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Volume : II, Issue : VII, August - 2012

Black British Identities In Andrea Levy's ' Small Island' And Zadie Smith's 'white Teeth'

S. P. Rajguru

Published By : Laxmi Book Publication

Abstract :

Andrea Levy's Small Island and Zadie Smith's White Teeth are contemporary novels by recognized women writers in the British literary panorama who, even though born in England, are linked to ethnic group of the Caribbean Islands. Accordingly, these novels have been studied in relation to postcolonial writing and tradition with the diasporic perspectives and their quest for identity. We shall argue that they address issues that go beyond the logic of post-colonialism, question categories such as insiders and outsiders and offer a contesting view of Britain. We shall put forward that these novels depict the plurality of ways in which ethnically diverse people live, narrate and make sense of their multicultural experiences. By so doing, they problematise a homogenous view of British identity, they celebrate the 'third space' and they provide a dynamic representation of contemporary British society. In such a setting, identities are presented as fluid and spaces as continuously negotiated.

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Cite This Article :

S. P. Rajguru, (2012). Black British Identities In Andrea Levy's ' Small Island' And Zadie Smith's 'white Teeth'. Indian Streams Research Journal, Vol. II, Issue. VII, http://oldisrj.lbp.world/UploadedData/3774.pdf

References :

  1. 1.Levy, Andrea: Small Island. London: Review, 2004.
  2. 2.Smith, Zadie, White Teeth. London: Penguin, 2000
  3. 3.Achenson, James and Sarah C.E. Ross, The Contemporary British Novel, Edinburgh UP. eds. 2005
  4. 4.Bauman, Zigmunt Identity: Conversations with Benedetto Vecchi. London: Polity P. 2004
  5. 5.Bhabha, Homi, 'The Third Space: Interview with Homi Bhabha'. Jonathan Rutherford, ed. Identity: Community, Culture, Difference. London: Lawrence and Wishart. 1990
  6. 6.Reinventing Britain: A Forum: The Manifesto', 1999.
  7. 7.Bhabha, Homi, Susheila Nasta and Rasheed Araeen:'Radio 3 “Night Wave” Discussion: Homi Bhabha, Susheila Nasta and Rasheed Araeen'1999.
  8. 8.Hall, Stuart 1990: 'Cultural Identity and Diaspora'. Jonathan Rutherford, ed. Identity Community, Culture, Difference. London: Lawrence and Wishart. 223-37.
  9. 9.- 'New Ethnicities'. James Procter, ed. Writing Black Britain 1948-1998: An Interdisciplinary Anthology. Manchester: Manchester UP. 2000.
  10. 10.Lima, María Helena '“Pivoting the Centre”: The Fiction of Andrea Levy' 2005.

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