A postcolonial Analysis of Monica Ali’s “Brick Lane”

Authors

  • Banaz Wirya Ali Department of Computer Network, College of Engineering and Computer Science, Lebanese French University, Erbil, Iraq.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25212/lfu.qzj.8.3.40

Keywords:

Postcolonialism, Bhabha, Cultural Identity, Brick Lane, Monica Ali.

Abstract

In this paper, the novel, Brick Lane will be critically analyzed by considering the postcolonial aspects of mimicry, hybridity, third space, and ambivalence, also known as the Bhabhian perspective in post-colonialism. All these notions have been explained by Homi K. Bhabha. The novel Brick Lane is written by Monica Ali in 2003. To underscore its Bhabhian perspective, this analysis also highlights the views of other theorists of cultural identities, such as Edward Said and Stuart Hall. Using the concepts of cultural identification developed by Homi Bhabha, it examines how Ali's central characters struggle to express their own sense of cultural identity. Post-colonial critics, such as Homi Bhabha, have paid particular attention to Nazneen, who is the protagonist of the novel. Her character shows the development of cultural identity in Nazneen.

 

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References

References:

Ali, Monica. (2003). “ Brick Lane”, Source: Google Books

Bhabha, Homi. (1990). “The Third Space. Interview with Homi Bhabha”. In Jonathan Rutherford (ed.), Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, 207- 221.London: Lawrence and Wishart.

Bhabha, Homi. (1994). The Location of Culture. London and New York: Rutledge.

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Gupta, Akhil & James Ferguson. (1992). “Beyond culture: Space, identity, and the politics of Difference”. Cultural Anthropology, (71): 6-23.

Hall, Stuart. (1998). “Cultural identity and diaspora”. In Jonathan Rutherford (ed.), Identity: Community, Culture, Difference, 222-237. London: Lawrence and Wishart.

Hall, Stuart. (1995). “Interview with Roger Bromley”. In Jessica Munns and Gita Rajan (eds.). A Cultural Studies Reader: History, Theory, Practice, 659-673. London: Longman.

Holliday, Adrian. (2010). “Complexity in cultural identity”. Language and Intercultural Communication, 10 (2): 165-177.

Hussain, Yasmin. (2016). Writing Diaspora: South Asian women, Culture and Ethnicity. New York: Routledge.

Kim, Young Yun. (2007). “Ideology, identity, and intercultural communication: An analysis of differing academic conceptions of cultural identity”. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research,36 (3):237– 253.

Said, Edward. (1978). Orientalism. London: London University Press.

Sterrett, Susan E. (2015). “Interprofessional learning as a third space: Rethinking health profession students’ development and identity through the concepts of Homi Bhabha” Humanities, 4: 653– 660.

Wren, Thomas. (2002) “Cultural identity and personal identity”. In Albert W. Musschengaet al. (eds.), Personal and Moral Identity, 231- 258.Detroit, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

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Published

2023-07-04

How to Cite

Banaz Wirya Ali. (2023). A postcolonial Analysis of Monica Ali’s “Brick Lane”. QALAAI ZANIST JOURNAL, 8(3), 1005–1021. https://doi.org/10.25212/lfu.qzj.8.3.40

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Section

Articles