Liminal Identity and Social Bond in Monica Ali’s Brick Lane

Liminal Identity and Social Bond in Monica Ali’s Brick Lane
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this research paper is intended to be read in a postgraduate conference. please use the Homi Bhabha’s ideas for the theoretical framework. i will upload a copy of the conference abstract.

‘Rewriting Urban City Sphere’: Liminal Identity and Social Bond in Monica Ali’s Brick Lane.

Monica Ali’s Brick Lane (2003) is one of the novels that give insight into immigrants lives and their struggle for self fulfilment. The novel follows Nazneen’s journey as she tries to adapt to the unfamiliar city sphere of London. Trapped between her memories of the life she had in Bangladesh and the new life she is trying to create in England, Nazneen enters a state of ambivalence and disorientation. The story of Nazneen is presented in parallel with her sister’s Hasina’s story, who live in Banhaldesh. This parallelism further enhances the identity struggle that Nazneen feels. However, this struggle is resolved at the end of the novel when Nazneen rediscovers herself and chooses her own path in life apart from her husband and her old life.
Focusing on social bond this paper is going to give a new understanding of the effect of social relations in ethnic communities on identity transition. Building on previous body of research this paper will further explain the state of liminality as part of migrants’ identity reconstruction. However, departing from the body of criticism, I argue that social bond instead of providing the necessary space for identity transition will prolong self-battlement and cause acts of defines. As well, the paper will discuss how the aesthetic experience with city, help in transforming Nazneen’s self-awareness and provided her with a new way of understanding herself and her social surroundings.

Meznah Alshamsan
March 2017