'Indias of the mind': the construction of post-colonial identity in Salman Rushdie's fiction

This study will examine both the technical development of Salman Rushdie's fiction and its reflection and representation of different levels of psychological stability on the part of the post-colonial subject. Rushdie's writing is introduced by way of a discussion of the work of earlier British writers - chiefly E.M. Forster and Paul Scott. These authors' writing on India serves primarily as an exploration of British self-image and the role of India as a psychological bulwark to British imperial identity rather than its significance as a geographical reality. Paul Scott's work also serves ironically to illustrate shared themes and characteristics between his writing and that of Rushdie. Chief among these are concerns with the individual's role in history and the physical and psychological determinants of identity. Enoch Powell is discussed briefly as another linking figure; this time between Scott and Rushdie. For Scott, he illustrates the extreme manifestation of imperial self-imagining, while for Rushdie he is seen as largely responsible for creating the demonized persons of the 'immigrant' against which a text like The Satantic Verses seeks to assert itself. The remainder of the thesis is a detailed exploration of the ways in which Rushdie achieves the representation of a re-integrated and non-demonized identity for the post-colonial subject. This representation is similarly achieved within the framework of texts which increasingly assert their hybridized nature - a blend of eastern and western techniques and ideas - as a positive characteristic. NOTE: The term 'Anglo Indian' is used in this study to denote those British men and women who lived and worked in India and the literature they produced as a result of their experiences. The term 'Indo-Anglian' is used to denote the work of Indian writers writing in English

The Anthropocene is a prospective epoch/series, not a geological event

The Anthropocene defined as an epoch/series within the Geological Time Scale, and with an isochronous inception in the mid-20th century, would both utilize the rich array of stratigraphic signals associated with the Great Acceleration and align with Earth System science analysis from where the term Anthropocene originated. It would be stratigraphically robust and reflect the reality that our planet has far exceeded the range of natural variability for the Holocene Epoch/Series which it would terminate. An alternative, recently advanced, time-transgressive ‘geological event’ definition would decouple the Anthropocene from its stratigraphic characterisation and association with a major planetary perturbation. We find this proposed anthropogenic ‘event’ to be primarily an interdisciplinary concept in which historical, cultural and social processes and their global environmental impacts are all flexibly interpreted within a multi-scalar framework. It is very different from a stratigraphic-methods-based Anthropocene epoch/series designation, but as an anthropogenic phenomenon, if separately defined and differently named, might be usefully complementary to it

'Ain't it a Ripping Night': Alcoholism and the Legacies of Empire in Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children.

In the era of decolonisation that followed the Second World War, various authors sought to engage with India and the Empire’s past anew throughout their novels, identifying medicine and illness as key parts of Imperial authority and colonial experience. Salman Rushdie’s approach to the Raj in Midnight’s Children (1981) focused on the broad sweep of colonial life, juxtaposing the political and the personal. This article argues that Rushdie explores the history of colonial India by employing alcohol and alcoholism as lenses through which to explore the cultural, political and medical legacies of Empire. Through analysis of Midnight’s Children as well as a range of medical sources related to alcohol and inebriation, it will illustrate how drinking is central to Rushdie’s approach to secular and religious identities in newly independent India, as well as a means of satirising and undermining the supposed benefit that Empire presented to India and Indians

Design, synthesis and evaluation of tryptophan analogues as tool compounds to study IDO1 activity

The metabolism of l-tryptophan to N-formyl-l-kynurenine by indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) is thought to play a critical role in tumour-mediated immune suppression. Whilst there has been significant progress in elucidating the overall enzymatic mechanism of IDO1 and related enzymes, key aspects of the catalytic cycle remain poorly understood. Here we report the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of a series of tryptophan analogues which have the potential to intercept putative intermediates in the metabolism of 1 by IDO1. Functionally-relevant binding to IDO1 was demonstrated through enzymatic inhibition, however no IDO1-mediated metabolism of these compounds was observed. Subsequent T(m)-shift analysis shows the most active compound, 17, exhibits a distinct profile from known competitive IDO1 inhibitors, with docking studies supporting the hypothesis that 17 may bind at the recently-discovered S(i) site. These findings provide a start-point for development of further mechanistic probes and more potent tryptophan-based IDO1 inhibitors

The proposed Anthropocene Epoch/Series is underpinned by an extensive array of mid‐20^th century stratigraphic event signals

The extensive array of mid-20 th century stratigraphic event signals associated with the ‘Great Acceleration’ enables precise and unambiguous recognition of the Anthropocene as an epoch/series within the Geological Time Scale. A mid-20 th century inception is consistent with Earth System science analysis in which the Anthropocene term and concept arose, and would reflect the reality that our planet has sharply exited the range of natural variability characterizing the Holocene Epoch/Series, which the Anthropocene would therefore terminate. An alternative, recently proposed ‘geological event’ approach to the Anthropocene is primarily an interdisciplinary concept, encompassing historical and socio-cultural processes and their global environmental impacts over a diachronous timeframe that extends back at least many millennia. Resembling more closely a geological episode than an event, it would decouple the Anthropocene from its chronostratigraphic delineation and association with an abrupt planetary perturbation; but separately defined and differently named it might be usefully complementary. We recommend a clear separation of epochs, events and episodes. An epoch is a formal subdivision of the Geological Time Scale, and its correlation may be assisted by one or more events; an event is usually, and particularly in the Quaternary, a brief incident or perturbation with a sedimentary expression; and an episode is a longer, internally complex time interval that may include several events and even extend across several epochs. </p