Thematic Concerns of History in Salman Rushdie’s Victory City

Abstract

This study examines how Salman Rushdie's Victory City reimagines and reinterprets historical tales using a combination of myth, fantasy, and political allegory to address the thematic issues of history.  The story, which takes place in the made-up Bisnaga kingdom, is told from the perspective of Pampa Kampana, a poet-prophetess who influences a civilization's trajectory over many generations.  The study explores how Rushdie challenges the legitimacy and authority of recorded history by fusing magical realism with other historical possibilities in order to undermine linear historiography.  The building of empire, gender and historical agency, memory manipulation, and the cyclical nature of power are among the major topics covered. The study shows how Victory City opposes prevailing historical paradigms and promotes diverse and creative approaches to the past through an intertextual and postmodern lens. The study emphasizes the novel's ongoing significance as a tool for historical reclamation and resistance by placing it within Rushdie's larger body of work and current postcolonial debate.