From Marginalization to Integration: Role of the Other in Reclaiming the Identity of Ethnic Minority Subject in The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith, as a writer intimately associated with London, attacks the false concept of purity and unity in multicultural societies. In The Autograph Man (2002), she depicts the obsessions of Alex Li-Tandem who is half-Jewish and half-Chinese living in the suburban heartland of Jewish London, Mountjoy. Alex is not a social person at the opening of the novel, and cannot relate to his Jewish background or people surrounding him. So, he s tarts collecting autographs to compensate for the lack he faces in life. A oneto- one relationship between the subject’s path from "marginalization" to "separation" and, "integration", reclaiming his identity and the role of the Other could be pursued in the novel. In other words, family, place of residence, friends, and religion are significant in the acculturation process that Alex goes through from childhood to adulthood. Contrary to Smith’s previous works, the novel emphasizes less on the multicultural issues centered on the land and more on religious identity.

Alongside the main publications of J. W. Berry, Paul Gilroy, and Emmanuel Levinas, the researcher considers several books and critical articles to analyze The Autograph Man (2002). One of the critics whose works is used directly to give depth to unders tanding the multicultural context of Britain is Tariq Modood. In Ethnic Minorities (1997), he inves tigates the role of religion and skin colour in the subjects’ unders tanding of themselves and calls religion an influential factor in shaping their identity. The other two works by Modood that are approached in this research are Multiculturalism (2013) and Ethnic Minority in Britain: Diversity and Disadvantage (1997). The former praises difference as an inseparable element of a multicultural society and the latter is an attempt to criticize the multicultural society and it claims that culture has been reduced to a commodity. Paul Williams in Paul Gilroy (2013) scrutinizes the reasons Gilroy opposes ethnic absolutism to depict a closer relation between culture, race, and ethics. On the other hand, "Shakespeare’s Position in Levinas Philosophy" (2019) by Bigdeli and Royanian and "Atwood’s Pre and Pos t-Apocaliptan World: Manifes tation of the Levinasian Subject in the Face of the Other" (2017) by Monfared and Bezdoudeh both give references to the concept of time and the subject in Levinas’ philosophy and are used as secondary sources. The research has also utilized some sources that have directly discussed Zadie Smith’s works. Philip Tew is a scholar, who has had an influential role in interpreting Zadie Smith’s works and life. In Zadie Smith (2010), he opens his discussion by delineating a timetable sugges ting major events influencing Smith from 1960 to 2009. The book traces biographical influences on Smith’s works and highlights Smith’s ethnic minority background in shaping her view of multicultural London. It, then, provides a short overview of her firs t three novels. In another book, Reading Zadie Smith: The Firs t Decade and Beyond (2013) edited by Philip Tew, a collection of 12 essays by scholars, approaches Smith’s novels from various perspectives. Smith owes her reputation to White Teeth, her firs t book that is dealt with more sufficiently by critics comparing to The Autograph Man. In this s tudy, Philip Tew’s "Celebrity, Suburban Identity, and Transatlantic Epiphanies: Reconsidering Zadie Smith’s The Autograph Man" and Tracey K. Parker’s ‘"I could have been Somebody’: The Articulation of Identity in Zadie Smith’s The Autograph Man" from the collection have been taken into account. According to Marandi et al. in "Identity and Multiculturalism in The Autograph Man by Zadie Smith" (2013), Smith challenges multicultural discourse; however, the current s tudy demons trates the effects of multiculturalism on the acculturation process and its consequences on the subjects’ identity. Dave Gunning in "Ethnicity, Authenticity, and Empathy in the Realis t Novel and Its Alternatives" (2012) introduces Smith and three other writers as realis t novelis ts and discusses the unique s tyle of each one approaching realism in a multicultural society. Peter Childs and James Green in Aes thetics and Ethics in Twenty-firs t Century British Novels: Zadie Smith, Nadeem Aslan, Hari Kunzuru and David Mitchel (2013) discusses three novels of Smith namely The Autograph Man in which the characters are compared with those at White Teeth and discusses the extent society and American culture may influence Alex’s fantasy. Martina Paulová in "Zadie Smith: A New Talent of British Literature" (2007) compliments Smith for her talent in depicting multicultural London. In "Paving the Way from Multiculturalism to Interculturalism in Zadie Smith’s Novels" (2016) Cris tina Chifane and Liviu Augus tin Chifane portray the transition from a multicultural to an intercultural paradigm designed to reflect the changing landscape of modern society. It gives a detailed character analysis of Smith’s 4 novels from WT to NW. What is common among the characters is welcoming a cosmopolitan identity and rejecting pure identity in multicultural societies. Whereas the article focuses on the transition from multiculturalism to interculturalism the present s tudy represents the lack at multicultural London to trace the reason for major problems that hunts the selected characters due to their view of the culture and subjectivity in "totality" and not tolerating the face of the Other. Tracey L. Walters in Today’s Writers and Their Works: Zadie Smith (2014) claims that Smith in The Autograph Man more than focusing on racial issues highlights the religious identity in multicultural society. The s tudies portrayed pave the way to discuss the extent to which the Other is influential in the acculturation process of ethnic minorities in multicultural societies depicted by Smith in The Autograph Man.

This research employs an ethico-socio-cultural approach to delineate the role of the Other in the acculturation process of ethnic and religious minority subjects in multicultural London represented by Zadie Smith in The Autograph Man (2002). In this s tudy, J. W. Berry’s Acculturation process, Paul Gilroy’s cultural Marxis t reading of race and politics of ethnic minority settlement in multicultural London, have been considered under the light of the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas to examine the way the subjects can reclaim their identity in a multicultural society. To follow the way the acculturation process works in the novel, the researcher regards meeting Kitty in New York City, in the second book, as a turning point in the life of Alex Li-Tandem. By putting Kitty in the place of alterity and appreciating her difference, Alex enters the realm of integration. So, Kitty enables Alex to live in the real, present, world. Whereas, in the firs t book, Alex-Li has chosen the "marginalization" process, moving to New York is the beginning of "separation" and meeting Kitty acts as the key to "integration". At this s tage, he can praise the Other’s difference and feels responsible towards Kitty rather than simply praising her as an idol. Once he can put Kitty in her place of alterity, he can proceed to the integration process. Acceptance of the Other leads to the subjects’ ability to enter into a relationship with the present. After getting back to London, Alex is able to recite Kaddish and accept differences among people surrounding him. This could be proof of his successful acculturation process.

By taking an ethico-socio-cultural approach, this s tudy delineates the role of the Other in the acculturation process of ethnic minorities and its consequent relation to reclaiming their identity. Family, place of residents, friends, and religion are all significant in the ethnic minority subjects’ contribution in the acculturation process. It could therefore be assumed that recognizing the Other’s difference and placing the Other in its alterity are the keys to a successful acculturation process in multicultural societies.