Ethno-cultural Crises: Constructing and Re-constructing Identities in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth

Subject Areas : criticism

Faranak Shahmoradi ¹ , Bahman Zaarinjooee ² , Leila Baradaran Jamili ³

1 - Department of English., Faculty of Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University, Ghorveh, Iran
2 - English Literature..Islamic Azad University.Borujerd.Iran
3 - Assistant Professor of English Literature، Borujerd Branch، Islamic Azad University، Borujerd، Iran (Corresponding Writer)

Received: 2024-04-09 Accepted : 2024-04-09 Published : 2024-06-01

Keywords: Cultural crisis, Ethno-cultural differences, Identity, White Teeth, Zadie Smith,

Abstract :

The cultural diversity of the city of London is the result of the clash of various cultures of immigrants to this land from all over the world and the hegemony of the dominant native culture, which confronts the immigrant and his family with serious crises. This research is a theoretical study done as library research and using an analytical-descriptive approach. In doing so, the role of cultures in constructing and re-constructing the identity of people in multicultural Britain in White Teeth (2000) and the effects caused by the crisis between diverse cultures and ethnicities have been investigated. In this article, Stuart Hall’s perspective of cultural studies, Chris Barker’s interpretations of the process of cultural pluralism, and its problems are used in the analysis of Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. Smith, in most of her works, deals with the problems of multiculturalism especially in London, which is often influenced by her personal experiences as a Jamaican-English immigrant. This research seeks to answer the fundamental questions: What is this crisis, in what areas has it occurred, and how has it challenged these cultural problems in London society? The answer to these questions is a useful help for ethno-cultural problems in multicultural societies. Smith has depicted the internal and external challenges of immigrants in the modernized world of the 21st century. A careful reading of Smith’s works, especially White Teeth, shows that this author touches on the most sensitive cultural issues, marks and challenges them.

References:

منابع
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