Abstract
Monica Ali’s Brick Lane (2003) is perhaps the most well-known work by a British Muslim author since Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia (1990); like Kureishi’s work, Ali’s fi ction has been subject to cinematic adaptation, which has brought it to the mainstream. At the same time, it is also the most controversial work of fi ction to be published since Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses (1988), something which the fi lm version also precipitated. When British Muslims based in Brick Lane, with their ancestry in the Sylheti region of Bangladesh, objected to the novel’s presentation of their community, there were obvious resonances with the Rushdie Affair.1 Published only two years after the events of 9/11, the novel exposed an already vulnerable community to further scrutiny, highlighting the ways in which anti-Muslim and Islamophobic discourses had made South Asian Muslims intensely sensitive to any potential denigration of their culture.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.