connected to the author’s real-life experiences. The novel also contains postcolonial elements that I will firstly uncover and then examine from a theoretical point of view. I will discuss the theoretical aspects using various postcolonial critics that will help me shed light on the colonial issues portrayed in the novel. Haroun’s fantastic journey to the imaginary world of Kahani will show him that everything is neither as self-evident nor logical as it might seem. The boundaries between fantasy and reality are in fact blurred.