changed nature of frontiers
Renowned writer and critic Salman Rushdie will deliver the 2002 Tanner Lectures on Human Values at Yale on Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 25 and 26.
In his talks, titled "Step Across This Line," Rushdie will discuss the changed nature of frontiers in the modern world: the frontier as physical reality, as metaphor and as ethical boundary. He will explore such issues as the historical need of writers to flee homelands when persecuted and the need to reject metaphorical frontiers in literature, and will consider how some people have no ethical limits in the pursuit of their goals. Both lectures, which are free and open to the public, will take place at 4 p.m. in the Law School's Levinson Auditorium, 127 Wall St.
In conjunction with Rushdie's visit, the Whitney Humanities Center (WHC) will present a week of special events on the theme "The Virtues of Tolerance and the Crossing of Lines: Islam in the History of Western Culture."
Born in Bombay, India, Rushdie is considered one of the most distinguished living writers of English and is known as a spokesman for artistic freedoms against religious absolutism. He drew world attention after the publication of his novel "The Satanic Verses," which outraged some Muslims who believed it was a libel against Islam. The author went into hiding after a "fatwa," or death order, was placed against him by Muslims around the world who opposed his book. The fatwa has since been lifted. "The Satanic Verses" won the Whitbread Prize for Best Novel.
Rushdie has written numerous other novels and essays. His novel "Midnight's Children" won the Booker Prize and the "Booker of Bookers," given to the outstanding Booker Prize-winning novel in the first 25 years of the prize. His other novels include "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" (winner of the Writers' Guild Award), "The Moor's Last Sigh" (winner of the European Union's Aristeion Prize for Literature), and "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" (winner of the Eurasian section of the Commonwealth Prize). Rushdie is also the author of a book of stories titled "East, West" and of three works of nonfiction: "Imaginary Homelands," "The Jaguar Smile" and "The Wizard of Oz." He is the co-editor of "Mirrorwork, An anthology of contemporary Indian writing."
A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Rushdie has also been awarded Germany's Author of the Year Prize, the Budapest Grand Prize for Literature, the Austrian State Prize for European Literature and the Mantua Literary Award. He also has been awarded the Freedom of the City Award in Mexico City and holds the rank of Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters, France's highest artistic honor.
The special events being offered by the Whitney Humanities Center the week of Rushdie's visit will explore the historical intertwining of Islam and the West. The following are free and open to the public.
Sunday, Feb. 24 --Showings of "Destiny," a film by Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the WHC, 53 Wall St. Chahine's work has been acclaimed in Europe but is banned in Egypt. "Destiny" focuses on the life of Averroes, Ibn Rushd, the Andalusian commentator of Aristotle. The New York Times said the film "expresses a deeper reverence for books than perhaps any film since Truffaut's 'Farenheit 451.'"
Wednesday, Feb. 27 -- A talk by historian Thomas E. Burman of the University of Tennessee on "Reading the Qur'an in Latin Christendom, 1140-1540." His talk, which will be followed with a reception, will take place at
Thursday, Feb. 28 -- "Imagined Borders in Cordoba and Queens," a slide-show and lecture by Jerrilyn Dodds, professor at the School of Architecture of the City College of the City University of New York, at 5 p.m. at the WHC. A scholar of Islamic Spain and a prize-winning filmmaker, Dodds will discuss the boundaries among the religions as visible in churches in medieval Spain and mosques in New York City. Dodds is also a frequent curator of museum exhibitions on the subject of cultural exchange as seen through art and architecture.
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Special events related to Rushdie's talk
4 p.m. at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, corner of Wall and High streets. Burman is a specialist on the relations among the three monotheistic faiths in medieval Europe and author of the book "Mozarabs," about the Christians of Islamic Spain.
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