A Postcolonial Study Of The Tendency Of Orientalism In Brick Lane

Brick Lane is Monica Ali’s first novel which won her great success as a writer. Taking Nazneen’s whole life as the plotline, the novel mainly portrays the lives of the Bangladeshi immigrants in London with great details. The author depicts a series of different characters including Nazneen, Chanu, and Hasina, the construction of whom reveals the author’s strong tendency of Orientalism. Ali also presents the religion of Islam from the Westerners’ point of view which is exactly in accordance with the tradition of Orientalism. At the same time, Ali shows the social reality of Bangladesh through letters of her sister, thus juxtaposing the East and the West. The representation of Brick Lane district shows Ali’s tendency of Orientalism in creating Brick Lane as well. Therefore, a theme of Orientalism is revealed to the readers-the Orient is corrupted, backward and despotic, while the West is powerful and civilized, and the Orient has to be rescued by the West.This thesis mainly adopts Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism as the theoretical basis to explore the author’s tendency of Orientalism in the representation of the Bangladeshis from the following three aspects-characters, Islamic religion and environments. Since Said’s theory is more concerned with the political facts and the circumstances surrounding the author, the thesis will further explore the reasons for Ali’s tendency of Orientalism in creating Brick Lane.The thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter one is a brief introduction to Monica Ali and her literary works. Chapter two presents the present research on Brick Lane by scholars at home and abroad and the significance of the thesis. Chapter three is a brief introduction to postcolonial criticism and Orientalism, on which this thesis is based. Chapter four is the close reading part of Brick Lane which explores the tendency of Orientalism in the novel. The contrasts of Nazneen’s and Hasina’s life tracks and living surroundings show the Western superiority over the East; the comparison of Chanu and Karim indicates that they stand for the emasculated otherness of the East. The analysis of Islamic religion shows the deep-rooted stereotypes of Islam. The juxtaposition of the realities of Bangladesh and the imaginary homeland further strengthens the contrast between the past glory and present misery of the East. And the changes of Brick Lane district indicate the capacity of the West to save the East from its backwardness and misery. Through the analysis, the themes of the novel that the Western culture is superior to the Eastern culture and that it takes rescuing the East from its primitive and miserable conditions as its assumed duty is revealed to the readers. According to Edward Said, the creation of a piece of literary work cannot be separated from the social and political society and the living circumstances of the author. Therefore, Chapter five further explores the reasons for Ali’s tendency of Orientalism in her creation of Brick Lane. Ali’s hybrid identity, the long-accumulated Orientalism and the post9/11social and political background contribute a lot to Ali’s creation of the novel. The conclusion part is a summary of the themes of the thesis. Based on the analysis of the novel by close reading and further exploration of the personal, cultural and social backgrounds of Monica Ali, the thesis comes to the conclusion that Orientalism has its deep root in the West; as an immigrant writer of Oriental origin living in the West, the tendency of Orientalism in Ali’s novel is inevitable.