Bow Ties and Skullcaps: Narrative Voice and Islamism in White Teeth and Brick Lane

Abstract

White Teeth and Brick Lane both comment on contemporary multicultural London. However, White Teeth was written before 9/11 whereas Brick Lane was written afterwards. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 were the biggest catalyst for tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims in the West. Consequently, concerns about the threat of Islamism and terrorism became the main concern in the Islamophobic discourse, rather than merely racist or xenophobic motives. Since 9/11, Islamophobia has only increased in Britain in the twenty-first century. This thesis will examine the use of narrative voice in the portrayal of Islamist organisations and British-born young Muslims, Millat and Karim, in White Teeth by Zadie Smith, which was published before 9/11, and in Brick Lane by Monica Ali respectively, which was published after 9/11. By using an omniscient narrator who highlights the irony of KEVIN and Millat’s membership of KEVIN, Islamism is satirised in White Teeth. In contrast, in Brick Lane the autodiegetic narrator Nazneen creates empathy for Karim and the Islamist organisation the Bengal Tigers.