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Abstract
The Ethics of Irreverence: Blasphemy in Literature as Ethical Critique will observe how blasphemy in the novel, works as a powerful literary trait for the critique of hegemonic power. The two novels addressed are Jos Saramagos Cain and Salman Rushdies The Satanic Verses. Both works utilize blasphemy and both do so through parodying their respective traditions sacred texts. This project, in observing these novels critique of hegemony, will address two issues concerning literature and concerning blasphemy in literature: (1) how does the novel, which is understood as mere fiction, have any ethical authority and any claim to reality? (2) How does blasphemy have any claim as a legitimate form of religious discourse? Finally, in addressing these issues and observing criticism in Cain and The Satanic Verses, this project will conclude with a section on the limitations of blasphemy and the point at which critical offense, as in the Rushdie Affair, becomes polemical hate speech.