heIdemann I hybrId IdentItIes
“I’m just a half-breed bastard”
hybrid Identities in alex Wheatle’s Brixton Rock
Birte Heidemann
1977: 4). It is often a time of transgression and rebellion, but is simultaneously characterised by anxiety and
emotional confusion. The reason for
these thoroughly ambiguous patterns
of behaviour is both simple and complex: it is the search for autonomy and
independence and ultimately the quest
for one’s identity. Brenton Brown, the
novel’s protagonist, undergoes such a
transition, yet his crisis of identity is influenced by other elements as well.
The sixteen-year-old “Bad bwai Brenton” (Wheatle 2006 [1999]: 120) is
mixed race and knows neither his Jamaican-born mother nor his white
British father; his only ‘family’ is Floyd,
son of West Indian immigrants, with
whom he lives in a council hostel after
spending his childhood years in a
home. The story, which is told from a
heterodiegetic perspective with a
strong focus on its protagonist Brenton, is set in the early 1980s in South
London’s Brixton. Brixton is known for
its multi-ethnic inhabitants and a distinct Afro-Caribbean community. The
story begins with Brenton being in a
prison cell. He gets into trouble much
too often and, although he is a rather
introverted and embittered youth,
Brenton likewise gets easily irritated
and is on the verge of becoming a
criminal. Due to his light-brown skin
colour, which hints at his white British
The only thing he knew about his parents
was that his mother was black and his father was a white man. Ironic then, that
Brenton was only ever called ‘black bastard’. He felt strongly that his parents
were the cause of all his misery – and
wished he had never been born. (Wheatle
2006 [1999]: 8-9)
Alex Wheatle’s Brixton Rock (1999) is
a story about ‘belonging’ and finding
answers to such existential questions
as ‘Who am I?’, ‘Where am I coming
from?’, or ‘What can I expect from
life?’. The novel interweaves these
highly complex issues on different levels, and therefore exposes the diverse elements that constitute identity.
Its most formative factor is the family
and its cultural origin as both provide
us with fundamental values and
norms. Hence, the most formative
phase in life is childhood, a time which
especially defines our identity. The
basis established then will influence
our actions in the years to come; in
other words, the experiences had
during childhood have a deep impact
on the adult life.
But the transition between childhood
and adulthood seems to dislocate us
from everything that has previously
formed our identity, as “adolescence is
a distinct stage in identity or personality development” (White/Speisman
57
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01 I 2009
parent, Brenton has to defend himself
in tough Brixton street life, which is
mainly personified by Terry Flynn. With
the help of his social worker, Brenton
decides to search for his mother who
gave him away when he was a baby.
All at once, Brenton gets his longdesired family as he meets his mother,
Cynthia, and his half-sister, Juliet.
While he tries to punish his mother by
being cold and distant, Brenton is all
the more attached to Juliet and they
fall in love with each other and, ultimately, she falls pregnant.
Brixton Rock is a novel for young
adults which reveals the inner conflict
of a wounded societal outsider and his
struggle to find something or someone
to belong to. But how can Brenton’s
difficult situation be further analysed?
Since he only knows that his mother is
black and his father is a white man,
Brenton is somehow caught ‘in-between’, not knowing where he is coming from and what his roots are; in
other words, Brenton has a hybrid
identity. Besides, the troubled teenager
undergoes a period of transition from
childhood to adulthood, a time that is
generally marked by a crisis of identity.
Hence, in the novel, the need to belong explicitly encompasses several
levels and not only refers to Brenton’s
complex ethnical background but also
broaches issues such as racism, adolescence and sexuality, which ultimately add to the hybrid notion the
protagonist occupies.1
On the basis of the postcolonial concepts of hybridity and identity, this
essay seeks to scrutinise the convoluted character of Brenton Brown in
order to elaborate on the various ele-
ments which constitute a hybrid identity. As Brenton further undergoes a
transition from childhood to adulthood,
the phenomenon of adolescence will
be incorporated in the discussion of
the novel. Moreover, my interest lies in
highlighting in how far Alex Wheatle’s
Brixton Rock sets itself apart among
Black and Asian British literature of recent years.
t
heoretical Concepts: Identity
lives by hybridity
One thinks of identity whenever one is not
sure where one belongs […]. ‘Identity’ is a
name given to the escape sought from
that uncertainty. (Bauman 1996: 19)
Alex Wheatle’s protagonist is in search
of cultural and personal identity,
though what he finds is not only restricted to one perspective: Brenton
Brown is a paradigm for the complex
notions of identity, as his is of a hybrid
nature. In order to comprehend Brenton’s multi-layered personality, which is
clearly connected to an inherent crisis
of identity, it seems inevitable to investigate theoretical approaches of the
concepts of identity and hybridity respectively. This will provide a basis for
further interpretation and help to analyse the seemingly hopeless situation
of the novel’s main character.
In his essay “Cultural Identity and Diaspora”, Stuart Hall argues that “[i]dentity is not as transparent or
unproblematic as we think” (Hall 1994:
392) and defines ‘cultural identity’ as
follows:
Cultural identity [...] is a matter of ‘becoming’ as well as of ‘being’. It belongs
58
heIdemann I hybrId IdentItIes
to the future as much as to the past.
[...] Cultural identities [...] undergo constant transformation. Far from being
eternally fixed in some essentialised
past, they are subject to the continuous ‘play’ of history, culture and power.
(Hall 1994: 394)
Through his protagonist, Wheatle
shows that identity is indeed always
fluid and never stable. However, Brenton is not able to construct his own
identity out of the various fragments of
today’s multicultural society because
he longs for stability, for somebody
who keeps him grounded. Hence, in
Brenton’s case, it seems more relevant
to first establish a stable basis, that is
meeting his mother, in order to develop
a personal as well as cultural identity
as he has “a dream of belonging; to be,
for once, of the place, not merely in”
(Bauman 1996: 30; Kursivierung im
Original). In other words, Brenton
needs to be accepted for the first time
in his life and needs to become a
member of his looked-for family.
In discussing the concept of identity,
Hall introduces the question of ‘identification’, which he also identifies as “a
process never completed – always ‘in
process’” (Hall 1996: 2). In this context,
Hall furthermore discusses its psychoanalytic stance and here aptly refers to
Sigmund Freud who describes identification as “the earliest expression of
an emotional tie with another person”
(Freud in Hall 1999: 3) which primarily
involves the child’s relationship with its
parents, a notion that I also find quite
fitting in the novel’s context. Therefore,
identification might be considered as a
precondition to the formation of one’s
identity. Since Brenton had to grow up
without parents, or any kind of attachment figure, he has not been able to
forge an emotional tie with another
person, someone he can look up to or
of whom he can be critical. Even if, or
maybe precisely because, the persons
involved do not always have to get
along, this relationship is primarily
characterised as unconditional and
honest, and the child is able to decide
what characteristics it will adopt or dismiss.
Tragically, the only constant ‘person’
during Brenton’s childhood was Mr.
Brown – a scarecrow. This is his only
childhood confidante, even though the
conversations were literally one-sided.
When Brenton found out that somebody had destroyed Mr Brown’s torso,
he suffered a severe trauma “wondering why somebody had killed his best
friend. He never spoke a word for six
weeks. […] no one ever understood”
(Wheatle 2006 [1999]: 227-228). Thus,
Brenton’s childhood was marked by
traumatic experiences in the children’s
home which led to “deep emotional
scars” (Wheatle 2006 [1999]: 106) that
keep Brenton from having a sane relationship with his mother in the present.
The rejection he experienced in his
childhood still haunts him and makes
it even more difficult to trust anybody.
While talking to his mother, Brenton
tries to put this into words: “You
haven’t got a clue about being brought
up in a Home. You don’t get it, do you?
I still have fucking nightmares about it
and you can never imagine what it’s
like to be on your friggin’ tod without
anybody. I am not a normal kid or teenager” (Wheatle 2006 [1999]: 115-116).
“I am not a normal kid or teenager” –
59
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01 I 2009
with this, Brenton himself expresses
what this essay aims to demonstrate.
He never had anybody to identify with,
was on his “friggin’ tod without anybody” and most of the people he met
treated him like an outsider, someone
who does not belong to anybody.
Therefore, the most formative phase in
Brenton’s life, his childhood, was
mainly marked by negative experiences, which have deeply influenced
his identity building. But is it still possible to find a place or person to belong
to in a different phase in life, and
thereby find an identity?
According to Hall, identity is “not ‘who
we are’ or ‘where we came from’” but
rather about “what we might become,
how we have been represented and
how that bears on how we might represent ourselves” as identities “are
more the product of the marking of difference and exclusion, than they are
the sign of an identical, naturally-constituted unity – and ‘identity’ in its traditional meaning (that is, an allinclusive sameness, seamless, without
internal differentiation)” (Hall 1996: 4).
Hence, all existential questions Brenton hopes his mother can answer are
not essential elements to form an identity and it is up to the individual to “live
with a multiple sense of self […]. Paradoxically, […] the imperative to
choose can lead to uncertainty, fear of
change and a sense of loss” (Werbner
1997: 9). The latter corresponds to
Brenton’s personal crisis, that is his
emotional insecurity not knowing
where to belong. The possibility of
choosing emotionally overstrains him
and even the meeting with his mother
and sister does not really help him to
overcome his inner conflict. Especially
the newly-experienced affection from
his sister unsettles Brenton even more
and, in the end, this ‘unfamiliar’ relation
leads to further confusion:
“Then she spontaneously gave her
brother a warm hug. This act of affection left Brenton feeling like a dog that
has been licked by a cat. Why is she
doing this? he thought. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been embraced, or even whether he’d been
hugged at all.” (Wheatle 2006 [1999]:
108)
Despite being reunited with his Jamaican mother and thereby getting to
know his personal and cultural roots,
Brenton’s search for identity continues;
he still feels restless – and rootless.
Yet this pattern of behaviour coincides
with the theoretical approach this
essay has chosen to work with. Werbner has aptly adopted Bauman’s notion that identities generally are
“palimpsests, rootless and in constant
flux” (Bauman in Werbner 1997: 16-17;
Kursivierung im Original). In this context, however, Brenton takes a complex position that further complicates
the process of identity building. He is
not only what Werbner refers to as “a
fractured self” with a “‘mosaic’ identity”
(Werbner 1997: 9), for his identity is
even more ambiguous and tinged with
various elements that contribute to the
forming of and – at the same time – interfere with his personal and cultural
development. This kaleidoscope of
ethnic and social influences makes
him what he really is: a hybrid identity.
60
heIdemann I hybrId IdentItIes
b
renton’s hybrid Cul-de-sac
ent in cultural identity and therefore a
condition far from being “exotic”. When
discussing the term ‘identity’, it has become obvious that it is marked mainly
by plurality, fluidity and constant transformation. These results are enhanced
in the definition of ‘hybridity’ as it tries
to locate this ambivalent and fluid notion as a transcultural contact zone, a
contradictory or ‘Third’ space.
However, the binary distinction between the ‘pure’ and the ‘hybrid’ is still
omnipresent in contemporary British
society, even though “a growing number of people define themselves in
terms of multiple national attachments
and feel at ease with subjectivities that
encompass plural and fluid cultural
identities” (Caglar 1997: 169). Therefore, the above-mentioned “recognition
of this ambivalent space of cultural
identity” may also help Brenton to
overcome his previous position as the
‘other’ who is “not quite fitting in”
(Wheatle 2006 [1999]: 151), since his
mixed identity is located in a space
where the operation of cultural difference is facilitated. Nevertheless, in reality, this recognition is not as easy as
in theory and Brenton even considers
suicide as the only way out of his misery: “He was not supposed to be
happy […] His life was destined to be
an endless struggle against the odds.
With that thought in his mind, he pondered on taking his own life and ending
his tribulation” (Wheatle 2006 [1999]:
225).
Accordingly, in Brixton Rock, Wheatle
turns to a notion of identity that is characterised by hybridity. Besides a biological notion, ‘hybridity’ is used to
describe everything about Brenton. In
White people treat me like I’m totally
black – they don’t see the white in me.
But blacks […] have noticed that some of
my features are white. […] I suppose I’d
rather be fully black anyway. (Wheatle
2006 [1999]: 34)
Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin consider
‘hybridity’ as “[o]ne of the most widely
employed and most disputed terms in
post-colonial theory” (Ashcroft/Griffiths/Tiffin 2000 [1998]: 118). Furthermore, they define the term as follows:
“[H]ybridity commonly refers to the creation of new transcultural forms within
the contact zone produced by colonization. [...] Cultural identity always
emerges in this contradictory and ambivalent space, which for [Homi K.]
Bhabha makes the claim to a hierarchical ‘purity’ of cultures untenable. For
him, the recognition of this ambivalent
space of cultural identity may help us
to overcome the exoticism of cultural
diversity in favour of the recognition of
an empowering hybridity within which
cultural difference may operate”.
(Ashcroft/Griffiths/Tiffin 2000 [1998]:
118)
This definition of ‘hybridity’ introduces
several terms which will help to better
comprehend Brenton Brown’s intricate
position: transculturality, ambivalence,
hierarchical ‘purity’ or cultural diversity.
With reference to Bhabha’s concept of
the ‘Third Space’, Ashcroft, Griffiths
and Tiffin emphasize that racial ‘purity’
as such does not exist. They further
state that cultural identity is always
characterised by diversity and cultural
difference. Hence, they understand hybridity as an “ambivalent space” inher61
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01 I 2009
the broadest sense, the term might be
understood as a space ‘in-between’ in
which Brenton struggles to belong. In
this context, the protagonist’s hybridity
intersects with issues such as racism,
family, love and age. At this point, a
short digression to other literary examples that deal with the issue of hybridity
seems appropriate in order to underline the unique message of the novel
discussed. Here, the works of BritishPakistani writer Hanif Kureishi offer apt
examples of racially and culturally hyphenated characters.2 Kureishi’s characters are mostly second-generation
immigrants who grew up in Britain and
now have to rebel against their traditional parents:
“Kureishi turns to a notion of identity
that is characterized by self-defintion
and, ultimately, hybridity […]. The
[mainly] second-generation immigrants
[…] are constantly changing, fighting
various battles and breaking down the
barriers of fixed identities […] they are
now able to draw strength from their
lack of fixed identity and integrate Indian and English features into their
personalities […]. In overcoming the
old binary systems and thus embracing hybridity, they see a possibility of
enrichment.” (Sandten 2005: 378)
But unlike Kureishi’s approach to hybrid characters, Wheatle strikes a new
literary path. Since his protagonist had
to spend his childhood in a home, he
neither grew up within a West Indian
nor in an English tradition. There were
no parents who could have given
Brenton certain traditions or cultural
values to take with him and, ultimately,
he does not have anything to fight
against or to break out of. He is not
able to integrate both cultures into his
personality and thus “embrace hybridity”. Brenton feels defensive towards
almost everyone and even risks drifting into criminality. His personal development would have been much easier
if he had grown up within fixed identity
patterns – if merely to break out of
them. Without these fundamental levels of development, Brenton struggles
to find enrichment and a sense of selfdefinition. Hence, Wheatle presents a
thoroughly hybrid character but diverges from the ‘classical’ concept of the
Asian or Black British novel by omitting
traditional and generational clashes
between immigrants and their children.3 Instead, he focuses on a virtually
rootless individual who is completely
out of this particular context.
Nevertheless, Brenton tries to find a
niche to approach his cultural roots.
Here, reggae music seems to be the
closest bond to his Jamaican origin
and one reason why he associates
himself with South London’s Afro
Caribbean community. This might be
understood as a sign of clear commitment to his ethnic background and his
belonging to this community. But
throughout the novel it becomes more
and more obvious that Brenton is
rather a follower who only deals with
the black community in order to abandon his position as the ‘other’. Although he himself is unable to decide
where to belong, it is other people who
try to label him and fix his identity.
Thus, Brenton’s ‘in-between-ness’ is
closely linked to the issue of racism.
In a conversation between Brenton
and his flatmate Floyd, who is of West
Indian descent, one notices what
62
heIdemann I hybrId IdentItIes
Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin call the
“clash of the ‘pure’ and the ‘hybrid’”
(2002 [1989]: 34):
“‘One of your parents is white, innit?’
he [Floyd] said, lighting a fresh spliff.
The question caught Brenton unprepared, like a sprinter who failed to hear
the starter’s gun. He felt ashamed as
he answered, staring at the carpet,
‘Yeah, it’s true. My dad is a fucking
white man, and my mother is Jamaican. That’s all I know about them,
apart from the fact that they don’t give
a shit about me. I have to live with it,
though. It’s people like Terry Flynn who
vex me, calling me names like ‘mongrel’ and ‘zebra’, you know? Stupid
names like that.’” (Wheatle 2006
[1999]: 33)
Although Floyd is his best friend and
the person closest to him, one immediately perceives the unease and even
embarrassment that this question
about his family origin provokes in
Brenton. For him, it is an issue he is
tired of talking about, especially because he has realised by now that he
is not benefiting from both cultures but
rather suffering racial attacks. However, these hostilities do not merely
emanate from white Britons, for in Brixton Rock an ‘internal’ or ‘homostereotypical’ kind of racism is presented.
They come from within the black
British community. Here, it is primarily
the Afro Caribbean youth and Brenton’s enemy Terry Flynn, who not only
verbally discriminates against Brenton
by labelling him “mongrel”, “zebra” or
“liccle half-breed” (Wheatle 2006
[1999]: 19) but who also seriously injures Brenton so that the latter has to
stay in hospital. Therefore, it appears
to be impossible for Brenton to fully
commit himself to the Afro Caribbean
community as some of its members do
not allow him to enter it; hence this
phenomenon is in fact rather an ‘external’ or ‘heterostereotypical’ racism in
the sense that Brenton does not actually belong there.
It is a vicious circle that Brenton is not
able to get out of since he himself is
ambivalent about the issue of racism,
something that becomes clear when
he condemns his mother for having a
relation with a white Briton: “How could
she screw a white man? He thought
disgustedly” (Wheatle 2006 [1999]:
117). On the other hand, Brenton tries
– maybe unintentionally – to hide his
darker complexion by means of his accent: “From Floyd’s voice, you could
guess he had spent most of his childhood in the watchfulness of a West Indian influence, but if you heard
Brenton speak without seeing him in
flesh, you would have taken him for a
white, cockney teenager” (Wheatle
2006 [1999]: 11). However, this apparent ambivalence only serves to exacerbate Brenton’s inner conflict: Brixton
Rock is not about choosing the best
out of both cultures as in Kureishi’s
novels for instance, as the book rather
underlines the protagonist’s insecurity
of not knowing where to belong. Therefore his search for identity does not
convey a liberating notion.
Besides, the novel deals with racial
discrimination on the part of the white
British society. Their racism can definitely be called ‘external’ for Brenton
hardly ever had any close contact with
white Britons. In this context, it immediately becomes clear that Brenton has
63
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01 I 2009
suffered racial discrimination all his life;
he had his earliest experiences with
the issue in the children’s home. Here,
the staff made racial distinctions between the children and as young Brenton was the only child with a darker
skin, they put him down as the ‘nigger’
of the group. From his childhood onwards, other people have made him
feel that he actually does not belong to
them by labelling him as someone who
is different and, therefore, inferior (see
Wheatle 2006 [1999]: 95).
At work, Brenton’s skin colour seems
to be the reason for his layoff even
though the foreman denies this. When
Brenton informs him that he actually
has a white father, the man is confused: “[I]t ain’t because of your colour”
– “Oh Keith, when you were talking
about you do the best for blacks, well,
I’ve got a white paps,” he [Brenton]
said tonelessly. “Oh, I never knew. I
guessed you was, you know. Er. Sorry
if I caused offence, I didn’t realise”
(Wheatle 2006 [1999]: 221). This reaction not only underlines the foreman’s prejudices against black people
but also his unease towards hybrids,
as it is impossible to label them, to fix
their identity.
Moreover, the issue of racism is even
noticeable on an official level: While
walking the streets of Brixton, Brenton
and Floyd are regularly stopped and
questioned by the police but they are
not afraid to answer back: “So where
are you two niggers going tonight?
Planning a burglary? Or are you waiting for a little old dear to walk by so you
can nick her purse?” – “Who are you
calling nigger, you big white shit”
(Wheatle 2006 [1999]: 221: 141). To
the police, they only seem suspicious
because of their skin colour and are
accused of planning a criminal act.
Hence, it is always the other people
who try to put him down as either the
“nigger” or the “zebra”. Both the black
and the white community judge Brenton by the colour of his skin and therefore intend to locate his identity. But
this happens on a superficial level
marked by racial stereotypes and prejudices that show their lack of interest
in what goes on inside Brenton. Their
biased perception only allows one perspective, that is ‘either/or’ and not ‘both
and’, the latter being Bhabha’s thoroughly positive idea of hybridity. This
again emphasizes the complex notion
of hybridity – and it is indeed much
easier to divide people into black and
white than to go beyond fixed patterns
of identity. However, Brenton is somewhere ‘in-between’ on another level as
well. He is sixteen and therefore between childhood and adulthood, which
further complicates his identity building.
a
dolescence: a distinct stage in
Identity development
[I]t is the existence of, and developments
during, the adolescent period that allows
humans to examine where they are – and
should be – going. (White/Speisman
1977: 6)
During the period between childhood
and adulthood, the question of identity
is more relevant than in other phases
of life. Here, the adolescent begins to
evaluate his or her childhood and decides whether to follow a different path.
Since the childhood is the most forma64
heIdemann I hybrId IdentItIes
tive phase in life, this decision depends
on how one’s identity structure is developed. In the context of adolescence, Marcia defines identity as
“a self-structure – an internal, self-constructed, dynamic organization of
drives, abilities, beliefs, and individual
history. The better developed this
structure is, the more aware individuals appear to be of their own uniqueness and similarity to others and of
their own strengths and weaknesses in
making their way in the world. The less
developed this structure is, the more
confused individuals seem about their
own distinctiveness from others and
the more they have to rely on external
sources to evaluate themselves” (Marcia 1980: 159).
Hence, childhood experiences initiate
the formation of one’s identity and are
responsible for further personality developments. Primarily, the nature of
one’s self-structure depends on the
people involved in a child’s life. The
family influences its thinking and actions to such an extent that the child is
able to distinguish him- or herself from
others. If parents accept their child the
way it is, they provide it with enough
self-confidence for the future life. Nevertheless, they also have to be critical
of the child’s actions; otherwise it might
never be able to deal with critique and
rejection. Brenton’s poorly developed
self-structure corresponds to his hybrid
nature and thus complicates the adolescent period itself even more. Since
he particularly lacks self-confidence
and is therefore confused about his
own “distinctiveness from others”, he
has to rely on “external sources” to
evaluate himself. However, most of the
people around him reject Brenton, so
that a self-evaluation is further confounded.
Adolescence is not only a significant
time of transition but in many cases
also a period of rebellion or emotional
confusion (see White/Speisman 1977:
2). In general, adolescents tend to feel
patronised by their parents and want to
be the complete opposite. This often
leads to confrontation between parents
and the adolescent, which ultimately
only underlines that the latter tries to
break out of fixed patterns and begins
to question his or her previous self. In
experimenting with their looks or different lifestyles, many teenagers try to set
themselves apart from their family in
order to show them that they are old
enough to make their own decisions.
But these are normal and in fact important developments that belong to the
period of growing-up. In Brenton’s
case, however, the aspect of independence is irrelevant since he had to
be on his own all his life. Therefore, he
lacks a distinct stage of development
that will have a great impact on his life
as an adult. White and Speisman describe this kind of aberration as follows:
“[T]here are the adolescents who do
not resolve their identity conflicts positively but remain in a state of identity
diffusion. It seems unlikely that these
adolescents, who cannot commit
themselves to a stable identity or to a
set of life roles, can commit themselves to a universal or democratic
moral code” (White/Speisman 1977:
67).
This statement can be transferred to
Brenton who cannot commit himself to
65
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01 I 2009
a stable identity for he is not able to decide where to belong. According to
White and Speisman, Brenton will always be in search for his identity, he
will always feel restless and rootless.
Childhood provides a basis for a welldeveloped identity structure, the adolescent period, on the other hand,
questions these experiences in order
to form the child’s independence, its
adulthood.
As already mentioned in the previous
chapters, identity is always in flux,
never stable. Nevertheless, the period
of adolescence is of particular importance:
“The identity process neither begins
nor ends with adolescence. […] What
is important about identity in adolescence, particularly late adolescence, is
that this is the first time that physical
development, cognitive skills, and social expectations coincide to enable
young persons to sort through and
synthesize their childhood identifications in order to construct a viable
pathway toward their adulthood” (Marcia 1980: 160).
Being in his late adolescence, Brenton
should be in the position to decide
what he wants to do in the future. But
since he lacks what Marcia calls “childhood identifications”, Brenton does not
have fundamental experiences “to sort
through”. This might be the main reason why he wants to meet his mother
although he immediately realises that
this is no compensation for his intricate
childhood. Nevertheless, the meeting
with his family introduces Brenton to a
new way of life. Although he still feels
hostile towards his mother, Brenton
regularly calls at her house for dinner
and begins to ask himself one fundamental question: “Could I be loved?”
(Wheatle 2006 [1999]: 127).
As Brenton is neither used to receiving
nor showing any signs of affection, the
relation to his newly-gained half-sister
Juliet changes into a love affair: “I just
don’t believe it. The first woman to hug
me up and kiss me is my sister”
(Wheatle 2006 [1999]: 128). The issue
of sexuality is always closely connected to the adolescent period but in
Brixton Rock, the relation between
brother and sister again underlines
that the novel tries to deal with issues
that usually no one dares writing
about, namely incest. Moreover, the
problem of incest is directly discussed
when Juliet discovers that she is pregnant. Even though Brenton and Juliet
feel that they are meant for each other,
their incestuous relationship has no future. Hence, the story closes with an
anti-climax as the pregnancy further
contributes to Brenton’s hopeless
struggle with his hybrid identity. Again,
he has to figure out where to belong.
h
ybrid Identity in Brixton Rock
Among Black and Asian British literature of recent years, Alex Wheatle’s
Brixton Rock sets itself apart in many
respects. The novel not only deals with
taboo-topics such as incestuous relationships, but it approaches the issue
of hybridity in a unique way as it focuses on the inner conflict of its protagonist who is not able to overcome
his ‘in-between’ position. Unlike many
‘classical’ Black or Asian British novels,
which generally present traditional and
generational clashes between immigrants and their children, Brixton
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heIdemann I hybrId IdentItIes
Rock’s main character is not only of
mixed decent but also had to grow up
without his parents. As Brenton spent
his childhood in a home, he is not able
to integrate both cultures, West Indian
and British, into his personality and
thus “embrace hybridity”. Even though
he is reunited with his mother, he will
always lack fundamental values that
are essential for the development of
one’s structure of identity.
The aim of this essay was to shed
some light on the complexity of identity
and hybridity as both concepts help to
reveal Brenton’s thoroughly ambiguous character. In Brenton’s case, his
hybrid identity does not merely refer to
a biological notion but encompasses
other issues like racism, adolescence
and sexuality as well. Due to his
mixed-race origin, Brenton has experienced the clash between the ‘pure’
and the ‘hybrid’ ever since and again
and again finds himself in the position
of the ‘other’ who does not belong anywhere. Both the black and the white
community judge him by his skin colour and therefore try to fix his identity.
Brenton, however, is neither able to
profit from both cultures nor be fully accepted by the two communities who
label him “nigger” or “zebra”. The fact
that Brenton undergoes a transition
from childhood to adulthood, which is
usually a period of emotional confusion
and insecurity, enforces his crisis of
identity and further underlines the hybrid position the protagonist occupies.
If Brenton is finally able to resolve his
inner conflict and, in the end, finds a
place in which to belong or a person to
belong to, is left open. Therefore, this
book is an interesting read for young
adults, showing them that issues such
as cultural hybridity, the search for
identity or racism are constantly important aspects in today’s global society.
Birte
Heidemann
(*1982) ist seit April
2008 an der Technischen
Universität
Chemnitz als wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin und Doktorandin
am Lehrstuhl Anglistische Literaturwissenschaft tätig. Ihre
Forschungsschwerpunkte sind zeitgenössische nordirische Literatur,
Neue Englischsprachige Literaturen
sowie Postkoloniale Theorien.
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anmerkungen
In spite of the fact that the novel adequately puts forward important issues such as hybrid identities, adolescence and racism, it is interesting to note that the book has not
aptly been discussed yet. Even the MLA does not show any entries of papers analysing
Wheatle’s text.
2 Kureishi’s best-known literary works
dealing with hybrid characters are his screenplay
to Stephen Frears’ film My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and his first novel The Buddha
of Suburbia (1990).
3 Besides Kureishi’s texts, Meera
Syal’s novels Anita and Me (1996) and Life isn’t all
Ha Ha Hee Hee (1999) as well as her screenplay to Gurinder Chadha’s film Bhaji on
the Beach (1993) are just a few examples of ‘classical’ Asian or Black British literary
works.
1
lIteraturangaben
Ashcroft, Bill/Gareth Griffiths /Helen Tiffin (2002 [1989]): The Empire Writes Back:
Theory and Practice in Post Colonial Literature. London: Routledge.
____ (2000 [1998]): Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts. London: Routledge.
Ball, John Clement (2004): Imagining London: Postcolonial Fiction and the Transnational Metropolis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Bauman, Zygmunt (1996): “From Pilgrim to Tourist – or a Short History of Identity”. In:
Hall, Stuart/Paul du Gay (eds.): Questions of Cultural Identity. London: SAGE,
18-36.
Bhabha, Homi K. (1994): The Location of Culture. London: Routledge, 1-18.
____ (1996): “Culture’s In-Between”. In: Hall, Stuart/Paul du Gay (eds.): Questions of
Cultural Identity. London: SAGE, 53-60.
Caglar, Ayse S. (1997): “Hyphentated Identities and the Limits of ‘Culture’”. In: Modood,
Tariq/Pnina Werbner (eds.): The Politics of Multiculturalism in the New Europe. Racism, Identity and Community. London/New York: Zed Books, 169185.
Hall, Stuart (2000 [1988]): “New Ethnicities”. In: Procter, James (ed.): Writing Black
Britain. 1948-1998. An Interdisciplinary Anthology. Manchester: Manchester
UP, 265-275.
____ (1994 [1990]): “Cultural Identity and Diaspora”. In: Chrisman, Laura/Patrick
Williams (eds.): Colonial Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader. New
York, London: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 392-403.
____ (1992): “The Question of Cultural Identity”. In: Hall, Stuart/David Held/Tony Mc
Grew (eds.): Modernity and its Futures. Cambridge: Polity Press, 273-327.
____ (1996): “Introduction: Who Needs ‘Identity’?”. In: Hall, Stuart/Paul du Gay (eds.):
Questions of Cultural Identity. London: SAGE, 1-17.
Marcia, James (1980): “Identity in Adolescence”. In: Adelson, Joseph. (ed.): Handbook
of Adolescent Psychology. New York: John Wiley, 159-187.
Mercer, Kobena (1990): “Welcome to the Jungle: Identity and Diversity in Postmodern
Politics”. In: Rutherford, Jonathan (ed.): Identity: Community, Culture, Difference. London: Lawence & Wishart, 43-71.
Procter, James (ed.) (2000): Writing Black Britain 1948-1998. An Interdisciplinary
Anthology. Manchester: Manchester UP.
Ruherford, Jonathan (1990): “A Place Called Home: Identity and Cultural Politics of Dif-
68
heIdemann I hybrId IdentItIes
ference”. In: Rutherford, Jonathan (ed.): Identity: Community, Culture, Difference. London: Lawence & Wishart, 7-27.
Sandten, Cecile (2005): “East is West: Hanif Kureishi’s Urban Hybrids and Atima Srivastava’s Metropolitan Yuppies”. In: Davis, Geoffrey /Peter Marsden/Bénédicte Ledent/Marc Delrez (eds.): Towards a Transcultural Future: Literature
and Society in a ‘Post’-Colonial World, ASNEL Papers 9.2. Amsterdam/New
York: Rodopi, 373-385.
Said, Edward W. (1995 [1978]): Orientalism: Western Conceptions of the Orient. London: Penguin.
Solomos, John (2003]): Race and Racism in Britain. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Werbner, Pnina (1997): “Introduction: The Dialectics of Cultural Hybridity”. In: Werbner,
Pnina/Tariq Modood (eds.): Debating Cultural Hybridity: Multi-Cultural Identities and the Politics of Anti-Racism. London: Zed Books, 1-26.
Wheatle, Alex (2006 [1999]): Brixton Rock. London: BlackAmber Books.
White Kathleen M./Joseph C. Speisman (1977): Adolescence: Life-Span Human Development Series. Belmont, California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Young, Robert (1995): Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture and Race. London/New York: Routledge.
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