“The Man Who Would Be Popular”: An Analysis of Salman Rushdie’s Twitter Feed

Abstract

In September 2011, Salman Rushdie joined the popular social network Twitter. What initially began as an experiment to tweet a narrative in 140 characters became an intensely dynamic platform for engaging with the public and cultivating an authorial persona for the well-known author. By early 2015, Rushdie had nearly 700,000 Twitter followers and regularly appeared in news media for his Twitter content. Shortly after joining Twitter, Rushdie eagerly demonstrated his knowledge of the platform and has involved some of his 1.25 million followers in debates and conversations about a wide range of issues from the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaigns to gun control. More than just an interesting glimpse into Rushdie’s everyday thoughts, his Twitter feed is a valuable archive. By applying qualitative discourse analysis to Rushdie’s Twitter feed, patterns in Rushdie’s use of the social network emerge, revealing some of the ways in which he attempts to engage readers, defend his positions, and cultivate his authorial legacy. This article develops careful categorization of concepts and themes which emerge from a review of Rushdie’s tweets. Applying discourse analysis to this data will enable scholars to make valuable connections between analyses of Rushdie’s published work and his social media persona. In particular, this study looks at the ways in which this noted author is attempting to disseminate his message, inhabit his role as a celebrity author, and shape his authorial legacy.