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Oppression in the “Happy” Multicultural Land in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth

Year 2021, Volume: 38 Issue: 1, 248 - 258, 30.06.2021
https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.795140

Abstract

Zadie Smith’s White Teeth (2000) is a complex and paradoxical work since it presents a portrayal of England in the late twentieth century employing characters from various racial and religious groups. The novel focuses on the relationships between three families: the Bangladeshi and Muslim Iqbals, the English-Jamaican Joneses, and the Jewish-British Chalfens. It depicts a multicultural society, yet it also reflects on the oppression experienced by certain characters, who are marginalized due to their differences from mainstream society. This raises the question whether Smith’s novel celebrates or criticizes the discourse of multiculturalism. This study considers the novel’s attitude towards multiculturalism through the representation of oppression. It aims to explore the theme of oppression with regard to the issues of race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation because these intertwined categories determine an individual’s sense of self and the social relations between different groups. In light of Tariq Modood’s conception of multiculturalism, which underlines the importance of some principles, such as the recognition of the other, positive difference, equality, and a more inclusive version of national identity, this study argues that the novel does not seem optimistic in its treatment of multiculturalism because various kinds of oppression, such as racial discrimination, violence, stigmatization, and indifference, haunt the lives of the marginalized or disempowered characters and trigger counter-attacks from the oppressed group. While impeding the other’s integration into society, this situation also poses a threat to the social order. This reveals that a multicultural society, which embraces all differences and cherishes this diversity, is a dream difficult to be realized in England as portrayed in the novel.

References

  • Bentley, N. (2007). Re-writing Englishness: Imagining the nation in Julian Barnes’s England, England and Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. Textual Practice, 21(3), 483-504. doi: 10.1080/09502360701529093
  • Douglas, M. (2007). Purity and danger: An analysis of concept of pollution and taboo. London and New York: Routledge. (Original work published 1966)
  • Farrar, M. (2012). Multiculturalism in the UK: A contested discourse. In M. Farrar, S. Robinson, Y. Valli, & P. Wetherly (Eds.), Islam in the West: Key issues in multiculturalism (pp. 7-23). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Head, D. (2002). The Cambridge introduction to modern British fiction, 1950-2000. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hutcheon, L. (1988). A poetics of postmodernism: History, theory, fiction. New York and London: Routledge.
  • Jakubiak, K. (2008). Simulated optimism: The international marketing of White Teeth. In T. L. Walters (Ed.), Zadie Smith: Critical essays (pp. 200-218). New York: Peter Lang.
  • Kymlicka, W. (1995). Multicultural citizenship: A liberal theory of minority rights. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press.
  • McMann, M. (2012). British black box: A return to race and science in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. Modern Fiction Studies, 58(3), 616-636. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26292923
  • Modood, T. (Ed.). (2013). Multiculturalism: A civic idea. (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Malden: Polity. (Original work published 2007)
  • Moe, C. N. (2016). Teaching Shakespeare literacy through the sonnets in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth and Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “Arturo’s Flight”. CEA Critic, 78(2), 256-267. doi:10.1353/cea.2016.0018
  • Phillips, C. (2000, January 9). Mixed and matched [Review of the book White Teeth, 2000]. The Observer. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jan/09/fiction.zadiesmith
  • Rogers, K. (2008). Affirming complexity: "White Teeth" and cosmopolitanism. Interdisciplinary Literary Studies, 9(2), 45-61. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/41210294
  • Said, E. W. (2003). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books. (Original work published 1978)
  • Sen, R., Wagner, W., & Howarth C. (2016). Transcending boundaries: Fundamentalism, secularism and social capital in multi-faith societies. In R.C. Tripathi, & P. Singh (Eds.), Perspectives on violence and othering in India (pp. 215-234). India: Springer.
  • Smith, Z. (2000). White Teeth. London: Penguin Books.
  • Squires, C. (2002). Zadie Smith's White Teeth: A reader's guide. New York: Continuum.
  • Tancke, U. (2013). White Teeth reconsidered: Narrative deception and uncomfortable truths. In P. Tew (Ed.), Reading Zadie Smith: The first decade and beyond (pp. 27-37). London, New York: Bloomsburry.
  • Tew, P. (2010). Zadie Smith. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Uberoi, V., & Modood, T. (2013). Has multiculturalism in Britain retreated? Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, (53), 129-142. Retrieved from https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/522121
  • Wetherly, P. Farrar, M., Robinson, S., & Valli, Y. (2012). Introduction: ‘Islam’, ‘the West’ and ‘multiculturalism’. In M. Farrar, S. Robinson, Y. Valli, & P. Wetherly (Eds.), Islam in the West: Key issues in multiculturalism (pp. 1-6). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

Zadie Smith’in İnci Gibi Dişler’indeki “Mutlu” Çokkültürlü Ülkede Baskı

Year 2021, Volume: 38 Issue: 1, 248 - 258, 30.06.2021
https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.795140

Abstract

Zadie Smith’in İnci Gibi Dişler (2000) adlı romanı karmaşık ve çelişkili bir eserdir çünkü yirminci yüzyılın sonundaki İngiltere resmini çeşitli ırksal ve dinî gruplardan karakterler kullanarak sunar. Roman, üç aile arasındaki ilişkilere odaklanmaktadır: Bangladeşli ve Müslüman Iqbal, İngiliz-Jamaikalı Jones ve Yahudi-İngiliz Chalfen aileleri. Roman, çokkültürlü bir toplumu anlatmaktır, ancak toplumdan farklılığından dolayı dışlanan karakterlerin yaşadığı baskıya da değinmektedir. Bu, Smith’in romanı çokkültürlülük söylemini kutluyor mu, yoksa eleştiriyor mu sorusunu ortaya çıkarır. Bu çalışma, romanın çokkültürlülüğe karşı tutumunu baskının temsili üzerinden ele alır. Çalışma, baskı temasını ırk, din, cinsiyet ve cinsel yönelim bağlamlarında incelemeyi amaçlar çünkü bu iç içe geçen kategoriler bireyin benlik algısını ve farklı gruplar arasındaki sosyal ilişkileri belirler. Tariq Modood’un ötekini tanıma, pozitif farklılık, eşitlik ve daha kapsayıcı bir millî kimlik gibi bazı ilkelerin önemini vurgulayan çokkültürlülük kavramı ışığında, bu çalışma, romanın çokkültürlülüğü işleyişinde iyimser görünmediğini çünkü ırksal ayrımcılık, şiddet, damgalama ve görmezden gelme gibi çeşitli baskıların marjinal veya güçsüzleştirilmiş karakterlerin hayatlarını kâbusa çevirdiğini ve baskılanan taraftan da karşı ataklara sebep olduğunu öne sürer. Bu durum, ötekinin topluma entegrasyonunu engellerken, toplumsal düzeni de tehdit eder. Bu da, tüm farklılıkları kucaklayan ve bu çeşitliliği yücelten çokkültürlü bir toplumun romanda resmedilen İngiltere’de gerçekleşmesi zor bir rüya olduğunu gösterir

References

  • Bentley, N. (2007). Re-writing Englishness: Imagining the nation in Julian Barnes’s England, England and Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. Textual Practice, 21(3), 483-504. doi: 10.1080/09502360701529093
  • Douglas, M. (2007). Purity and danger: An analysis of concept of pollution and taboo. London and New York: Routledge. (Original work published 1966)
  • Farrar, M. (2012). Multiculturalism in the UK: A contested discourse. In M. Farrar, S. Robinson, Y. Valli, & P. Wetherly (Eds.), Islam in the West: Key issues in multiculturalism (pp. 7-23). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Head, D. (2002). The Cambridge introduction to modern British fiction, 1950-2000. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hutcheon, L. (1988). A poetics of postmodernism: History, theory, fiction. New York and London: Routledge.
  • Jakubiak, K. (2008). Simulated optimism: The international marketing of White Teeth. In T. L. Walters (Ed.), Zadie Smith: Critical essays (pp. 200-218). New York: Peter Lang.
  • Kymlicka, W. (1995). Multicultural citizenship: A liberal theory of minority rights. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press.
  • McMann, M. (2012). British black box: A return to race and science in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. Modern Fiction Studies, 58(3), 616-636. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26292923
  • Modood, T. (Ed.). (2013). Multiculturalism: A civic idea. (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Malden: Polity. (Original work published 2007)
  • Moe, C. N. (2016). Teaching Shakespeare literacy through the sonnets in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth and Judith Ortiz Cofer’s “Arturo’s Flight”. CEA Critic, 78(2), 256-267. doi:10.1353/cea.2016.0018
  • Phillips, C. (2000, January 9). Mixed and matched [Review of the book White Teeth, 2000]. The Observer. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2000/jan/09/fiction.zadiesmith
  • Rogers, K. (2008). Affirming complexity: "White Teeth" and cosmopolitanism. Interdisciplinary Literary Studies, 9(2), 45-61. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/41210294
  • Said, E. W. (2003). Orientalism. London: Penguin Books. (Original work published 1978)
  • Sen, R., Wagner, W., & Howarth C. (2016). Transcending boundaries: Fundamentalism, secularism and social capital in multi-faith societies. In R.C. Tripathi, & P. Singh (Eds.), Perspectives on violence and othering in India (pp. 215-234). India: Springer.
  • Smith, Z. (2000). White Teeth. London: Penguin Books.
  • Squires, C. (2002). Zadie Smith's White Teeth: A reader's guide. New York: Continuum.
  • Tancke, U. (2013). White Teeth reconsidered: Narrative deception and uncomfortable truths. In P. Tew (Ed.), Reading Zadie Smith: The first decade and beyond (pp. 27-37). London, New York: Bloomsburry.
  • Tew, P. (2010). Zadie Smith. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Uberoi, V., & Modood, T. (2013). Has multiculturalism in Britain retreated? Soundings: A Journal of Politics and Culture, (53), 129-142. Retrieved from https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/522121
  • Wetherly, P. Farrar, M., Robinson, S., & Valli, Y. (2012). Introduction: ‘Islam’, ‘the West’ and ‘multiculturalism’. In M. Farrar, S. Robinson, Y. Valli, & P. Wetherly (Eds.), Islam in the West: Key issues in multiculturalism (pp. 1-6). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
There are 20 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Creative Arts and Writing
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Hale Küçük 0000-0001-6408-2322

Publication Date June 30, 2021
Submission Date September 15, 2020
Acceptance Date February 14, 2021
Published in Issue Year 2021 Volume: 38 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Küçük, H. (2021). Oppression in the “Happy” Multicultural Land in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 38(1), 248-258. https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.795140


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