Value Conflict And Cultural Memory In Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children: An Axiological And Hermeneutic-Statistical Study

Abstract

This paper examines Midnight’s Children (1981) by Salman Rushdie as a paradigmatic literary site where value conflict and cultural memory are not merely represented but structurally produced through narrative form. Drawing on axiological philosophy (Scheler, Hartmann), philosophical hermeneutics (Gadamer, Ricoeur), and cultural memory theory (Assmann), the study proposes a mixed-methods framework that integrates interpretive analysis with quantitative thematic modeling. Using a manually curated and computationally supported coding scheme, the novel is analyzed across seven value-memory categories: identity, freedom, moral duty, tradition, modernity, gender ethics, and postcolonial memory. Statistical results reveal that identity-oriented value conflicts (87.3%) and memory-inflected ethical tensions (79.1%) dominate the narrative structure, suggesting that the novel functions as a moral archive rather than a historical allegory. The study argues that Rushdie’s narrative does not simply reflect cultural values but actively reorganizes them through metafictional memory work. By combining hermeneutics with statistical modeling, this paper advances a new methodology for philosophy-of-literature research, demonstrating that literary meaning can be both interpreted and empirically structured. This approach redefines English literature as a dynamic system of cultural valuation and ethical negotiation.