Lesson 3

Til denne lektions referent:

Use these headlines to help you writing a few notes on today’s lesson. Upload your notes to the class blog before the next lesson.

Texts we have worked with today (homework and texts introduced in class)
William Shakespeare: “The Tempest”
Madelung and Frederiksen: “Images of India”
Introduction to Salman Rushdie’s: “The Free Radio”

How did we work with these texts?
We saw a short animation of “The Tempest” to get a better understanding of its content. Thereafter we discussed it on the class regarding to the matter of civilized vs. uncivilized and put it in relation to other texts we have read (e.g. “A passage to India” and “The White Man’s Burden”).

What were the main topics of today’s lesson?
“The Tempest”:
Superiority vs. Inferiority
Equality between human beings

How India did manage to develop, as a country, after the independence in 1947?
- Soviet model with a series of 5-year plans
-Education, agriculture etc.

What did we discuss?
- How Prospero ended up in his situation (ship wrecked)
- What Prospero and Caliban have learned from each other and what they cannot learn from each other
- What they represent: (Caliban = hybrid, mimicry – Prospero = Jingoism, Social Darwinism)
- Whether Prospero uses Caliban or not and this seen in relation to the British occupation of India

- How it was to live in India before and after their independence
- Is it ethnically correct to sterilize people?
- The Indians rather unique caste system (officially abolished, but not in practice!)

Anything else?

Who is Salman Rushdie?
- Novelist, essayist
- Lives in US (exile, protected by Secret Service)
- Knight of British Empire
- Most infamous for his book “The Satanic Verses”