Zadie Smith White Teeth Summary

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Abstract: This paper proposes to offer an insight into the key issues of cultural identity and hybridity in light of the position and problems of the British Asians in Great Britain judged against the Hungarian minorities such as the Slovene Diaspora, endeavoring to categorize the treatment of the dilemma of cultural identity from age and gender perspectives through one of the landmark novels of contemporary British Asian fiction, White Teeth by Zadie Smith. It has been found that even though immigrants have analogous difficulties in settling and adjusting in their new countries, there may be differences in their situations and conditions.
Key words: multiculturalism, hybridity, culture, assimilation, gender.
Paper: The dilemma of cultural …show more content…

Naipaul documented their experience of migration and the transformation in Britain in their writings, by the 1980s a second generation of British Asians materialized on the literary scene, writers who were born in Britain and experienced segregation and racism from native Britons. The 1990s also presented a chance for the female immigrants writers such as Atima Srivastava and Meera Syal to notify their individual stories of the immigrant experience and the dilemma of cultural identity from a gender perspective, while at the beginning of the 21st century, Zadie Smith’s White Teeth (2000), unquestionably illustrated that the immigrant writers have a firm and prominent place in British literature at the new millennium in spite of of their exact location, gender or sexual …show more content…

Even if living in isolated communities they firstly defend their female roles in an arranged marriage and take up their ultimate duties of housework and raising children, their restricted contact with the external world does not save them from the dilemma of identity, questioning their female lowliness and the right of the tradition of subservient wife. Gradually, Alsana of White Teeth gains knowledge to take extra power over her life, initially by ‘silent mutiny’, then by asserting her voice and finally making her own decisions. Nevertheless, the transformation in her identity is delicate and measured, she finds the right balance between traditions and feminism, to develop into a tough, self-determining woman, who is competent enough to live without fear, both with regards to traditions and at the same time welcoming

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