Identity Construction Of Immigrants In Zadie Smith's White Teeth

White Teeth is Zadie Smith's debut published in 2000.The identity issues of the characters have been heatedly discussed.The thesis will first present the identity construction of immigrants among four generations,after which generational differences in identity construction will be analyzed.The impact of social and cultural changes on identity construction will also be analyzed.The thesis will also discuss why generational differences exist.The introduction presents the research meanings,research contents,literature review,research methods and research objectives.Chapter one introduces the identity dilemmas of the immigrants and the identity issues in the novel.Chapter two explores identity construction in four generations,with the first generation represented by Hortense,the second Samad Iqbal,the third Clara Bowden,Alsana,Neena,the fourth Irie Jones,Magid Iqbal,Millat Iqbal and Joshua Chalfens.The role of social and cultural changes plays in identity construction will also be explored.The first generation immigrants are heavily influenced by religion.They use religion to gain symbolic power.The second and third generation of immigrants is heavily influenced by history.Before this generation immigrates,history serves as motivation and pride.After this generation immigrates,history becomes a cultural sanctuary.The third generation of immigrants is concerned about history in their country.There are two different attitudes towards histories.One is to forsake any histories.The other is being trapped between whether to forsake histories or live by histories.The fourth generation,living in an age of popular culture,is more influenced by media culture,progressive movements,science and technology and liberal atmosphere.Media culture empowers the immigrants.Progressive movements enlighten the immigrants.Popularity of technological advances pushes immigrants to think logically.Liberal atmosphere enables immigrants to negotiate a hybrid identity.Chapter three will analyze the generational differences in identity construction and reasons for the generational differences.The last chapter analyzes the reasons for the generational differences.Finally it reaches the conclusion that the differences among four generations are due to the social climate in Britain.Generations after generations are less susceptible to influences of tradition and history.Young generations are freer in choosing their identities.