嘻嘻哈哈之外：蜜拉希耶爾小說《安妮塔與我》中的南亞/英國認同

Abstract

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This thesis attempts to explore the problem of ethnic identity in Meera Syal’s Anita and Me. In order to complement the lack of systematic analysis of the development of ethnic identity on the present researches concerning the novel, I would like to use the framework of William E. Cross’ nigrescence model to explore the topic. Through appropriating the model, some of the episodes are congruent with it while the others are not. From observing the application, I propose several discrepancies and make some revisions to the model. This thesis is divided into five chapters. In Chapter One, I talk about the history of South Asian immigration to Britain, give introduction to the active literary figures, and narrow down to the significance of Meera Syal and Anita and Me. After summarizing the novel, I raise questions that I want to discuss in my thesis. To answer the questions, first I re-examine the scholarship on the novel and propose some problems they might have, and then I introduce the Cross model of nigrescence, which I will adopt to answer my questions and supplement the current studies. Chapter Two includes the background of the setting of the novel and the historical factors that may connect the South Asian in the UK to Black Americans. In Chapter Three, I start by the first two stages of the model: Pre-Encounter and Encounter. Chapter Four is about the latter half of the model: Immersion-Emersion and Internalization. Finally, delving into Anita and Me and the Cross model, I concludes with the variable aspects of South Asian identity in Meena’s case.