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October 17, 2024 - 5:30pm
Salman Rushdie has claimed today that it would be more dangerous to publish The Satanic Verses in today’s cultural climate than in 1988.
The initial publication of his famous novel resulted in a fatwa from Iran calling for the British author’s execution. His Japanese translator was murdered in 1991, while several other figures associated with the book’s publication were attacked in the following years. Most recently, in 2022, an assailant stabbed Rushdie multiple times, blinding him in one eye.
During today’s speech at Vanderbilt University’s Global Free Speech Summit in Nashville, Rushdie — who was appearing remotely — said social media and changing attitudes about censorship among young people make the current climate more hostile to free speech. While he believed the publication process would have been similar now, he said the consequences of publication would be more grave.
“There’s no doubt [publishing the book today] would have been more dangerous, because the speed with which information spreads now and the rapidity with which a large number of people can be motivated into a kind of mob response, that’s infinitely greater now,” Rushdie said, explaining that propaganda against his work in the late Eighties was disseminated by fax.
The novelist argued that, while libertarian attitudes toward speech still have currency, there’s also a growing contingent who believe “if you are offended by something, you have the right to get it stopped.” He discussed his exit from social media, comparing X to “a room full of people you don’t want to be in a room with”, and said the expectation on young writers to stay active on social media forces them to contend with strong pressure to avoid certain subjects.
On the recent resurgence of religious practice, Rushdie expressed concern that “we have to refight battles that we thought we won,” referencing evangelical Christianity in the US and radical Islam globally. “History goes in circles, cycles spiralling downwards at the moment,” he said. The same is true of free speech, he claimed, citing bans in the US targeting LGBTQ-themed books in school libraries. “The First Amendment covers our right to read, not just our right to speak,” he said. “And schools, universities, libraries are exactly the place where you should come across ideas that you have previously come across, and even ideas that you might not agree with.”
Rushdie also discussed the illiberal culture within academia, explaining that the students he encounters at New York University, where he is a writer in residence, are generally willing to engage in civil discourse, and proponents of cancel culture are merely loud, overrepresented voices. “We should listen to the silent people,” the author suggested. “Many people studying at universities are perfectly reasonable and don’t like things being shut down and banned and canceled. And if you scratch a little deeper, you might find that they have strong opinions about that.”
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SubscribeVery encouraging. Gives me hope I won’t be put to death in my dotage because I said the censored thing in the wrong company.
Hilarious. An article about free speech and the comments disappear because some muppet couldn’t deal with a debate about free speech.
I’m done here.
I’ve never been a great fan of SR, but when it comes to standing strong for his convictions he contrasts well with our lilly-livered politicians. Successive governments have appeased Iran, issued meaningless condemnations and done precisely nothing, no matter what vile crimes Iran has committed.