ABSTRACT
The juxtaposition of the experience of SalmanRushdie, aMumbai-bornwriter whonow lives inBritain,with JacquesDerrida andHélèneCixous, twoFrench post-structuralists, is an important one when reflecting on their respective postcolonial identities. Rushdie writes that the ‘formulation “Indian-born British writer” has been invented to explain me. But my new book deals with Pakistan. So what now? British-resident-Indo-Pakistani writer?’ (cited in Welsh 1997: 56). In contrast, the identity of Cixous and Derrida has not been subjected to such scrutiny despite the fact that they were both born in Algeria. Their identity is not seen to be central to their respective projects; they are not thought of as Algerian-born French post-structuralists.
