Fluidity in Cultural Identity in Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories

Abstract

This article explores fluidity in cultural identity through the analysis andinterpretation of Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Culture andidentity are important areas of postcolonial and cultural studies. Culturalidentity constantly changes due to diversity, as Rushdie shows the fluidity ofcultural identity to depict the social, cultural, political, linguistic, andecological differences between the sunlit land of Gup City and the perenniallydark land of Chup City. The differences between Guppees, who representliberal, pluralistic, and multicultural views, and Chupwalas, who representvarious types of conservative world views, reveal people's antagonisticposition. This difference also refers to a conflict between fundamentalism andWestern literary modernism. The novel presents postmodern concepts, fluidityof cultural identity and the formation and reformation of identity, which areapplicable to race, culture, and identity. The travels of Haroun Khalifa are anadventurous journey where he encounters different kinds of people in differentplaces. Haroun anticipates a shift in cultural identities between Guppees andChupwalas. Rushdie thinks that stories have the power to dominate silence,corruption, and oppression and to form new cultural identities. Rushdie'sstorytelling power represents various cultural identities as well as the changeand formation of cultural identity. This article highlights fluidity in culturalidentity in the context of postcolonial cultural studies.