The Construction Of Cultural Identity In Diaspora

Since its publication in 2003.Brick Lane,the debut of Bangladeshi-British novelist Monica Ali(1967-).has received much attention from critics around the world and won many literary awards.By recording the life path of the protagonist Nazneen,a Bangladeshi village girl who immigrates to Britain with her husband.this work presents the difficult and lonely living situation and identity search of the Bangladeshi diaspora in the British society.The construction of cultural identity of Bangladeshi immigrants is the key theme of Brick Lane.As an ethnic immigrant group living in the same cultural enclave,they share the same cultural background and face the similar conflicts and discriminations.However,because of differences within this community,they make very different efforts and choices to construct their cultural identityThis thesis,based on the theories on cultural identity and diaspora of Edward Said,Stuart Hall,Homi Bhabha,William Safran,and Salman Rushdie,endeavors to analyze the construction of cultural identity of the Bangladeshi diaspora in Brick Lane as a whole.To survive social conflicts caused by cultural differences,economic inequality,and racial discrimination.Bangladeshi immigrants choose,willingly or unwillingly,different paths of constructing their cultural identity.Some of them pursue one stable and fixed cultural identity by either adhering to their Bangladeshi identity or abandoning that to seek the so-called "pure" and "unified" British identity.while some others find a way to construct a dynamic and hybrid identity.Through analyzing these choices and factors contributing to these choices,this thesis proposes that the construction of cultural identity in diaspora is a dynamic process and influenced by gender,race,class,ethnicity,age,language,religion,and other factors.It also argues that constructing an inclusive and hybrid cultural identity in the liminal space is the most reasonable and realistic choice of all.