Post-Colonialism and migration: East is East- The Movie
Synopsis
o made in 1999 UK, directed by Damien O’Donnell
o British household of mixed-ethnicity, father George is Pakistani, mother Ella is
British, have six boys and one girl together, own a fish’n chips shop
o Family torn between two fronts: old values/ religion represented by father, and “new”
modern values kids get to know in their all-day-life
o Father arranges marriage for oldest son, but he runs away, leaving family in shame
and opens up an hat shop in London
o Father plans to re-establish his reputation by arranging marriages for his other two
oldest sons
o The whole family act different behind father’s back, not so strict believers in Islam,
except Maneer. Mother supports children in making free choices and becoming happy,
living the life they want
o Father still believes he has the control over all family members, wants to force his
sons to get married, but at the meeting of the two families everything ends in chaos
o Father has to accept that his children want to live a different life and make their own
experience
o Happy but open end, as the viewer does not get to know how the life of the children go
on and which choices they make, old or new world?
Themes:

-
Arranged marriage
tradition in Indian society (Pakistan was former part of India)
marriages planned by parents & other respected family members
has to be considered before marriage: background of families (wealth, social
standing), castes, religion
girl usually should be younger, shorter than her husband
institution of marriage = very important; parents are wiser than their children so they
think they make the better choice
result of wide search by both families, they check for comparability without caring
about emotions
after engagement, at the meeting : both families in the name of God exchange fruits,
clothes as symbol of acceptance
a day is chosen for marriage according to religious almanac, both horoscopes, moon’s
phase etc.
Wedding = conducted according Wedic rites and rituals, girl is given away in holy
ceremony to the boy/man
Divorce is not liked to be seen, in rural areas in India, wife is buried alive next to her
dead husband; when caught cheating: woman can be stoned to death, man has to ask
for forgiveness in religious ceremony and gets punishment (paying certain amount to
mosque or so)
 Position and perfect picture of a wife
 Monica Ali: Brick Lane (movie)
- young girl married to an old man, she comes from East Pakistan ( rural), he is from
London
-
he expected her to be more beautiful, had a better education, but she is better than
nothing to him
- Nazneen is disappointed, maybe they could have fallen in love, because he was gentle
and caring
 example of a convenience marriage without any emotions, she feels betrayed, rejected;
he is satisfied half, because he at least has something(!) = unfulfilled expectations

-
The Gift by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Poem, shows what is expected from Asian wives in general
A good woman: should be gentle, caring, respectful to her husband, serving him;
preserves the honour of her own family, has to be quiet, regard her husband as a god,
never leaves him
- Speaker of the poem feels pressured, still it is her duty to fulfil these expectations, acts
like robot, cannot change the situations nor improve it
 young women accept their task to serve a man, because they represent their family in
that way, have to respect it, feel empty and sorrow; others were born to serve like
preserving the honour of their family, are religious and believe therefore in this
dominance-system

-
-
-
Pakistani husband / British wife: rules, different views
East is East shows different way of relationship between Pakistani and British people
George comes from Pakistan, left his 1st wife there, married British Ella in England
George tries to live strictly according to the guidelines of Islam (going to mosque,
praying, eating no pork, drinking no alcohol), but Ella sometimes does not support
him
She knew that she had to accept her subordinate position when marrying George
(accept the concision of the boys, learning the language Urdu, that the girl has to
mantle herself/ hair etc), but George goes too far with the arranged marriages
She has a different picture of a family in mind: for her, her children should become
happy, do what makes them happy; George wants them to become respectful and
believing married Muslims
 2nd Generation and old traditions: both sides of the medal
 Personal Identity: self-awareness sets us human beings apart from animals
- Factors shaping an individual’s personality: some of these are hereditary, other
influences come from environment
- Everyone’s personality = unique; aspects of identity are racial, ethnic, national,
regional and class identities
- Religious identity determines our moral code in life
- Gender identity (how we feel towards our identity as a man or woman) and sexual
identity (who we are interested in sexually)
- Doubts about our identity = identity crisis with self-doubts (very destructive, prevent
us from realizing our full
- Success in achieving our goals has lot to do with how we perceive ourselves
- Identity is not constant (many aspects change through lifetime) & no can be reduced to
just one trait or feature
 many factors have to be considered when looking at different cultures and generations

Family Khan and their conflicts
Pakistani culture and Muslim
religion
- very important for
him to go to mosque,
follow the religious
guidelines
- marries his sons to
keep family tradition
and a good reputation
- Doesn’t want any
family members from
Pakistan to come over
to England
- She is not acceptable
as Pakistani wife,
freedom-loving
- hides from mosquevan, religion is not
important for him
- is circumcised,
should behave
respectful towards
father
- feels too restricted by
religion, wants to free
herself
- likes the culture, but
wants to make free,
own choices
- riots against religion
and strict father,
wants to make own
choices in life
The Khans
-doesn’t care about religion
Saleem
- “Ghandi”, strict believer
Maneer
- respects traditions/ father,
but family stands above
everything
Abdul
George
English people and culture
-
-
Ella
-
-
Sajid
-
-
Meenah
-
-
Tariq
laughs about English
culture, thinks they are
obscene
G. isn’t accepted, Fish’n
Chips Shop keeper
wants the people to think
she’s a polite / respectful
wife
shouldn’t have married a
foreigner
feels integrated in English
society, his opinion counts
(e.g. Earnest)
still others don’t accept
him, he’s pushed around
plays soccer, eats pork,
wears school uniform,
integrates in society
likes her personal freedom
-
integrated in society, has a
British girl
- has a 2nd different name to
integrate in society, is
prepared to give up his
origin to integrate in
society
- studies art, instead of
engineering, free artist
- wants his family to be happy,
respects George, but after beating
stops respecting
- works in British job, is respected
by everyone
=> Family Khan represents typical problems a mixed family has in certain generations

“My Son the Fanatic” by Hanif Kureishi
Aspect/Topics
Parvez
Religion (Islam)
Bad memories, avoids all
religions
The West (England)
Gives more opportunities,
integrates in Western world
“philosophy of life”
Enjoy life without hurting
others, beauty of living (one
life to live), appreciate what
you have
Way of life
Taxi driver, hides from wife,
runs away
Didn’t learn a lot in Punjab,
wants to give his son
possibility to have a better
education Parvez had
Education

Ali
Strong believer, very
engaged in religious matters,
no exceptions, lives
according to 5 pillars of
Islam
Western lifestyle = full of
sins, Western people hate
people like Ali
“For us the reward will be in
paradise”, law of Islam
should rule the world,
enjoyment is a bottom less
pit
Praying 5 times a day,
sticking to Koran
College, most subjects A
Possible conflicts in multicultural families in Britain
1st generation (parents)
2nd generation (children)
Khan family
- G. Tries to hold onto
old traditions/ values
- Partly integrated
-
-
try to integrate, still
have to show respect
to 1st generation
like the Western
world with it’s free
choices/ possibilities
 clash of cultures within families
communication problems
reversal roles
religion/ tradition VS. Integration / Western values
problems to find identity
Integration (choice)  mutual process
Assimilation (force)  one-sided
“My Son the fanatic”
- integrated,
assimilated
- respects his son’s
decisions, wants to
make him happy
- narrow-minded,
radical,
fundamentalist, strict/
traditional believer
- no integration
- Character Constellation in “East is East”
Married,
2nd wife,
love but
struggle for
dominance
in family
friends
Asks for
support
Religious, strict
dominant man
wants arranged
marriages for
George’s sons,
teaches children
the religion
Gay, has own hat
shop, dead for his
father (flew from
arranged marriage)
Development from
shy to confident
Honest worker, family
guy, respectful to
father’s wishes
fight
Beats
him up
Rebel, libertine
Stereotypical
British
woman,
helps Ella
a lot,
cares
about
kids
friends
Loves all her
children, wants the
best for them
Hopes he’ll be
successful (engineer),
but in fact studies art,
father shouldn’t know
Very religious,
torn btw. modern/
traditional world
Make out
Only daughter,
sometimes boyish
attitude
In love
with her
Tease each other
all the time
She thinks he is
ugly
Loves him in
a very
romantic
way, wants
to marry him,
he refuses
Best friends
Youngest of
the family,
hides beneath
his parker,
pushed around
by everyone
-
John Enoch Powell
Grandpa Moorhouse makes commercial for this politician
British politician, conservative
Has strong views according to race, national identity, immigration
Warned audience about uncontrolled immigration: River of Blood-Speech (too many
immigrants, wants them to be send back)
Accused of xenophobia, removed from shadow cabinet
74% of all Britains agreed to him
was voted into the list of 100 greatest Britains of all time in 2002
Islam in Britain
- known in Britain since Middle Ages, 1st large group came 300 years ago (sailors
recruited in India to work for East India Company), port towns
- next wave: opening of Sue Canal in 1869: increase of trade demand for men to work
in ports, ships
- many immigrants in 1950s /1960s came from India, Pakistan in search of better
material life, lot of them worked in steel/ textiles industries Yorkshire, Lancaster
- many planned to bring their families to Britain, others hoped to save money to buy
land in Pakistan and return to families
- in 1990s increase in enforced arranged marriages, Pakistani men using their wife’s
status to gain entry to Britain increased from 1.740 in 1995 to 3.510 in 1997
- today 1.8million Muslims live in Britain, at least 50% born in UK, Islam: British 2nd
most popular religion, over 600.000 Britain’s Muslims are active in their faith
- most British Muslims belong to Sunni tradition of Islam, over 600 mosques in UK, 60
Muslims school
- 2001: race riots erupted in “mill and mosque” towns of Oldham, Bradford, Burnley;
after Islamist attacks on 11th September 2001 more than 300 assaults on Muslims in
Britain mainly on women
- 2002: poll showed 69% of British Muslims felt strong sense of exclusion, two thirds
say relations between Muslims and non-Muslims have deteriorated since 9/11
- Poll shows that there is a strong desire to integrate into British Society, also shows
significant generation gap: 41% under 34 who were born in UK said they defined
themselves first and foremost as Muslim
- More likely to say that their community was too integrated, Islam particularly appeals
to the young
- Integration of 2nd and 3rd generation immigrants will be major challenge to
multicultural Britain
Islam:
a) Sunnite: descendants of all four caliphs can be spiritual leaders of the
Sunnites
b) Shi’ite: only descendants of Ali (Muhammad’s son-in-law) can be spiritual
leaders of the Shi’ite
Immigration to Britain
 Young Asians in Britain today
- Experience the same types of hostility and discrimination as their parents, but they do
not accept discrimination as inevitable
- Face two worlds: Asian world at home, other world of school, community, work
- The social and psychological gab between them and their parents widens
-
Young Asians; no longer language difficulties, more chance in future to create
friendship across ethnic boundaries
- Asian parents and their children have quite different views on leisure, freedom as well
as clothes
- Fathers are stricter and disagree, Asian parents feel they have protect their children,
girls in particular
 Young Asians adopt new culture which is a synthesis of the “old” and the “new”