3. ‘Neither the End of the World nor the Beginning’: Transnational Identity Politics in Lisa Suhair Majaj’s Self-Writing

Schultermandl, Silvia

doi:10.3138/9781442695221-005

Cited by 2 publications

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“…Recent research cultivate the definition of the transnational and discuss that transnational identities are located within fluid social spaces which are continuously reshaped due to the migrant's embeddedness in multiple nations or cultures (Levitt & Jaworsky, 2008, p. 131). As Schultermandl and Toplu (2010) state, "[s]uch identities are not unified or stable, but are fluid entities which constantly push at the boundaries of the nation-state, thereby re-defining themselves and the nationstate simultaneously" (p. 11).…”

Section: Menteşe Kıryamanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hanif Kureishi’nin Varoşların Budası Adlı Romanında Etnik Karikatürler ve Ulusaşırı Kimlik

MENTEŞE KIRYAMAN

2023

Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi

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This study focuses on comic ethnic caricatures in Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) and argues that the construction and deconstruction of these caricatures transcend the concept of identity. Kureishi’s novel narrates four years in the life of Karim, who is born to an Indian father and an English mother. Karim’s identity conflict due to his mixed racial background prevents him from fitting in the British society. The novel revolves around Karim’s and other immigrant characters’ identity conflicts in the tense political and social climate of 1970s Britain. As the novel is narrated from Karim’s perspective, his humorous perspective of the world produces comic characters, which are particularly caricatured versions of ethnic identities. This study argues that the shifting direction of humour generated by the construction and deconstruction of comic ethnic caricatures exposes the transnational sensibility of ethnic identities in The Buddha of Suburbia.

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Section: Menteşe Kıryamanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hanif Kureishi’nin Varoşların Budası Adlı Romanında Etnik Karikatürler ve Ulusaşırı Kimlik

MENTEŞE KIRYAMAN

2023

Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi

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“…Therefore, the methodology involves close readings of the primary texts, filtered through various cultural theories. Theoretical perspectives on transculturalism aim to define it as an alternative to the separatist implications of multiculturalism, advancing the idea that one should explore potential networks between cultures (Epstein, 1999;Papastergiadis, 2000;Hannerz, 2001;Schultermandl and Toplu, 2010;Gilsenan Nordin, Hansen and Llena, 2013). An important premise of the transcultural discourse is the awareness of cultures as incomplete structures (Epstein, 1995) that triggers the impulse to explore alternative cultural meanings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Dynamics of Transcultural Insight in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Literary Universe

Stoican

2024

BJELLC

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Blending literary and cultural studies, the essay discusses the manners in which Jhumpa Lahiri’s literary universe constructs a gradual unfolding of a layered transcultural vision. The paper argues that in the shift from fictions of migration to autobiographical narratives of self-redefinition, the Bengali-American author advances cultural scenarios of transformation that enable the reshaping of cultural identities through the transcendence of fixed cultural loyalties. Invoking perceived lacks in their native cultural traditions and intuiting the incompleteness of cultures, her characters are haunted by the urge to cross cultural boundaries in order to gain a sense of personal fulfilment. Ultimately, Lahiri herself replicates this pattern as she relocates to Italy and writes in a new language (Italian). The last stage in Lahiri’s transcultural scenario is represented by an attempt to dissociate cultural specificity from the notion of identity, as she takes refuge in the realm of abstraction through minimalist aesthetics. Relying on a close reading of her texts, the essay will scrutinise the author’s peculiar outlook on transculturality, which appears to embrace various cultural spaces while seemingly avoiding specific attachments. The analysis aims to establish whether Lahiri succeeds in transgressing the very idea of cultural belonging in her quest for a freeing path.

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3. ‘Neither the End of the World nor the Beginning’: Transnational Identity Politics in Lisa Suhair Majaj’s Self-Writing

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Hanif Kureishi’nin Varoşların Budası Adlı Romanında Etnik Karikatürler ve Ulusaşırı Kimlik

Hanif Kureishi’nin Varoşların Budası Adlı Romanında Etnik Karikatürler ve Ulusaşırı Kimlik

The Dynamics of Transcultural Insight in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Literary Universe

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