THE QUESTIONS OF IDENTITY AND NATIONALITY IN THE POSTMODERN BRITISH NOVEL

Abstract

In the post-colonial era the questions of identity and nationality have become complex and difficult to determine. This is so apparent in the post-war Britain which copes with the collapse of the Empire followed by the process of national redefinition, both in terms of the international status and in terms of the population structure. Novel, and literature in general, proved to be an excellent source for research of hybrid cultural forms that have emerged in England which is constantly changing and becoming a truly multicultural. However, this is not so simple story that celebrates Britain's diversity in cultural terms. The identities of immigrants described in the post-war novels are often vulnerable, and their experiences in the new society are painful. It is usually explained it by the transitional nature of the postcolonial expression in the twentieth century. Postcolonial identity should be properly understood as a process not as the arrival, while vulnerability may be explained by the hostile nature of the British and especially English society, which is usually described as insensitive and often ruthless to the goals of active multiculturalism. In such social and cultural circumstances, stereotypes and prejudices about the other nations and cultures have become inevitable, and the postcolonial concept of the “other” has reflected itself in all known forms of the racial, class, political and sexual diversities. Selected novels that give us a very vivid picture of postcolonial Britain and help us find the answers to the burning issues are The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi, Arthur&George by Julian Barnes and Darkest England by Christopher Hope.