Genuserfarenheter och kulturellt identitetsskapande i Monica Alis Brick Lane

Gendered experiences and cultural identity in Monica Ali's Brick Lane

Författare

Adam Basson

Summary, in English

This project investigates ethnic and gendered oppression in relation to the construction of cultural identity in the Bangladeshi diaspora as it is depicted in Monica Ali’s novel 'Brick Lane'. I read Ali’s novel as a 'feminist Bildungsroman' with the key focus on how the female migrant protagonist Nazneen’s changing self-conception and construction of a new identity in London leads her to liberation from patriarchal structures in the diaspora. I argue that 'Brick Lane' can be read as a new form of the female-Bildungsroman which in comparison to the traditional form of the genre does not limit the female protagonist’s liberation in patriarchal structures. Furthermore, through a comparative character analysis of Nazneen and her husband Chanu, I show how their gender can be linked to their different ways of constructing their identities in the novel. I argue that Chanu, in contrast to Nazneen, is trying to preserve tradition and a static cultural identity in the diaspora to keep his patriarchal position of power and escape his alienation in London.

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