Being and Longing in Meera Syal's Anita and Me Sophie
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Being and Longing in Meera Syal’s Anita and Me Sophie Alexander, BA (Hons.) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in English School of English, Journalism, and European Languages University of Tasmania July 2010 I certify that this thesis is original work, except as indicated and acknowledged, and that I have not submitted it for any other award. …………………………………………………………………………. Date ………………………. This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. …………………………………………………………………………. Date ………………………. i Abstract Meera Syal’s Anita and Me (1996) is a seemingly inconsequential novel about a British-Asian child who undertakes a voyage of social education in the English Midlands in the late 1960s. However, this thesis relates the novel to a broader context inside and outside the textual world in the aftermath of Indian independence and Partition in August, 1947. It conducts a socio-historical analysis to trace the parallel narratives of the protagonist, Meena Kumar, and her communities of residence and inheritance. The dissertation draws upon postcolonial theory to analyse the continuing repercussions of Indian colonisation both in the text and in external British society. Approaching Anita and Me as a Black British Bildungsroman provides a framework to unite these multiple threads of individual and social development. The thesis views the novel as a performative artefact which represents the transformation of Britain from an imperial power to a post- imperial society, at the same time as actively contributing to this transformation as an element of public culture. Meena’s journey of self- determination entails a partial decolonisation of her mind, juxtaposed with national identities which preserve an imperial worldview. The dissertation explores the contradictions of human relationships and the often ambivalent aversion to, and yet desire for, racialised others. A central focus is the troubled friendship between Meena and the character ii of Anita Rutter. The thesis accentuates the semi-autobiographical nature of the text as a form of fictional “mythology” (Syal 10) for imagining personal connections to historical moments. The three chapters examine Syal’s Bildungsroman from alternative perspectives. The opening chapter explores interactions between class and race; the desire for belonging; the development of personal identifications in conjunction with national imaginaries; and the complexities of post- imperial racism. The second chapter considers the phenomenon of diaspora; the Partition of India; and the association between memory, history, and narratives. In the concluding chapter, the meanings of family and the “homely” and the “unhomely” are analysed. These interlinked sections emphasise the novel’s representation of the combined effects of class inequalities, historically engrained racial anxiety, and racialised visions of the overlapping English and British nations. iii Acknowledgements I acknowledge the contribution of various influences and conversations to a project which was rewarding, challenging, and frustrating at times. Firstly, I am immensely grateful for having two marvellous supervisors who offered encouragement, incisive criticism, and discerning comments and suggestions. They firmly, yet gently, urged an initially reluctant student to engage in more writing and less researching (or “productive procrastination”). Much gratitude to Anna and Ralph for generously devoting time and energy, and for guiding the ship and then entrusting this student with the steering at just the right moments. The entire experience was made more enjoyable by the supportive and talented postgraduate “ejellies” at the UTAS School of English, Journalism, and European Languages (SEJEL). Our discussions are always entertaining and intellectually invigorating and some of you have become treasured friends. I also acknowledge the SEJEL Graduate Coordinators, Dr Anna Johnston, Dr Elle Leane, and Dr Nicola Goc, for providing enriching postgraduate programs and valuable advice. In addition, the thesis would have been impossible to complete without the professional and friendly service of UTAS librarians. I am also most thankful for the financial support of an iv Australian Postgraduate Award, administered by the Graduate Research Office, which allowed more time to concentrate on the intense demands of full-time study. With thanks to my caring human and furry families and spectacular friends. And finally, I dedicate this project to the memory of those who have departed to a more peaceful place. ~ “What does Christopher Robin do in the mornings? He learns. He becomes Educated. He instigorates – I think that is the word he mentioned, but I may be referring to something else – he instigorates Knowledge.” Eeyore, The House at Pooh Corner A.A. Milne Contents Abstract ............................................................................... i Acknowledgements ............................................................................... iii Maps Fig. 1. Map of Indian Partition 1 Fig. 2. Map of Partition refugee movements Fig. 3. Map of partitioned Punjab Introduction Being and Longing in Meera Syal’s Anita and Me 4 Chapter I Uninhabitable Zones: Abjection and Belonging 24 Chapter II The Fugitive Self: Memory, History, and Catastrophe ....................... 51 Chapter III Homing and Estrangement, Married and Condemned to Britain ....................... 76 Conclusion “Perplexity of the Living” in Anita and Me ........... 105 Works Consulted ............................................................................... 111 1 Fig. 1. Map of Indian Partition from Tai Yong Tan and Gyanesh Kudaisya, The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia (London: Routledge, 2000) 4. 2 India 1885-1947: The India The 1885-1947: (Harlow: Longman-Pearson, 2001) xv. Longman-Pearson, 2001) (Harlow: Unmaking Empire of an Fig. Map of 2. Partition refugee movements from Ian Copland, 3 Fig. 3. Map of partitioned Punjab from Alex von Tunzelmann, Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire (London: Simon and Schuster, 2007) xvi. 4 Introduction Being and Longing in Meera Syal’s Anita and Me “... this little war of sacrifice and gain ...”1 Imagine a scene of scrutiny in which a young girl of Indian heritage is appraised by an older girl of Anglo-Saxon heritage. The penetrating gaze paralyses the younger girl and converts her into skin and body as she yearns to be accepted by the other. This miniature power-play in Meera Syal’s Anita and Me (1996) is structured by the past dynamics of the British colonisation of India and exemplifies numerous contemporary encounters. Syal writes a literary portrayal of a colonial past which constantly re- surfaces and shapes the present. Anita and Me symbolises the transformation of Britain into a post-imperial society and subsequent confrontation with its colonial past. The novel is set during the late 1960s in rural England and depicts the childhood of a British-Asian character who is born into this space of the former colonising authority. While Meena Kumar is born in England, her Punjabi parents migrated to the fictional Midlands village of Tollington after the Partition of India in 1947. This dissertation examines Anita and Me from a postcolonial perspective as a Black British Bildungsroman, employing a socio-historical methodology to analyse both text and context. It is a seemingly unremarkable novel of development which bears witness to the broader 1 Anita and Me (181). 5 unfolding of immigration and nationhood in Britain. The thesis traces the parallel narratives of the protagonist’s personal development and the changing fabric of her small village and society. The dismantling of Empire, and immigration after World War II, have profoundly altered Britain and the novel suggests it will remain a divided entity until this change is accepted. Anita and Me is a “mythology” (Syal 10) which attempts to overcome the fissures in the heroine’s and the author’s histories, representing a transitional stage between historical epochs with the mutual changes of world, protagonist, and genre (Bakhtin 23). Britain and India are both transformed by the merging of ostensibly disparate components which accompany colonisation and migration. Thus, the publication of the text within a British public culture represents this change as well as the content of the text. Physical and metaphorical voyages are fundamental elements of Bildungsromane and the reader also undertakes a narrative voyage. Anita and Me appropriates the imperial archetype of travelling into darkness in pursuit of knowledge (Boehmer 201). Meena’s journey entails the acquisition of confidence to position herself multiply across contexts. The thesis argues that her worldview is partly colonised and that she undergoes a gradual and painful process of “decolonising the mind.” This decolonisation is inevitably incomplete and cannot erase the past affiliations between India and Britain. Instead, Meena learns to manipulate colonial history in alternative ways and to find positive value in her 6 diasporic consciousness. The identity that is purportedly documented in the novel is performatively assembled through the practice of writing. The dissertation draws upon postcolonial theory for its compelling interdisciplinary approach to histories of injustice and resistance. Postcolonialism is a heterogeneous field of indeterminate and conflicting definitions, critiquing the discursive and material effects