Cultural Identity in a Postcolonial Context in Andrea Levy’s Small Island (2004)

Abstract

This study examines the themes of culture and identity in a postcolonial context using Andrea Levy’s novel Small Island (2004) as a case study. It seeks to understand how these themes are elaborated throughout the novel, relying on a set of theories and key concepts established by postcolonial pioneer writers and critics. The approach adopted is descriptive analytical, which is suitable for such topics. Moreover, the analysis of the characters, mainly the blacks, alongside with the setting and the language used, paves the way for the application of Stuart Hall’s theory of cultural identity. This literary theorist had provided an unique and a distinctive view concerning the reconstruction of cultural identity, which will be examined in Levy’s novel. In the novel, Hortense Robert is characterized as a black woman, who at the same time acts like a white woman, and who perceives herself as British. She was born and raised in Jamaica, and then immigrated to Britain. She is the best character that represents properly the cultural identity’s view of Stuart Hall. In this sense, Hortense is the one that represents the two simultaneously operating axes that frame the Caribbean cultural identity; the axe of similarity and the axe of differences. In addition, her identity holds the three presences that Stuart Hall had already displayed in his view: the African, the European and the American presences. Therefore, Small Island proves to be a suitable corpus for the application of several postcolonial theories in general, and Stuart Hall’s theory of cultural identity in particular. The application of such theories on postcolonial novels provides a clear reading of the literary works, in addition, the engagement in a study that combines literature with aspects of history, politics, and humanities, results in the raising of the public awareness about today’s most important issues.