Lfor the first time The world mentioned Salman Rushdie, who survived an assassination attempt on August 12 on the stage of a cultural center in Chautauqua, New York, thirty-three years after a fatwa from Ayatollah Khomeini calling for his dead, it was for what he had always been: a man of letters. On October 30, 1981, a simple brief announced that “the 34-year-old Indian writer year “ had won “the Booker Prize, the most important British literary prize”, for his second book, The Midnight Children.
This story of the life of a man born at the precise moment of India’s independence and whose destiny is linked to that of his country has not yet appeared in French. It will be in 1983 and will not be reviewed in The world. The following year, Bernard Géniès nevertheless described the author as “a monster, a magician, a burst of laughter” in his review of Shamehis third novel, which takes place in a country that looks like Pakistan.
“An event occurred on January 14 which had not taken place in England since the Middle Ages. “The World” in 1989
It is precisely this country, “this superb and unknown land”, that The world encourages its readers to discover, on July 9, 1988. In an advice sheet for potential tourists to Pakistan where, today, the Quai d’Orsay suggests postponing any non-essential travel plans, the daily prescribes the reading of Rushdie, between recommendations of holy cities to visit and fares for round trips Paris-Karachi.
Soon, his life as a man and author changes. In September 1988, his novel The Satanic Verses appears in English. Here he is accused of profaning Islam. On February 2, 1989, The world mentions for the first time the facts: “An event occurred on January 14 which had not taken place in England since the Middle Ages. » A book burning. On February 15, sobriety matches the seriousness of the announcement: “Imam Khomeini on Tuesday February 14 called on Muslims around the world to ‘quickly execute’ Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie and the publishers of his book. The Satanic Verses. »
On February 16, the editorial “A writer is never ‘too free'” could not be clearer: “Rarely in the literary history of the world has a novel fallen prey to such obscurantist hysteria. The banning of the Satanic Verses is an attack on all that creates, or aspires to create, in a world where literature day by day abandons its duty to “Walking in prohibited areas”. »
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