Deconstructing the veil

摘要

Book burnings are rare in Britain. Before 1989, when copies of Salman Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses" were incinerated in two cities, anyone searching for a really good literary bonfire had to look back to the religious upheavals of the 17th century. The Rushdie affair became a defining issue for a generation of British Muslims, and the argument over whether free speech is worth the occasional blasphemy has been smoking ever since.