Vol. 6, Issue 9, Part E (2020)

Abstract
This present research aims at coming to grips with Salman Rushdie's engagement with the history, politics and identity of the Indian subcontinent, from his distinct location of a postcolonial migrant writer drawing culturally from multiple spaces, even as he belongs to none completely. A close textual examination of Rushdie's major fictional work has been undertaken in order to expound how a selection of thematic and structural patterns can be traced in the corpus of his major fiction, namely Midnight's Children (1981), Shame (1983), The Moor's Last Sigh (1995), The Ground Beneath Her Feet (1999), Fury (2001) and Shalimar the Clown (2005). The research attempts to chronicle the development of the writer vis-à-vis a critical examination of these six novels. The Enchantress of Florence (2008), Rushdie's latest major work of fiction was published as this study was nearing completion. It thus enabled the inclusion of examples into the discussion herein. A study of Rushdie cannot ignore his linguistic ebullience. Therefore, it takes into account the manner in which he reinvigorates narrative and the English language. The central thesis can be summarised and situated thus: Rushdie's oeuvre engages with the history, politics and identity of the Indian subcontinent shaped by the perspective of a migrant postcolonial. The study also takes into consideration his remarkable contribution to narrative and language.