Maria Hauf (Matr. Nr.

525021) 1 Academic Skills: Essay Composition

Postcolonial British Identities

When Charlotte Bront wrote her novel Jane Eyre in 1847, the British Empire stood in its heyday of power it is still described as the largest and most powerful empire in human history. Written 119 years later than Jane Eyre, Jean Rhyss Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) tells the story of Bertha Mason, who is only a minor character in Bronts novel. Bertha Mason, a woman from Jamaica, is in both novels married to Mr. Rochester, Jane Eyres husband-to-be. Whereas she is described by Mr. Rochester as mad (Bront 98) and something at least human (ibid.) in Jane Eyre, Wide Sargasso Sea tries to display Bertha Mason as a victim of the Empire: raised in Jamaica, she immigrated to Britain after her marriage to Mr. Rochester, but was never able to adjust to her new environment and was thus abandoned. Wide Sargasso Sea can thus be regarded as a prime example of postcolonial literature, depicting the process of hybridisation and its problems a process which can be easily linked to postcolonial British identities. But what is the difference of a postcolonial British identity to the preceding colonial identity? It goes without saying that due to the immigration from British colonies to Great Britain, Britain is often called the mother of multiculturalism for a reason. Citizens from all over the world, of whom some are already the third or fourth generation growing up in Britain, enrich British culture and thus enforce a hybridisation of cultures. This hybridisation of two or more cultures is a lively and mutual interaction between them, but at the same time relies on constant negotiation of values. By negotiating the values of the colonising culture, in this case the British culture, with the values of the colonised culture, postcolonial literature helps to deconstruct the notion of an almighty imperial discourse. Whereas English literature of the 18th and 19th century often placed Britons above the colonised nations in the social hierarchy, postcolonial literature demonstrates that this order has been destroyed more recently and replaced by a hybrid culture of the colonising and the colonised culture. A simple example for this deconstruction and replacement can be found not only in complex theoretical concepts but already simple daily encounters. Such an encounter would be the widespread popularity of Indian curries in Britain. As a former colony, India was influenced to a high degree by British culture Indians implemented English words into their language and they found love for cricket as well as the queen. But Indian culture also influenced British culture, by enriching its cuisine, the music and of course by introducing tea. Other examples, such as the popularity of Reggae or Ska music (both deriving from musical

Maria Hauf (Matr. Nr. 525021) 2 Academic Skills: Essay Composition

traditions of the Caribbean islands) or the high ethnical ambiguity in Britain are obvious examples of a hybridisation of cultures and the creation of new spaces for identity formation. As John Arlidge points out, almost one million young Britons identified themselves as members of more than one race or of 'no race' in the most recent census, the first in which respondents could choose their ethnic origin. 'Mixed Race' is now the third largest ethnic minority group in Britain and is set to become the biggest over the next decade.1 It is clear from this statement, that ethnic ambiguity can only take place if identity is not restricted to ethic origin anymore. Thus, what is typical for postcolonial British identity is the notion of multiculturalism white Britons identifying themselves to a great extent with the stereotypically associated with black Hip Hop culture, while men of Indian or Caribbean origin mix into the British hooligan culture. Furthermore, British advertisements throughout all media fields use ethnically diverse models, not applying any sort of racist stereotypes a practice which is not as common in other countries of Europe and throughout the world. After elaborating on the concept of hybridisation, it is possible to say that multiculturalism is an important aspect of postcolonial British identities. Multiculturalism does not imply parallelism of multiple cultures within one society but rather a hybridisation of cultures. This process creates a space partly free of racism and provides possibilities of living together influenced by different cultures.

www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/jan/04/britishidentity.race