A Study Of The Identity Construction Of British Immigrants In White Teeth: From The Perspective Of Edward Soja's Spatial Theory

White Teeth,a novel written by the British author Zadie Smith,which focuses on the lives of immigrants in contemporary multicultural London,has won many awards like the James Tait Black Memorial Prize,the Guardian First Book Award,the Whitbread First Novel Award,and the Commonwealth Writers' First Book Award.Since its publication,it has drawn many critics' attention,and the previous research is mainly from postcolonial,culture and diaspora perspectives.Immigration is a striking phenomenon in world,therefore immigrants and their identity problem have become a focus in literature studies.This paper takes an attempt to bring the spatial theory into the study of White Teeth,and adopts the spatial criticism to study the multiple spaces depicted in White Teeth,then explores the process of British immigrants' identity construction in this novel.This thesis aims at studying the immigrants' identity construction under the multiracial and multicultural British Society in White Teeth.By exploring every spaces in this novel,the thesis expounds the two generations of the immigrants' identity dilemma,analyzes the main reasons behind their identity dilemma,and then elaborates the process of the immigrants' identity construction from pursuing a singular identity to constructing a hybrid identity finally.Some immigrants try to seek a singular identity,but their endeavors turn out to be a failure.The mix-blooded immigrant Irie Jones is the only character who successfully reconstructs her identity—a hybrid identity,who accepts both her original and the western cultures and eventually leads a happy life.Through her,the writer points out a feasible solution to the immigrants' identity dilemma—constructing a hybrid identity.This paper explores detailedly every spatial features in this novel,then combines the spatial theory and identity construction together,and presents identity's construction process in each space.This thesis suggests that under the background of globalization,a singular identity is impossible for everyone,so we could choose a hybrid identity in the Thirdspace to break down the barriers and appreciate different cultures.This attempt may also provide a new angle to study the characters' identity problems in other literature works.This thesis consists of five parts: the introduction,literature review,theoretical framework,the main body,and the conclusion.The previous three parts briefly introduce the research background,the organization of the thesis,the previous study on this book both abroad and at home,the study on cultural identity and immigrants' identity construction in British literature,and the spatial theory raised by Lefebvre,Foucault and Soja.According to the three spaces proposed by Soja,the main body of this thesis is divided as follows: the forth chapter discusses the loss of immigrants' identity in the Firstspace.The study of Firstspace or the real spaces in the novel,like the Willesden area,the house,the pool house,the school,the capital of the homeland and Cricklewood Broadway,reveals the restrictedness,instability,insecurity and marginality that immigrants encounter in the white-dominated society.Therefore,they lose their original identity and fail to achieve a new one.The fifth chapter mainly focuses on the immigrants' awareness of identity in the Secondspace.In the Secondspace,immigrants are influenced and assimilated by the hegemonic culture,then some of them realize their “identity loss” situation and start to think about their identity construction in the white-hegemonic society.The sixth chapter studies several characters' identity constructing processes in the Thirdspace.Three types of identity are created during the fight—the singular identity,the uncertain identity,and the hybrid identity in the Thirdspace.By comparing the different identities,this chapter shows that the hybrid identity is a good choice for the immigrants since it combines the advantages of both cultures and reflects an extraordinary inclusiveness towards the multi cultures in contemporary London.The seventh chapter concludes the research findings of the thesis and re-emphasizes the feasibility of constructing a hybrid identity in a multiracial and multicultural society for the immigrants.