The Buddha Of Suburbia
(Hanif Kureishi)
Karim, the Indo-British youth and protagonist of this story clearly sees his roots as ?having emerged from two old histories?. The history of colonization affects Karim and his family strongly. Karim as a narrator tells us about his life from age of 17 to his early twenties and we follow his sexual and cultural experimenting. His father Haroon, the metaphorical Buddha, finds love in a relationship with the very British Eva and their success is what makes Karin able to climb up the social ladder in London. Haroon gives up the idea of trying to become more British and instead does the opposite ? he becomes the exact, preconceived idea of an Indian that British people have. Karim follows his example but struggles more with it ? he is told once that he has been cast in a play ?for authenticity?, namely his exotic culture and he is trapped. He even realizes at one point his resemblance to Eleanor?s past ?ethnic? lover. The many different attitudes and classes in life is described well without stereotyping the 70s era and Kureishi takes great care to not ignore the ever topical issues as search for identity, preconceptions of cultures and the past of India and Britain that so fill Karim?s fight for identity. Kureishi choses multi-cultural London as the epicenter of the characters? ambitions?This is where you can go change yourself into whatever you want, just fake it, mind you. At least if you can fake it or don?t mind conforming to the traditional views on your person that the old colonial history has created. Pyke, the seemingly emancipated person but secretly fascist manipulator is Kureishi?s extremely well-described example of a culture romanticizing other cultures in ignorance.
Resumos Relacionados
- The Buddha Of Suburbia
- Princess
- Black British Literature: Novels Of Transformation,
- Brick Lane
- A Passage To India
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