POP-CULTURE REFERENCES IN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE
Salman Rushdie's "The Courter." is an example of a story that uses popular culture references to address the events and the feelings of characters of a particular time. In "The Courter" Rushdie uses references of culture from the early 1960's, such as pop-songs, television shows, and movies, that help readers understand and relate to the characters of his story. These references are also of a historical orientation and help direct the time frame of the story. The style that Rushdie uses for each reference help give "The Courter" its own individuality and clarify the true essence of the time. Of all the references in "The Courter" most of them have to do with music. Music is used
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The importance of movie references in "The Courter" isn't as great as the magnitude of the music references but is used to intensify the emotions that were present in the story. "Or was it that her heart, roped by two different loves, was being pulled both East and West, whinnying and rearing, like those movie horses being yanked this way by Clark Gable and that way by Montgomery Clift, and she knew that to live she would have to choose?" The way that Rushdie expresses the emotional distress present in Certainly- Mary with "The Misfits" scenario expresses the truths behind the emotion. These references help the characters become more humanistic and allow specific emotions to become associated with them. Television shows and references help explain the time set that the story was placed in. The aspect of the television characters as well as the idea of the television, show the tremendous impact that television had on society in the sixties and the amount of excitement that surrounded it. The reason television was so important was because the majority of the population had a television set and it allowed people to relate with the characters portrayed onscreen, as well as with each other by watching the programs. "Once giggling, Mary confided to Mixed-up that Fred and Wilma reminded her of her Sahib and Begum Sahiba upstairs; at which the courter, matching her audaciousness, pointed first at Certainly-Mary and then at himself,
Master Fard Muhammad is Allah in person. His father knew of a message that had to be delivered to his people, but he knew that as a black man he could never just come into solid white America with no problem with the authorities. He knew that he need to go to the caucasus region and find a pure caucasian woman to give birth to his son, so that his son could deliver the message to his people. Some may say that Master Fard Muhammad can’t be God because his mother is white, but that is fallacious. Dr.Wesley points out that if you plant an apple seed in Africa, Asia, Or Europe it will still germinate as an apple tree. Just like Fard was the seed of his father and his mother was like the soil.
This Discussion is about how the author views contemporary Arabs’ attitude toward their own history in the play ‘The Jester’. It is written by Muhammad Al-Maghut, a Syrian writer and poet who is known for his satirical work. In this play, he vigorously converses about the social misery and meanness. This play focuses on reaction and behaviour of today’s Arab men towards their historical heroes in a satirical way. The play starts with highlighting the dignity and heroism of past Arab heroes, but in later acts it is depicted that the layman regards their heroism only because it has been magnificently presented to him, unless analysed by a contemporary Arab man. The writer tries to depict the behaviour of today’s Arabs towards achievements to
In the article, “A Gentle Madness“, the author Humera Afridi, tells her story about how she moved multiple times. She lived in the United States; Dallas, Minneapolis, New York, Dubai, Pakistan, and Jeddah. In the passage she states, “[w]hen I was twelve, my parents decided to leave Pakistan and move our family to Abu Dhabi. My heart, I thought, I would never recover” (Afridi, 49). She explained how moving from state to state and country to country can be challenging and how she went through a lot of conflict moving from Pakistan, adjusting to another country, and coping with family issues. Through detailed imagery and rhetoric the author was able to tell a story about a significant experience in her life. This shows how her memories never fade.
Muhammad a prophet for our time is written by Karen Armstrong. This book is like a diary that tells the life of Muhammad and how he played a big role in the Islamic religion. Muhammad was born in the year 570 ce and died in 623 ce. Muhammad was a man who did not have much going for him, he couldn’t read and lived in a cave with his wife at the time. When Muhammad was reached down upon by Allah he did not know what was happening and why it was happening. “ he knew that some people expected the imminent arrival of an Arab prophet, but it never occurred to him that he would be the one entrusted with the mission.” (p.10). Muhammad was 40 years old when this happened and he lived in Mecca. Mecca at the time had many different civilizations and was a big trading center. Arabs at the time did not like this and kept moving from places to place to get something stable. Some of the Arabs even had settled in urban areas around Mecca. Society in Mecca was based on laws and traditions that even though Allah is the main god
In the book “A Long Way Gone” music plays a role as a healer and a saviour.
In the novel All The Shah’s Men we are introduced to Iran, and the many struggles and hardships associated with the history of this troubled country. The Iranian coup is discussed in depth throughout the novel, and whether the Untied States made the right decision to enter into Iran and provide assistance with the British. If I were to travel back to 1952 and take a position in the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) for the sole purpose of examining the American Foreign Intelligence, I would have to conclude that the United States should have examined their options more thoroughly, and decided not to intervene with Iran and Mossadegh. I have taken this position after great analysis, which is something that Eisenhower and his staff never
Handsome, weight champion, muslim, freely spoken, racial rights leaders, all exemplifies the powerful Muhammad Ali. A man whose story has a positive impact on americans lives today and back during the civil rights movement. “Muhammed Ali: The World’s Champion” by John Tessitore is an autobiography that is written to tell all the obstacles of Muhammed Ali. The adventures annals of Muhammed Ali begins from growing up and discovering that boxing was his outlet from racism, to dropping out of school, to becoming muslim, also being the voice of the public people, to lastly being coming one of the most known African American Boxing world champion. Thousands world wide then and now see Muhammad Ali as an tragic hero due to his resistance of entering the war, going to jail, and returning back to the ring even more powerful than before.
The reader can see this during Montag’s chase. During his chase, the people producing the chase footage include the people in searching for Montag. The way accomplish they this is by announcing for the citizens to open their doors and to stand outside. But how did the film crew know that the people would help? The people were glued to their televisions, so they got the message and began to help. This prominent element of the tv also mirrors how people felt about it when it was written, 1953. Around the time that this story was written, the television started to become a staple in the 1950’s family homes. For example, when researching “events in the 1950’s”, the majority has to do with television. Some of these include but aren’t limited to “I Love Lucy” premieres, BBC becomes a tv network, and the first tv filming vans were used. Another warning Bradbury includes is how people have dangerous ways of entertaining themselves. Most notably, the younger
Chraibi’s book Muhammad: A Novel is a fantastic, powerful read because it is just that: a novel. It is a fictional story, but written by an author who had an unusual, mystical calling himself to write the book. By using original aspects from the traditional biographies of Muhammad and then adding his own personal, esoteric twist on these characteristics, Chraibi creates a work of literature that is truly compelling and shows Muhammad’s journey to becoming a prophet in a mystical light. Two central distinctions, namely Muhammad’s relations with Khadija and Bahira, add the spice in this novel that really help the reader grasp what is mystical about both this literature and most importantly, Muhammad himself.
A desert peninsula in 6th century was the cross roads of the world, the bridge between Europe, Asia and Africa. Arabia was a vacant wasteland of desert, rarely seeing any life besides that of the trade caravans. City states dominated the political life and the only form of centralized government was in chaos. This was Arabia in the 6th century, this even though Christian was to become the staging ground for the growth of the 2nd largest religion that exists today. This is where the "Prophet" Muhammad was born in the city of Mecca.
Sharia law is an ancient compilation of religious rules that most Muslim nations seek reference in governing their people. Also defined as Islamic law, the essence of sharia laws emanated from the life of Prophet Mohammed known as the hadiths as well as the Quran teachings. The hadiths entail the vocal expressions of prophet Muhammad on divine life and his condemnation of immoral behavior that undermine the acceptable way of life. The teachings are accepted by the Muslim community who affirm that Muhammad’s teachings supplement the functionality of the Quran. On the other hand, the Quran, which forms the core reference on Muslim beliefs and regulations provides moral and spiritual guidance among the Muslims. It also dictates how the Muslims should interact with the non-Muslim community without contravening on the sharia doctrines (Hallaq 20-25).
Death in Islam If possible, before a Muslim dies, the call to prayer should be
Ibn Rushd (Averroës) is a well-respected thinker of his time period.He was a Muslim born in Cordoba, Spain in 1126 to a well-respected law and public service family. Ibn Rushd’s full name is Abû al-Walîd Muhammad Ibn Rushd but better known as Averroës in the Latin West. He was the descendant of the Cordovan family of scholars and was the third generation to hold the office of qâdî. Qâdî is a judge for religious laws in the Muslim society. When he finished school, he didn't want to be a qâdî because he had a strong interest in science and philosophy. Therefore, he started writing a book called Kitab al-Kulyat fi al-Tibb (Generalities) which was a science textbook. That was used by the Jewish, Muslim and Christian physicians for centuries.Since Kitab al-Kulyat fi al-Tibb was a big success Abd al-Mu'min wanted Ibn Rushd to come to Marrakesh. Abd al-Mu'min runs the education for the dynasty in Marrakech. Abd al-Mu'min and with the help of Ibn Rushd started the Moroccan Berber-Muslim movement which was to overthrow the ruling of Almoravids
Ali simply provides the title meaning of the film’s main subject, Muhammad Ali. The title meaning also provides some pride elements as well, due to the fact Ali had to fight to change his name from Cassius Clay.
As a religion, Islam is based on the teachings of Muhammad, embodying a sound belief in one God (Allah). Islam is an Arabic word meaning submission, surrender, and obedience (Maududi, 1). It also stands for peace. Its followers are known as Muslims or Moslems. Islam emerged in Arabia, specifically in the city of Mecca, in the seventh century C.E. (Matthews, 386). With the evolution of Islam in Mecca, Mecca is known as the center of Islam. Islam is the youngest of the major world religions with the exception of Sikhism, which is a derivative of Hindu and Muslim beliefs that appeared in India. Islam is a universal religion of monotheism. The goal of Islam is to