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New Ethnicities and Language Use: Cultures of Hybridity in a Group of Adolescents of Mainly South Asian Descent in a London School in the Late 1990S

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New Ethnicities and Language Use: Cultures of Hybridity in a Group of Adolescents of Mainly South Asian Descent in a London School in the Late 1990S New Ethnicities and Language Use: Cultures of Hybridity in a Group of Adolescents of mainly South Asian Descent in a London School in the late 1990s. Roxy W. Harris A Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Phd. Degree at Goldsmith's College, University of London. March 2004 rv, X, N, e" 2 Acknowledgements I would like to thank: My mother for a continuous example of determination against the odds and indomitable African spirit. Pat for being there in earlier times. Remi and Roxy jnr. for affectionate interest and occasional practical help. Barbara for uncritical all-round support. Celia Roberts for planting the original stimulating seed. Ben Rampton and Constant Leung for intellectual and other collaborations through hard times. The `Blackhill' youth for willingly giving of themselves on sensitive issues. Their teacher Ms. W. for facilitating exemplary access arrangements to 'Blackhill' School and friendly assistance to my research efforts throughout the fieldwork. Finally, I would like to thank Les Back for gentle guidance and wise advice and for enjoyable and productive supervision sessions, including the exchanges of music. 3 Abstract This thesis draws on anti-essentialist theorisations of ethnicity developed out of the British Cultural Studies tradition by authors such as Stuart Hall, Paul Gilroy and others. Of particular interest are the notions of `new ethnicities', `cultures of hybridity' and `diaspora'. These concepts are used as the basis for an empirical study attempting to show how they might be realised at the level of ordinary everyday life. The research informants are a group of 30 male and female adolescents (The Blackhill youth) of mainly South Asian descent in a secondary school in the western suburbs of London. The thesis, using a variety of methods including a survey questionnaire, written accounts, informant-made audio recordings and individual conversational interviews, elicits their representations of their patterns of language use. These facilitate discussion and analysis of a complex tapestry of ethnicities which embrace not only language use, but also religion and popular culture. This investigation also demonstrates that if the study of ethnicity shifts its focus from a dependence on the visual (what people look like), to the aural (what they sound like), there is a basis for new understandings of how `new ethnicities' might develop. The thesis suggests that rather than looking for a binary distinction between old and new ethnicities it might be more productive to look for a synthesis of residual, dominant and emergent elements in culture. This leads to a conclusion that the most important element in the `cultures of hybridity' of the Blackhill youth is their Britishness which is integrated in intricate ways with both traditional and contemporary modes of being South Asian. Thereby, the emergence of distinctive Brasian identities is signalled. 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 2 ................................................................................................. Abstract 3 ................................................................................................................... Introduction 7 ............................................................................................................. Chapter One: Theorising Culture, Race Ethnicity 16 and .......................................... 1.0. Introduction 16 .................................................................................................... 1.1. Section A: Discourses `ignoring' `belittling.. 17 of and ..................................... 1.1.1. The importance the 1945 18 of moment .......................................................... 1.1.2. Continuing a tradition of ignoring and belittling?: Williams, Thompson and H 20 oggart .................................................................................................................. 1.1.3. George Orwell 21 ............................................................................................. 1.1.4. Raymond Williams `Strategic Silences' 23 - ................................................... 1.1.5. E. P. Thompson 30 ............................................................................................ 1.1.6. Hoggart 31 ........................................................................................................ Section Stuart in 1.2. B: The embodiment of an intellectual tradition - Hall and the CCCS 32 out of .................................................................................................... 1.2.1. Class the limits 32 and of class ........................................................................ 1.2.2. Youth subcultures and class: the muffling of `ordinary' youth, black youth 34 and girls ................................................................................................................. 1.2.3. Feminism `race' 35 without ............................................................................ 1.2.4. `Race' the 37 and constraints of essentialism .................................................. 1.2.5. The turn 43 anti-essentialist ............................................................................. Conclusion 47 ............................................................................................................ Problems Process Chapter Two: Hearing Voices, Reading Representations - of Method 48 and ........................................................................................................... 2.0. Introduction 48 .................................................................................................... 2.1 Review in 48 of methodological approaches some previous studies ................... 2.1.8. The interview instrument 63 as a research ....................................................... 2.1.8.1. Interviews: `race' 63 and ethnicity ................................................................ 2.1.8.2. Interviews: Gender issues 65 ......................................................................... 2.1.8.3. Interviews: Power in 66 relations general ..................................................... 2.1.8.4. Interviews: Foregrounding the informants 68 voices of ............................... 2.1.8.5. Interviews: Access the 71 and presentation of self ....................................... 2.1.8.6. Interviews: the transcription 74 politics of .................................................... 2.2.1. Williams the Definition Culture 77 and of ....................................................... 2.2.2. Williams' Structures Feeling 78 of .................................................................. 2.2.3. Thompson the importance Agency 80 and of .................................................. 2.2.4. Alfred Schutz, the life-world the knowledge 81 and stock of .......................... 2.2.5. Perec and a 86 methodological experiment ...................................................... 2.2.6. Conclusion 87 ................................................................................................... Part II The Empirical Study 89 - ............................................................................... Introduction to the Empirical Study 90 ...................................................................... The dominant, in 90 residual and emergent, culture .................................................. Chapter Three: Language Survey Data Charting the Terrain 93 - ............................. 3.0. Introduction 93 .................................................................................................... 5 3.1. Description data (n=3 1) 93 of responses ............................................................. 3.1.1. Language home in the family 93 use at and ................................................... .. 3.1.2. Language 95 use with parents ........................................................................ .. 3.1.3. Language 96 use with grandparents ............................................................... .. 3.1.4. Language brothers 98 use with and sisters ..................................................... .. 3.1.5. Issues language in the family 98 of use wider ................................................ .. 3.1.6. The issue linguistic 101 of proficiency ............................................................ 3.1.6.1. Learning languages 102 other ....................................................................... 3.1.7. Language the home 103 use outside ................................................................ 3.1.7.1 Language friends 103 use with at school ....................................................... 3.1.7.2. Multilingual 104 environment at school ....................................................... 3.1.7.3. Community Language 104 classes................................................................ 3.1.7.4. Language learning 106 at school ................................................................... 3.1.7.5. Multilingualism in the 106 neighbourhood ................................................... 3.2. Charting the Terrain: Discussion 106 .................................................................. 3.2.1. Pre-school language 107 use ............................................................................ 3.2.2. The English 109 ubiquity of ............................................................................. 3.2.3. English interruptions 111 use and multilingual ...............................................
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