Counter against the western obsession in Salman Rushdie's East, West

Abstract

Salman Rushdie's anthology East, West is the depiction of the counter of the eastern world against the western hegemony, popularized in the name of supremacy of the West. In the process of challenging the West's domination, Rushdie depicts the shift of culture, largely due to the trend of Diaspora and its impact in the form of hybrid culture. The last few decades have increasingly seen people shifting from east to west and vice-versa which thereby have mingled the ideas and life style of each other into the respective cultures. Rushdie's stories are representation of such people and places, where the society and its resident are entrapped in a pluralistic culture, which makes them narrower and closer, ultimately giving rise to a hybrid way of living. Characters in East, West indicate the coming of new era, where people are opening themselves towards the liberal side of culture and religion, thanks to the hybridity of Diaspora and the cultural impact, produced by the same.