
Amongst the unbelievable: Rage, faith and reason in selected writings by V.S. Naipaul
Author(s) -
Robert Balfour
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
literator
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2219-8237
pISSN - 0258-2279
DOI - 10.4102/lit.v35i1.1093
Subject(s) - faith , scholarship , politics , rage (emotion) , representation (politics) , premise , islam , subject (documents) , religious studies , perspective (graphical) , literature , sociology , history , philosophy , epistemology , psychology , theology , law , political science , art , social psychology , visual arts , library science , computer science
This article focuses on the representation of faith as conveyed by Naipaul in the course of four travelogues. Drawing on historical scholarship pertaining to Islamic societies in transition, and comparing this to a selection of the literary critical reception that Naipaul’s writing about Islam has evoked, I argue for a revision of literary readings of Naipaul’s travelogues. My premise is that the author’s subject positioning influences both a self-critical as well as more compassionate perspective on the relationship between faith and political transition in developing societies