The Construction Of Hybrid Identities In Zadie Smith's White Teeth

Born in London in 1975,Zadie Smith is one of the most prominent young writers in contemporary Britain,and the critics even compare her to Salman Rushdie,the“godfather” of the British post-colonial literature.In early May 2006,among the 100 most influential celebrities in the world selected by Time magazine in the United States,Smith defeats British Prime Minister Blair and others and becomes the only Englishman on the list.Her debut novel White Teeth(2000)revolves around the interrelationships of three families and shows their various confusion and crisis in identity.This book,with its witty and intelligent style and optimistic and inclusive humanistic care,lays a foundation for Zadie Smith's reputation in today's literary world.It provides us with a new thinking from the younger generation born after the Second World War to resolve various conflicts and contradictions in today's multicultural society.Studies from the perspective of post-colonialism and multiculturalism take the mainstream of research on Smith,while the studies on the identity construction of characters from the perspective of the hybridity theory are comparatively less conducted.Therefore,supported by Homi Bhabha's hybridity theory,this thesis aims to explore the construction of racial identity,female identity and cultural identity in Smith's White Teeth so as to provide new angle for the understanding of the identities in the novel.The thesis consists of five parts.The introductory part demonstrates the background information of Zadie Smith,the current research status of the novelist at home and abroad,the approaches as well as the significance of this thesis.In addition,this part also introduces Homi Bhabha's hybridity theory,the theoretical foundation for the following analysis.The main part of the thesis analyzes the identity construction of minority immigrants in the novel from the three aspects of racial identity,female identity and cultural identity.Chapter One analyzes the issue of racial identity construction of theminority.After the Second World War,a large number of ethnic minorities move to the United Kingdom,but they have been discriminated against and oppressed because of their skin colors.Under the description of Smith,some characters in the novel join the racist camp and pursue the white supremacy,such as the Chalfen couple.They are actually descendants of immigrants,but they claim to be British and discriminate against other ethnic immigrants around them.Some people,like Millat,chooses to rise up against the oppression of the white race,but he has fallen into national essentialism and his attempt is ultimately in vain.After experiencing a series of attempts to turn herself into a white person,Irie finally realizes that it is unrealistic to establish a single pure racial identity in multiracial London,and eventually establishes her own hybrid racial identity.Chapter Two discusses the identity construction of ethnic female immigrants.Compared with male ethnic immigrants,females suffer more unfairness and face both racial discrimination and gender oppression.Under dual oppression,ethnic women are in a state of “aphasia”,which leads to the loss of their identity and status.Faced with such a living environment,the first generation of female immigrants such as Hortense,Clara and Alsana take various attempts to construct their own identity,but for different reasons they eventually fail.However,these attempts are not useless.After learning from their failed experience,the second generation of female immigrants,such as Irie,finally recognizes the beauty of black women's body,and realizes self-identification and the construction of hybrid female identity by controlling the right of her body.Chapter Three explicates the issue of the cultural identity construction of ethnic immigrants.After the ethnic immigrants come to the UK,they receive the influence of the Western mainstream culture.However,they could not erase the brand of their own cultures,so they are caught in the dilemma of cultural identity selection.Taking the Bangladeshi immigrant Samad as an example,when he suffers setbacks and difficulties in London,he returns to the Islamic traditional culture.In an attempt to find comfort in traditional culture,he even sends one of his twin sons,Magid,back totheir hometown for traditional ideological education.However,Magid does not become a devout Muslim as he expects.Instead,he is more directly influenced by Western culture.As a result,he totally accepts Western culture and becomes “more English than the English”.Archie Jones,the only pure white in the novel,is a symbol of multicultural identity in London.His open and inclusive attitude towards different races and cultures is the ideal attitude in the writer's view.The last part is Conclusion.Based on the hybridity theory of Homi Bhabha,this thesis analyzes the identity construction of ethnic immigrants from the three levels of racial identity,female identity and cultural identity.Conclusion can be drawn that,the development of the globalization process has promoted social and economic development,and has also accelerated the advent of the ethnic immigrants' identity crisis.In order not to lose their identity in the mainstream society,they begin to work hard to identify themselves and construct their own racial,gender and cultural identities.Zadie Smith denies the identity construction of binary opposites,and believes that a single pure identity does not exist in a pluralistic society.She advocates the construction of the hybrid identity and views the world with a tolerant and open attitude.