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Salman Rushdie on Ambiguity and Imagination

1,701 views · Published 21 March 2012 · 2:52 · Indexed 13 October 2026

Channel: Emory University · 2012 · Education

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University Distinguished Professor Salman Rushdie participated in a class discussion led by Associate Professor of English Deepika Bahri with undergraduate students at Emory University on March 7, 2012. Here a student requests clarification of the ending of "Haroun and the Sea of Stories," saying, "I wasn't quite sure if it was an optimistic ending or a pessimistic ending." 

"You tell me," Rushdie says. "I don't know!" He goes on to discuss his affection for ambiguity in literature and other arts. "One of the great joys of reading is that it happens inside your head. And the imagination of the writer engages with your imagination and you jointly make the book."

The interdisciplinary course, "India Today: Economics, Politics, Innovation, and Sustainability," is supported by The Halle Institute for Global Learning (www.halleinstitute.emory.edu).

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