Rage against the machine
Cyberspace narratives in Rushdie’s Fury
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9002946 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yael Maurer (Tel Aviv University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 121-135 |
| Publication date | 2012-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of Commonwealth Literature (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-9894 • E-ISSN: 1741-6442 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0021989411425480 |
| OpenAlex | W2048900657 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 9 |
This article examines the science-fictional aspects of Rushdie’s 2002 novel Fury, focusing on the cyberspace narrative at its centre. I suggest that Rushdie engages with the enabling potential of cyberspace, only to finally reject it in favour of a return to the “real”. Fury questions the science-fictional or cyberspace option as a vehicle for previously unimagined artistic freedom. The protagonist, Malik Solanka, finds he cannot overcome personal and collective “fury” by “living in the electricity”. The science-fictional cyber narrative he creates collapses into the “real”, leaving Solanka disillusioned by his dream of artistic freedom and total control. Rushdie presents the allure of cyberspace narrativity as a seductive but dangerous means of artistic escape, and questions cyberspace’s offer of total artistic freedom. Solanka’s disillusionment thus mirrors Rushdie’s sceptical stance towards cyberspace and its possibly redemptive potential. The novel’s ending signifies a qualified return to the “real” and a rejection of the dream of an ultimate “elsewhere” in cyberspace. Solanka’s return home to London and to his son, Asmaan (sky), envisions a different form of futurity, to be found in the next generation. This promise for a possibly better future is represented by Solanka’s estranged son, whom he longs to reencounter in person, rather than in the disembodied technological realm of cyberspace
Aesthetics · Art · Cyberspace · Dream · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Political science · Realm · Sociology · The Internet · Computer Science · Law · Opportunistic and Delay-Tolerant Networks · Psychology · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life · Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,14 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2026 (15) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |