Multiculturalism and Identity Erosion in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth

Year 2025, Volume: 19 Issue: 2 , 393 - 405 , 29.12.2025

Mustafa Kara

https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1654993

https://izlik.org/JA72UK32HW

Abstract

While multiculturalism is widely accepted in numerous nations, it may be regarded as a threat to an individual’s national, cultural, and personal identity, irrespective of their place of birth. This negating property is further exacerbated when one resides in countries governed by imperial administrations. In her novel White Teeth, Zadie Smith explores the ramifications of diversity in imperial Britain by analysing the themes of segregation and categorization, encompassing distinctions predicated on race, gender, cultural sophistication, and religious convictions, including categories such as black and white, male and female, cultivated and primordial, as well as secular and religious. This article endeavours to evaluate the impact of diversity on national, cultural, and individual identity through an analysis of the dispersed identities of different generations depicted in Zadie Smith’s novel, White Teeth, a narrative replete with binary oppositions and bipolarities that underscore the pervasive authority of standardized English classifications within a multicultural society.

Keywords

multiculturalism , diversity , cultural imperialism , hybridity , White Teeth

Zadie Smith’in İnci Gibi Dişler Adlı Romanında Çokkültürlülük ve Kimlik Aşınımı

https://izlik.org/JA72UK32HW

Abstract

Çok kültürlülük birçok ülkede yaygın olarak kabul görse de, doğum yeri ne olursa olsun bireyin ulusal, kültürel ve kişisel kimliğine yönelik bir tehdit olarak görülebilir. Bu negatif özellik, emperyal yönetimler tarafından yönetilen ülkelerde yaşandığında daha da kötüleşmektedir. Zadie Smith, İnci Gibi Dişler adlı romanında, siyah ve beyaz, erkek ve kadın, kültürlü ve ilkel, seküler ve dindar gibi kategoriler de dahil olmak üzere ırk, cinsiyet, kültürel gelişmişlik ve dini inançlara dayalı ayrımları kapsayan ayrıştırma ve sınıflandırma temalarını analiz ederek emperyal Britanya'daki çeşitliliğin sonuçlarını araştırmaktadır. Bu makale, çok kültürlü bir toplumda standartlaştırılmış İngiliz sınıflandırmalarının yaygın otoritesinin altını çizen ikili karşıtlıklar ve iki kutupluluklarla dolu bir anlatı olan Zadie Smith'in İnci Gibi Dişler adlı romanında tasvir edilen farklı nesillerin birbirinden farklı kimliklerinin analizi yoluyla çeşitliliğin ulusal, kültürel ve bireysel kimlik üzerindeki etkisini değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır.

Keywords

çokkültürlülük , çeşitlilik , kültürel emperyalizm , hibridite , İnci Gibi Dişler

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