Tweeting parody

Can an arch-ironist be ironised? Evidently. @RushdieExplains, a Twitter handle that parodies Salman Rushdie, himself the harbinger of postmodern parody and metafiction in South Asian literature, is taking the microblogging site by storm. Taking a dig at not only the sporadic flourishes of self-seriousness from Sir Salman, the Twitter avatar also lampoons the global literati and limousine liberals, juxtaposing absurdly different but telling names together to bring home the ludicrous sense of self-importance that is the pitfall of the planetary plague that is celeb culture. Add to it a conspicuous dash of literary and political criticism, all in good humour and all piggybacking on Rushdie’s inimitable and characteristic bombast. For example, ‘So honored to be keynoting ‘Postcolonial Oversensitivity’ conference at SOAS! Sponsored by B-Tex lotion!’ And: Goodnight, gentle friends. Need to take a hiatus to work on my pioneering Punglish masterpiece ‘Rab in the Time of Hindutva’. Another masterpiece is this: Just finished rehearsing w/ Hari, Ruchir, Jeet & Amitava for Deoband Alumni dinner! Dancing to Fight the Power, choreographed by Prabhudeva. Combining scathing attacks on the establishments the world over with biting satire and brilliant wit, @RushdieExplains is a fascinating take on how a famous author, a stupendously saleable brand by himself, can also spawn universes of spoofs and parodies. These lampoons are as much a caricature of the global obsession with Salman Rushdie, the writer and the name, as they are a reiteration of what Rushdie consistently and repeatedly counters in various literary and extra-literary platforms. That the author himself is blissfully aware of this Twitter handle, maintained anonymously so far, is heartening.