Identity Strategy In Postcolonial London

Hanif Kureishi is one of the best contemporary English writers. His writing style always changes and post-modernist techniques like parody and mimicry never cease to appear in his writing. On the other hand, his writings have close ties with the context of post-colonialism and imperialism. In his writings, we are aware of his profound contemplation on problems in British society. As his first novel, The Buddha of Suburbia was put to press in 1990. This book was warmly received by the general public and in the literary world for its representation of a half-blood youth's Bildungsroman in London, and in turn won him the Whitbread Prize for Best First Novel that year.As a postcolonial analysis of this novel, this thesis is designed to explore identity strategy and poetics of black and Asian Britons in postcolonial London. Through the analysis, the author shows that Kureishi, standing in his unique post-colonial position, redefines Englishness and thus enters into the third space.Here is the structure:The theis consists of three parts: introduction, body (three chapters) and conclusion. Chapter One starts with an explanation of third space and cultural hybridity. It is made clear in the first part that within the period of cultural hybridity, entering the third space is the only strategy employed by ethnic minorities in their pursuit of identity. Then it goes with the description of migrants'life in Britain, especially the impact their existence brings on British national identity. At last, Kureishi's postcolonial position is represented by his creative translation of Englishness, which identifies him with other minority writers.Chapter Two is devoted to representation of London as a postcolonial metropolis. The author believes that in The Buddha, London is depicted as a binary city of opposition in structure but lack of mainstream culture in reality. Meanwhile, in London, the postcolonial discourse is subdivided into two different ideologies: assimilitionism and essentialism. Conflicting as they are, the essence is the same: ethnic groups are still rendered as the marginal. Chapter Three concentrates on the narrator Karim's identity issue and expounds Karim's understanding and acceptance of his dual identity. I believe, Karim is the representative of Kureishi in his creation of an in-between identity --- neither British nor Indian. In this sense, he reflects Kureishi's resolution on identity issue of black / Asian Britons --- creative translation of Englishness.The conclusion generalizes the content and originality of the thesis, Kureishi's particular postcolonial position and its reason, and points out that the identity strategy employed by Kureishi in fact upholds a flexible identity in the context of cultural hybridity.