From "Purity" To "Hybridity":A Study On The Non-White Immigrants’ Identity Construction In White Teeth

White Teeth, the first and most successful work by Zadie Smith, the new star in English literary field, has been included in Time magazine’s TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005 list and The Guardian’s list of the best books of the 21st century. Moreover, the contemporary novel won a number of literature prizes, including the Guardian First Book Award, the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. In this novel, Zadie presents the issues in race, religion, class and culture under the postcolonial context and reveals immigrants’life in multicultural London both humorously and realistically.Based on the post-colonialism theories, this thesis aims at studying the non-white immigrants’identity construction under the multiracial and multicultural British Society in White Teeth. The thesis respectively expounds the two generations of the non-white immigrants’identity dilemma, analyzes the main reasons behind their identity dilemma, and most importantly elaborates the process of the non-white immigrants’identity construction from pursuing a pure identity to constructing a hybrid identity finally. In order to solve their identity dilemma, at the beginning, the non-white immigrants try to seek a pure identity in two extreme ways, but their endeavors turn out to be a failure. In the end, the mix-blooded immigrant Irie Jones is the only character who successfully reconstructs her identity. She serves as a transitional character who accepts both her history and the western culture and bonds the black and the white. Through her, the writer points out a feasible solution to the non-white immigrants’identity dilemma, namely constructing a hybrid identity. In the multicultural and multiracial era, a new, in-between, hybrid identity is being formed.The first Chapter is a brief introduction to Zadie Smith, and her work White Teeth. It also presents the novel’s research status of both home and abroad. In addition, The first chapter also outlines the structure of this thesis. In the second Chapter, this thesis deals with the first and second generations of non-white immigrants’identity dilemma in this novel. Through penetrating into the non-white immigrants’dilemma, there are mainly two reasons behind their identity dilemma:namely nationalism in contemporary Great Britain and racial discrimination against non-white immigrants. The third Chapter elaborates the non-white immigrants’endeavors to deal with their identity dilemma. They attempt to pursue a pure identity by either complete westernization or seeking their original identity by totally excluding the west. However, both endeavors in pursuing a pure identity turn out to be infeasible. In the fourth Chapter, the thesis transits to the construction of a hybrid identity. The theory of hybridity is expounded in detail and the way to construct a hybrid identity is proved feasible. In addition, the new Englishness is defined as hybrid Englishness. The concluding part of the thesis re-emphasizes the feasibility of constructing a hybrid identity and reiterates that hybridity is the new solution to solve the non-white immigrants’identity dilemma in a multiracial and plural society. In the end, the paper also touches on the suggestions for future research.