Marxism & White Teeth

Marxism & White Teeth basically talk about same theme, such as culture, society and Religion. When I was reading Marxism I found some connection between white Teeth. In the Novel we can see “Samad” is a character who came from Bangladesh and his religion is Muslim. He came from a very strong Muslim family. No matter what he can never change his religion. So, we can see Bressler also talk about the same issue in article it says “reality itself can be defined and understood” (P 191). In this line Bressler try to explain religion is a very important part of our life.

On the other hand according to Marxism, “Engels and Marx call this negative sense of ideology false consciousness, which describes the way that the dominant social class shapes and controls each person’s self-definition and class consciousness” (P 194). In this line Bressler try to explain we divide people by race, color and gender. But also, in our society we can divides people as a class, such as high class, middle class and low class. In the novel we find two characters one is a middle class and one is a high class.

As an example we can say Samad is a middle class person. He was a scientist in his home country but now he is a waiter in England. Also, he always tries his best to keep his culture and to teach his son same culture value. We can count Chalfen’s as a high class person. Because both parent s have college degree.

Samad Manifesto

Bressler’s segment “Marxism” really conveyed an interesting depiction of what a Marxist critique of a work truly encompasses. Interestingly enough, the critique itself includes a smorgasbord (I’m very happy I could use this word effectively) of styles and ideas that appear to have evolved over time since Marx’s The German Ideology, and Marx’s and Engel’s more popularly recognized The Communist Manifesto. Most importantly in Bressler’s article is his basic summation of the underlying link between all of the schools of though from origin to present date. As he states, “Common to all these theoretical positions is the assumption that Marx, no matter how he is interpreted, believed that change for the good in society is possible if we simply stop and examine our culture through the eyes of its methods of economic production” (Bressler 201). Even further Bressler goes on to add “Marxism is not primarily a literary theory that can be used to interpret texts…it is a cultural theory that embodies a set of social, economic, and political ideas that its followers believe will enable them to interpret, and more importantly, change their world” (Bressler 201-202). In these few sentences, when related directly to Smith’s White Teeth, one could almost see Samad’s name written in parenthesis next to Bressler’s statements. Samad, a working class citizen, fully believes in the separation of his son’s on the grounds that by sending at the very least one of his children back to his native land he could invariably instill Eastern culture into their lives and establish a morally just individual and create that “change”. Though Samad obviously is not seeking to push a communist agenda, to what extent does anyone agree or disagree that such a demand for “change in their world” as Bressler defines it, applies to the character Smith created in Samad?

Where you belong in society and White Teeth

Marxism points out that the literary works of the author is not different from the issues taking place in society because “Marxism expands the traditional, historical approach to literary analysis by dealing with sociological issues that concern both the characters in a work of fiction as well as the authors and the readers (Bressler, 195).” people are divided by race and gender yes but what truly divides them is class. An area of a life that determines where you stand in society based on your possession/standing. Take Samad for example a scientist (middle class) in his past country but a waiter in is new country. He is a husband looking for outside fulfillment and father disappointed in his son for wanting change and getting change. This change shown by Magid represents what Bressler points out as “false consciousness, the way that the dominant social class shapes and controls each person’s self-definition and class consciousness (Bressler, 194).” Magid and Millat’s refused to be repressed, they wanted out of the ideology that once you’re in a certain class you’re stuck there and you’re to follow in his father’s footsteps. Magid represents the striving class wanting more than what is in front of them.

Marxism and The Chalfen's

Charles Bressler explains that in Marxism "Consciously and unconsciously, the ruling class forces it ideology on the working class(Bressler p195)." This is demonstrated in the text through the Chalfen's. Through out the novel they are trying to spread their version of "Chalfenism." They are the upper class family out of the novel, both parents have college educations, which none of the other adults in the novel have. They "had no friends. They interacted mainly with other Chalfens (Smith p261)" and only because they are considered to have "good genes." They judge Irie's and Millat's families. They speak down to Irie calling her a "Brown Stranger (Smith p271) and speak about Millat's family as if they dont know how to raise their own children. The Chalfen's take the children and let them spend time at their house with their own children. Over time they try to make Millat and Irie understand and follow their own point of view. We see this even more when Magdi returns from Bangladesh. The two brothers do not want to speak but Joyce Chalfen is insistent that they do speak. She actually goes to the Iqbal's home and harasses Alsana into listening to her idea of the two children meeting because "Sometimes people don't know what they want. They don't know what they need (Smith p.358)." She states this as if she knows what is best for them and forces her ideas on the Iqbals until they decide to have Samad speak to Magdi. The Chalfens are the bourgeoisie of the novel.

Marxism in WT

Reading the section on pg 198 of Marxism devoted to the ideas of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci, connections to White Teeth come to mind.

Gramsci uses the term hegemony to define the assumptions that define reality for the people of a particular culture. He says, "The working people themselves give their consent to the bourgeoisie and adopt bourgeois values and beliefs. As sustainers of the economic base, the dominant class enjoys the prestige of the masses and controls the ideology - a term used synonymously with hegemony - that shapes individual consciousness" (198).

Reading that made me look back in the text to Samad's breakdown to Irie about his complete disappointment with his sons. Not being able to identify culturally with his sons destroys Samad inside, as he wanted only the best for him and their choices in life disappoint him on different levels. He says, "These days, it feels to me like you make a devil's pact when you walk into this country. You hand over your passport at the check-in, you get stampedlllbut you mean to go back! Who would want to stay... it drags you in and suddenly you are unsuitable to return, your children are unrecognizable, you belong nowhere" (336). Samad equates England with the force that ruined his plans for his sons' futures, and would understand Gramsci's idea that "the majority of people forget about or abandon their own interests and desires and accept the dominant values and beliefs (of the country) as their own" (198).

Culture: A Fundamental Concept

"What we believe, what we value, and even what we think are direct results of our culture and society, not our religion, our supposed philosophy of life, or our worldview" (Bressler, 202).

When I read the above line (and the entire paragraph it was within), I could not help but think that this could be the theme of White Teeth. Each character evolves throughout their years and prove this above point to be true. Although Samad may deny it, even religion can not be considered to be the ultimate mold from which much of our characteristics and interests are formed. This is why Marxists believe that the ideas within Marxism are "inseparable from modern civilization" (Eagleton, qtd. in Bressler, 191). I think that this may be a difficult idea to accept, especially for those who are fighting assimilation. However, I believe if Samad were to understand that this concept is universal to all people and not inherently negative, he would accept the changes of his sons more easily.

Questioning of Perspectives

In penning White Teeth, Zadie Smith was attempting to illuminate the multitude of perspectives that we have in this world while also legitimizing each. By allowing each character’s perspective to take precedent at some point in the novel we are able to take a third person view to all these first person narratives. Writing the novel this way allows Smith to make the reader reflect upon their own perspective on the world and examine where the roots of that perspective lie. This relates to Marxism because this literary theory asks the reader, “to investigate the intricate web of social relationships not only within the text itself but also outside the text and within the world of the author. In adding this sociological dimension, Marxism expands the traditional, historical approach to literary analysis by dealing with sociological issues that concern both the characters in a work of fiction as well as the authors and the readers” (Bressler, 195). This makes White Teeth a primarily Marxist novel because as a reader one cannot ignore the numerous perspectives but must begin questioning their own.

MARXISM AND WHITE TEETH

In the novel White teeth (2000) by Zadie Smith, Marxism plays an important role. According to Marxists, “Reality itself can be defined and understood; society shapes our consciousness; social and economic condition directly influence how and what we believe and value” (Bressler, 192). This quote can be related to the novel. First principle is “reality itself can be defined and understood” (Bressler, 192); reality means a person’s religion, its roots and its ethnicity which cannot be changed. In the novel we can notice different kind of people from different religion and they have their own roots which are unchangeable. For example, Samad is Bangladeshi and from Muslim religion, we can never forget that he is from Muslim religion. His roots are from Muslim religion. So as the gender of the person is the reality of the person and can be understood. Society also shapes the gender roles. Second principle is that “society shapes our consciousness” (Bressler, 192) which can be related to the situation in the novel, when Archie’s boss showing his desire that Archie’s presence is not required in the official dinner, is shaping Archie’s self-consciousness. In this situation Archie’s economic condition is not good which enforces him to take the Luncheon Vouchers from his boss and agrees to the deal that he will not attend the official dinner. His boss does not want Archie and his wife to attend the dinner with the Sunderland team; we can notice Archie’s boss desire in this line “we put down the names in a hat and yours came out” (Smith, 62). Archie replied to his boss that “Right you are, Mr. Hero” (Smith, 62). As we can notice that he prefers to take the food stamps which mean Archie has realized his low economic condition and responsibility towards his wife and his new born baby. Thus, social and economic condition directly manipulates Archie’s judgment and importance of things.

Marxist Theory and White Teeth

There are definate traces of the social hierarchy Marxist theory speaks of in Zadie Smith's White Teeth. It first appears when we meet the Chalfens in previous chapters. Their condescension to the working class Irie and Magid as well as their assumption that the children come from inadequate homes because of their social standing strongly reflects the ruling class's elitist attitude towards the proleteriat in our society. Mrs. Chalfen's need to fulfill the "duty of intellectuals"to help the disadvantaged plays out this condescension as well.
In the Magid, Millat and Marcus section, the upper class oppressor role is interestingly played by Millat. Millat, university ready and heavily influenced by Marcus, is a quintessential snob who is belittling to Mickey when he is with Samad at the pub. Like the ruling class that Marx speaks of, Magid pushes a pamphlet on Mickey to urge him to go to an academic luncheon on Marcus's work. Magid mimics the ruling classes tendency to push their beliefs on the working class through literture, as discussed in the article.

Marxism in White Teeth

In White Teeth, Zadie Smith really does represent the theory of "traditional historical approach", because of her representations of not only the historical aspects of what it was like to me an "immigrant", but slang that is used during these times. I tried to look up more specific quotations of slang used in the novel, but I did not find much. I think that a lot of the slang used is not only British slang, but also Caribbean slang (which most likely originated from British slang anyway.) As I mentioned in my journal, Irie's grandmother calls her "pickney" which is really racist and insulting. I think that Zadie Smith really does portray the reality of what was/is like for immigrants in not only England, but around the world.

*I use the term loosely, Clara and Irie are not really immigrants but descendants of immigrants.

* Also- if anyone is working on the paper … please email me I am in dire need of finding an article related to Casino Royale… sera.ramlal@gmail.com Thanks.

Week #11: White Teeth & Marxism.

Last posts of the semester. Finish White Teeth and read the article on Marxism. As was briefly mentioned tonight, Marxism has significant influence in literary theory, so you should think about how some of the other theories work through Marxist ideas. Additionally, how might Marxism play a part in the novel?

Please think about your paper topics over the break and e-mail me with your ideas. I'm not sure what my internet access will be like during the break, but I'll make an effort to sign on when I can. I won't be on campus again until Tuesday, 4/29, but you're free to stop by during my office hours then and chat about your ideas with me.

I'll talk about the final portfolio next time.

Have a great break!

White Teeth

In White Teeth Zaddie Smith explains about two different cultural and religion. Also, in the story author explains how the immigrants and second-generation immigrants as they are confronted by a new, and very different, society. In this book we can see Zadie Smith also delves into the concepts of human relationship. In this novel smith explains very deeply about female characters. All women are different different personality.
We know Samad’s wife Alsana. They both came from Bangladesh and their religion is Muslim. In Bangladesh Muslim religion is the strongest religion. In Muslim religion, Male are always stronger than women. They have all power on their hand. Therefore, in Bangladesh women couldn’t say anything. In White Teeth we can find same issue between Alsana and Samad’s. They have twin boys, Magid and Millat, who are the same age as Irie. Samad is continually sees as the effects of this cultural conflict upon his own moral character, therefore Samad wants to send his son Magid to Bangladesh because he wants his son can learn Islam religion. Alsana still stay with him but they have less communication.
Alsana think now she doesn’t love any more Samad. She has less feeling for him. At last I want to say smith shows us in her novel basically most women are very traditions person.

Samad and Alsana

I'm finding a lot of sympathy for Samad in the proceeding chapters. I myself am from a different country and often times feel a loss of culture and become devastated by it. When you are a foreigner in a country, you feel a tremendous loss of identity. Samad is struggling with this loss of identity and feels that sending Magid to his native country will "save" him from the corrupt world of England. These past chapters have really opened my eyes to how I have felt in the past about identity. However, I believe that Samad might be doing more harm than good. I believe that Millat is acting out so much because he misses his brother and does not have his guidance. Btw, I know Alsana is now overweight but was that what the Professor was talking about when she mentioned a physical problem Alsana was having?

Greatly appreciate the comments.

Only the way a Woman can say it.

In White Teeth it is the female characters that are being repressed. It possibly could be because Smith is the author and she is trying to convey a specific message to the reader. There are certain parts in the novel where she physically describes the physical characteristics of Irie. Which I do certainly believe that she could have only done so as a woman. I think it this was a male author and describing Irie it would be more offensive. But coming from a woman, and a woman of the same racial background, it softens the blow of the obscene comments.

Sorry for the post being late guys, my internet was going in and out last night and it would not let me get online.

Female Oppression within White Teeth

In White Teeth there is definitely a tone of oppression amongst its female characters. Through out the novel all the women are oppressed in one way or another. It is demonstrated through Aslana. Though she yells at Samad and physically fights with him she still stays with him. Even after he sends one of her sons away, she still stays married to him, though she barely speaks to him. We also see oppression demonstrated through Irie. She is a young girl who is biracial and feels as though she does not fit in. She describes wanting to "merge" with the Chalfens. "She wanted their Englishness...To Irie, the Chalfens were more English than the English
(p 272)." This proves her feelings of opression. She feels so different she describes going into the Chalfen house as "Sneaking into England; it felt like some terribly mutinous act, wearing somebody else's uniform or somebody else's skin (p 273)." Another way in which we see this in Irie after she gets her hair done. She thinks that her hair now looks beautiful and cannot wait to show Millat. When she gets to his home his two cousins are there and basically tell her that it looks horrible. As they are trying to fix her hair, they explain to her that Millat does not like her as he likes other girls because she is his friend and she truly knows him. They call her different and her internal response is "Sometimes you want to be different. And sometimes you'd give the hair on your head to be the same as everybody else (p 237)." This shows almost a level of desperation in her attempt to fit in and just be what she considers "normal."

Anything she can do, would he do differently?

Though I apologize for stealing Barry’s quote from White Teeth, I think he touches on a very important topic with that particular scene of Alsana, Clara, and Neena sitting on the park bench discussing marriage. Appearing a few lines prior to Barry’s quote is the line, “The truth is, for a marriage to survive you don’t need all this talk, talk, talk…you do not want to know what is slimy underneath the bed and rattling in the wardrobe” (Smith 65). This message provides an easy transition into the following lines of Alsana, in which she states, “when you are from families such as ours you should have learned that silence, what is not said, is the very best recipe for family life” (65), which relates directly into both the Authorship and Feminist styles of criticism. As Showalter addresses in her work “Feminist criticism in the wilderness”, “Feminist criticism has gradually shifted its center from revisionary readings to a sustained investigation of literature by women. The second mode of feminist criticism engendered by this process is the study of women as writers, and its subjects are the history, styles, themes, genres, and structures of writing by women” (335). Within the work Zadie’s own undertones become hinted and suggested at, conveying her comments on the males and females in the British society. At the same time though, contrary to what it appears Barthes suggests, the “genius” of Zadie emerges as opposed to just the “performance” she gives, to which Barthes appears to suggest the opposite. My question is therefore, how would the story differ had the author been in fact a man writing on the same situations in the same time period?

White teeth

In White teeth, Zadie Smith, give you an idea about a great theory of feminist criticism. We can see that Zadie Smith portrayed all the women from different religion. Alsana, who is Samad’s Wife, both are Bangladeshi and from Muslim religion. In Muslim religion, Male is the dominant one and has the power of speech. The men decide something to be done. It does not matter to men whether his wife agrees to him or not. Samad makes a decision which is that he wants to send his son Magid to Bangladesh because he wants his son to grow properly under the teachings of the Islam. Alsana is still with him but there is a loss communication between both. This helps us understand the idea of feminist criticism which is that “Our belief in our self is so potent that we decline communication with the networks of power and respectability we say we want to change” (Showalter, 332). The network of the power and respectability is Samad and I mean definitely Alsana would like to change the way Samad is. Alsana when having a conversation in the park with her friend Clara and Neena, she mentioned about her wedding incidents and all. She was telling her friends that “ [she] thought he had a good face, a sweet voice, and his backside was high and well formed for a man of his age. Very good. Now, every time I learn something new about him, I like him less” (Smith, 66). She likes Samad less now. Thus it shows that Feminine behavior varies with the cultural traditions.

Recurring Themes in SAMAD - White Teeth

There are a lot of symbols and themes that keep circling around, spialing throughout the text of WHITE TEETH. The overriding metaphor seems to be the dominance of English culture and ideals on all of the characters - on 120-1, Samad claims, "I have been corrupted by england, I see that now - my children, my wife, they too have been corrupted... Maybe I have been frivolous. Maybe I have thought intellect more important than faith." The ideal of intelligence over religious devotion is a Western one, as Samad realizes that he cannot be fully religious in England, constructing a system of "allowances" for himself to drink, masturbate, and ultimately have an extramarital affair. On 124, he admits it all to himself - "I swear. I eat bacon. I regularly slap the salami. I drink Guinness. My best friend is a kaffir nonbeliever... But oh it does count. It all counts on the great counting board of He who counts." Even though he tries to convince himself otherwise, Samad knows that the things that he does are wrong, but he does them anyway. The "Western" ways that he adapted as his own have come to dictate his actions more than his heritage, which he eventually throws aside, comparing heritage and religion to drugs(161). Samad's two mantras appear a number of times too, often when he feels like he needs to justify something to himself.

Female Opression and Finding a Voice

The feminist criticism piece, "Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness", by Elaine Showalter is an appealing read and has significant relevance to Zadie Smith's White Teeth.
The idea that British feminist criticism is concerned with female oppression in literature is intriguing and parallels with some of the female character's experiences in White Teeth. Alsana is an interesting character because because some may stereotypically perceive her as a submissive, Muslim
woman is under her husband's rule. In actuality, she is a fiery, independent thinker, who according to Archie, wears the "lovely, silken trousers in the family" (Smith, P.127). Smith cleverly combats the idea of the fragile,oppressed female in literature that feminist critics battle against, by delivering a refreshingly, bold character like Alsana.
Showalter's article also discusses women's need to find their voice in literature.
Zadie Smith delivers to us a female voice dying to be heard in Irie. Irie is the quintessential, overweight, adolescent girl who is the symbol of teen angst in the novel. The reader sees her struggle through the cruelty of adolescence as a dejected girl who falls below the beauty standard. The issues of feminine ideals coupled with race that Irie deals with in the text are issues of much concern to feminist critics.

Zadie Smith and the Quest for Identity

Roland Barthes claims that. "The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture"(146). As a woman born to an English father and a Jamaican mother, Zadie Smith was brought up to see the world from the eyes of both the dominant culture as well as that of the oppressed. Being of English descent she is part of a culture that became legendary for its domination of other cultures that it deemed inferior. But as the daughter of a Jamaican woman she is also part of a culture that has been oppressed by the English. Lastly, as a woman she is oppressed once again by the old world ways of white English men. We see this in the Showalter essay with the quote, "I consider women's literature as a specific category, not because of biology, but because it is, in a sense, the literature of the oppressed". All these issues are at play within White Teeth because they are all in play within the author herself. In this way I disagree with the Barthes idea that "it is language which speaks, not the author"(143) because so much of this author's struggle for identity is what is allowing that language to speak.

Respectable Or Repressed?

At the risk of unfairly conflating religious or cultural beliefs with moral values, I would like to pose the following question in order to obtain a more in depth understanding of the feminist critique. Alsana says to Clara and her "niece-of-shame", Neena: "You should have learned that silence, what is not said, is the very best recipe for family life" (Smith, 65).
Elaine Showalter, in her essay "Feminist Criticism in the Wilderness", attacks this exact type of expressive repression stating, "The problem is...that women have been denied the full resources of language and have been forced into silence, euphemism, or circumlocution" (Showalter, 241).
The tricky area is how to view Alsana's servility. Is she expressing her own personal beliefs that she is comfortable with or is she blinded by her upbringing, taught by those who only wish to continue and further the unchallenged obedience of women? Does the feminist critique make such distinctions or are they inevitably intertwined? What do you feel about Alsana's remarks, are they respectable or repressed?

Week #10: White Teeth & feminism & the return of authorship.

No class next week, as I'm otherwise engaged. In terms of assignment due dates: journals are due 4/17 and your first posts should be in by 4/14 and your two responses by 4/16. Certainly you can post earlier and more often. But you need to post; if you're only doing one set and not the other, I consider you as having done only half the assignment. Be warned.

As you have plenty of time to complete all readings, you should consider both theory readings in light of White Teeth. We've discussed feminism in relation to gender studies and about authorship from the perspective of Foucault (who was actually responding to Barthes), so make sure you can differentiate between feminism and gender studies and between Barthes and Foucault. There are similarities, but there are also places where they diverge.

Final note: from about Tuesday to Saturday of next week, I'll be checking e-mail only sporadically, so it may take me a little while to get back to you. I will be having office hours, however, both weeks.

Have a good weekend and I'll see you in two weeks.

Post Colonization and White Teeth

The essays, "Post Colonialism: The Empire Writes Back" and "Crisis in Orientalism" discuss postcolonial theory as related to literature. These works are related to White Teeth because their themes of postcolonial and orientalist theory are played out in its text. This is both an interesting and dissapointing finding in such a humorous and clever book. The first time postcolonialist theory and the prejudice that it speaks of rears its ugly head is in the scene in which Archie meets Sarah. He comments that she is "beautiful in all senses except, maybe, by virtue of being black." (Smith, P. 15) The view that British colonialists had that regarded Africans as inferior beings plays itself out in this scene. Such a scene can remind someone of the racist views of such colonialist works as Kipling's White Man's Burden.

Postcolonization

During the first part of white teeth you’re introduced to different people, who seem to be dealing with post colonization on one level or another. On one level the commune where Archie finds refuge, represents what Bressler describes as the ‘other’ the ones who are being “watched for the reason that they are different because each person represent colonization from Clara the Jamaican to Wan-si the Chinese. And on the other hand you have Archie who from a gender perspective Archie suffers “a collapse of [his] ego” (239) when his wife divorced him and not knowing what to do any more he intentionally keeps going back to the house he once shared with her to be verbally abuse by the maid and his in-laws. It’s as if Archie was being colonized by his wife because he stayed married to a woman he did not love, because to him “marriage [was] like buying a pair of shoes, taking them home, and finding they fit [but] for the sake of appearances he put up with them” (white teeth, 7), in a sense being the master or the colonizer while his wife was the colonized who was eventually driven insane because she like other “women [were no longer] daylight in Archie’s life” (white teeth, 7). As Bressler points out one of the main concerns of post colonialism is that it “highlight[s] the struggle that occurs when one culture is dominated by another [causing the] colonized to be removed from history” (Empire writes back, 238).