Negotiating Postcolonial Identity in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth

Abstract

This study critically examines the representation and negotiation of postcolonial identity in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth (2000) through the lens of Homi K. Bhabha’s postcolonial theory, focusing on ambivalence, hybridity, mimicry, and the third space. Using qualitative textual analysis, the research explores how immigrant and second-generation characters embody fragmented identities shaped by colonial history and multicultural realities in London. The study finds that postcolonial identity in the novel is unstable, marked by psychological tension, emotional loss, and resistance rather than harmonious hybridity. Furthermore, London is portrayed as a postcolonial metropolis that facilitates cultural interaction but also imposes symbolic exclusion and surveillance, limiting true belonging and complicating the formation of the third space. These findings challenge optimistic interpretations of multiculturalism and hybridity, emphasizing the emotional and symbolic costs of identity negotiation in contemporary Britain. This research contributes to postcolonial literary scholarship by offering a nuanced understanding of hybridity as a site of ongoing struggle rather than cultural resolution.