From: Sharmila Mukherjee <sm396-AT-nyu.edu>
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 12:53:41 -0700
Subject: Re: Naipaul and the Times


Paul
I don't understand what you mean by Naipaul's 'assault' on the Islamic 
world, and his 'overwhelming contempt for the third world'. There is a 
body of Naipaul scholarship that does project his work along these 
trajectories--but if one were to try and read through the entire 
Naipaul canon one might come to less simplistic and reductive 
conclusions about Naipual's art and politics. 
The two Naipaul books on Islam are hardly simple 'assaults' on a 
religion per se! 
Anyhow there is a conspiracy theory afoot: naipaul wins the nobel prize 
because he is a stooge of neo imperialism and it's a nice little slap 
on the face of 'Islam'--this is uncritical, self-gratifying thinking-- 

Sharmila

----- Original Message -----
From: Paul Brians <brians-AT-mail.wsu.edu>
Date: Thursday, October 11, 2001 10:00 am
Subject: Naipaul and the Times

> The brief Reuters story in the New York Times about Naipaul's 
> Nobel 
> Prize comments on his animosity to religion, but does not refer 
> specifically to his recent assaults on the Islamic World. I 
> imagine 
> this news is not going to cheer up those who feel under assault by 
> the West. Of course it does not mention either his overwhelming 
> contempt for the "Third World" in general. It will be interesting 
> to 
> see what the Times itself has to say when it gets around to 
> writing 
> its own story: the Book Review has been one of his biggest boosters.
> 
> <" 
> target="l">http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international/nobel-
literature.html?searchpv=reuters>
> -- 
> Paul Brians, Department of English
> Washington State University
> Pullman, WA 99164-5020
> brians-AT-wsu.edu
> http://www.wsu.edu/~brians
> 
> 
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