Goodman Sam
Journalism, English and Communication, Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK.
Engl Stud (Amst). 2018 Apr 6;99(3):307-324. doi: 10.1080/0013838X.2018.1436286. eCollection 2018.
In the era of decolonisation that followed the Second World War, various authors sought to engage with India and the Empire's past anew throughout their novels, identifying medicine and illness as key parts of Imperial authority and colonial experience. Salman Rushdie's approach to the Raj in (1981) focused on the broad sweep of colonial life, juxtaposing the political and the personal. This article argues that Rushdie explores the history of colonial India by employing alcohol and alcoholism as lenses through which to explore the cultural, political and medical legacies of Empire. Through analysis of as well as a range of medical sources related to alcohol and inebriation, it will illustrate how drinking is central to Rushdie's approach to secular and religious identities in newly independent India, as well as a means of satirising and undermining the supposed benefit that Empire presented to India and Indians.
在第二次世界大战后的非殖民化时代，众多作家试图在其小说中重新审视印度和帝国的往昔，将医学与疾病视为帝国权威和殖民经历的关键组成部分。萨尔曼·拉什迪1981年创作的《》对英属印度时期的描写聚焦于殖民生活的全貌，将政治与个人层面并列呈现。本文认为，拉什迪通过将酒精及酗酒作为视角，来探究帝国的文化、政治和医学遗产，从而探索了殖民时期印度的历史。通过对《》以及一系列与酒精和醉酒相关的医学资料进行分析，将阐明饮酒在拉什迪对新独立的印度的世俗与宗教身份的处理方式中如何处于核心地位，同时也是一种讽刺和削弱帝国声称带给印度及印度人民的所谓益处的手段。
