Images of British Bangladeshis and the Ethno-cultural Space of London in Modern British Novels on the Example of the Works of Zadie Smith and Tarquin Hall

Abstract

The actual theme of the British novel of the beginning of the 21st century becomes an intensively changing urban multicultural space of London, as well as its inhabitants. The ethnic heterogeneity of London is enhanced by the residence of various national communities there. One of the most notable groups is British Bangladeshis. The article analyzes two works: White Teeth by Zadie Smith (2000) and Salam, Brick Lane: A Year in the New East End by Tarquin Hall (2005). These novels were written almost at the same time, but London and its realities are presented in them from different angles. The authors manage to weave a complex web of life histories of migrant families, sometimes spanning more than one generation. Narratives focus on British Bangladeshis, Jamaicans, Polish Jews, refugees from Afghanistan and other ethnic groups living in London, in particular the East End. The novels deal with the acute problems of migrants’ adaptation in British society, as well as the difficulties of perceiving and preserving the cultural heritage of their ancestors in their children who are educated in British schools and learn the behaviors of their English peers, which is a tragedy for their more conservative parents. On the basis of real stories, these works present a picture of a motley urban population and how, according to the ideas and personal experience of the authors, representatives of various groups of British society live and interact with each other: the so-called “native Englishmen”, “descendants of former migrants”, representatives of ethnic minorities, people from former colonies, etc.