Transformation of Identity as a Travelling Concept: A Case Study

Abstract

In his essay “Travelling Theory” Edward Said claims that when a theory and an idea moves from one place to another, it is influenced and to “some extent transformed by its new uses and its new position in new times and places.” This essay will employ the travelling theory to analyse the transformation of the identities of immigrants and ethnic minorities and will focus on how and why this transformation has been identified and explored as one of the major societal changes of migration. Since the interaction between different cultures and societies has accelerated in recent decades, the question of identity or, rather, identities is at stake. With an application Said's travelling theory, the present study seeks to investigate the identity crisis arising from the acculturation experiences of immigrants. However, the principal concern of this essay is to locate how the process of migration and settlement in Britain or the United States – so-called First World nations – might offer possibilities for (re)construction and (re)definition of an immigrant's identity. The essay adopts a case study approach in order to elucidate the relationship between travelling theory and transformation of identity. For this purpose, Buchi Emecheta's Second Class Citizen (1974), Ravinder Randhawa's A Wicked Old Woman (1987), Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine (1989), Monica Ali's Brick Lane (2003), and Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake (2003) will serve as case studies.