Postcolonial Hybridity in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses

Abstract Salman Rushdie’s novels grapple with the intricate dynamics of identity formation in the aftermath of colonial rule, offering a profound exploration of postcolonial existence. This chapter examines Midnight’s Children (1981) and The Satanic Verses (1988) to illuminate how Rushdie constructs postcolonial identity as a fluid, hybrid entity shaped by historical fractures, cultural convergences, and global migrations. Midnight’s Children allegorizes India’s quest for cohesive nationhood through Saleem Sinai’s fragmented life, born at the moment of independence in 1947. In contrast, The Satanic Verses delves into the migrant’s experience of alienation and cultural synthesis in Britain’s postcolonial landscape. Through narrative innovations like magical realism, linguistic fusion, and polyphonic storytelling, Rushdie reimagines postcolonial selfhood as a vibrant interplay of memory, diversity, and adaptation, providing deep insights into the complexities of forging identities in a decolonized, interconnected world. Keywords: Postcolonial identity, hybridity, Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children, The Satanic Verses, magical realism, diaspora, nationhood, cultural synthesis, narrative innovation.