Subjektien tilallinen paikantuminen Zadie Smithin romaanissa White Teeth
Abstract
Spatial Positioning of Subjects in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth
The aim of this article is to scrutinize how space a ects and shapes construction of gender and ethnicity in Zadie Smith’s (b.1975) novel White Teeth (2000). Smith’s debut novel has been highly acclaimed not only for its portrayal of contemporary British multicultural society but also for its deep and multileveled narration. Today the novel is an important part of Black British Literature and it has gained a lot of academic attention – especially from postcolonial critics – since its publication.
This article is built around three di erent kinds of ”you know” expressions found in the novel. All these expressions concern knowledge of intersectional categories of gender and ethnicity. e intersectional identity categories are always constructed in a space, thus positioning subjects and constructing an identity is always a spatial phenomenon. Space is not an empty container or a simple background but a socially produced entity.
Thematic meanings of ”you know” expressions vary. First reveals racialized and gendered subject positions into which subjects are discursively positioned. However, it also denotes a break in such kind of thinking.
Second expression of knowledge is linked to nationality and Englishness. e relation of ethnicity and nationality are analysed by using Michel Foucault’s concepts of utopia and heterotopia. e idea of homogenous and unitary nation is questioned by a metaphor of a mirror but also by revealing the image of an ”English Rose” to be nothing but an often enough repeated illusion, a cultural image without a real reference point.
Third and last knowledge phrase analysed in the article is presented in a form of a question. Question form allows de nitions considering subjectivity and identity to be left open. Even though occupying empty space i.e. to be wholly disconnected from various kind of discursive positionings is not possible, White Teeth nevertheless illustra tes that subject positions are always only partial. e question mark suggests that there truly are spaces for questioning xed, normative constructions of gender and ethnicity.
