Gaming as Civic Engagement in Salman Rushdie’s Luka and the Fire of Life

This essay investigates the ways that Salman Rushdie’s 2010 novel Luka and the Fire of Life engages twenty-first-century concerns about the role of technology in daily life. Borrowing its narrative structure from classic video games, Luka argues that “old” storytelling modes must be adapted in order to remain relevant to new generations for whom technology is becoming indispensable. In this regard, Rushdie supports the position asserted by James Paul Gee, Henry Jenkins, Jane McGonigal, and other new media critics: gaming has the potential not only to bridge the generation gap, but also to sharpen problem-solving skills and inspire young people to integrate play, technology, and citizenship-building activities.