Ilkogretim Online - Elementary Education Online, 2021; Vol 20 (Issue 5): pp.

5026-5031
http://ilkogretim-online.org
doi: 10.17051/ilkonline.2021.05.562

Fluctuating Identities of Diasporas: An Analysis of The Buddha of

Suburbia
Afza Sabir, MPhil English Scholar, Gift Univeristy, Gujranwala, Pakistan, Afzasabir@gmail.com
*Ahmad Ullah, MPhil EnglishScholar, Northern University, Noshehra, Pakistan, ahmedktk2013@gmail.com
Dilawar Khan, MPhil English Scholar, QurtabaUniversity, Peshawar, Pakistan, dilawarktk125@gmail.com
Zakir Ullah, MS English Scholar, Northern University, Noshehra, Pakistan, zakirullah8036@gmail.com

Abstract- The present research investigates fluctuation between identities of Diasporas inthe Buddha of Suburbia.
The aim of the research is to find the solution to the problems and challenges faced by the diasporic communities. The
methodology used for the research is qualitative in nature and textual analysis has been used as a tool to investigate
the main problem of research. The close analysis of the texts of the novel reveals and results in the tracing out of the
elements of fluctuation of identities within the novel. The protagonist, Karim, the son of an English mother and an
Indian father, identifies himself as an Englishman symbolic for each diasporic individual. Karim is a Muslim of British
origin, passing through various social, political, and ideological problems; but, he has many problems because of his
parents. He is the offspring of parents who hails from two diverse cultures, and this is the reason that both of their
identities have influenced the life and the personalities in a different way. His identity is being fluctuated because he
lives in one place but belongs to somewhere else. This creates perplexity in his personality. In this way, identity
fluctuates and there are differences within his identity from time to time. He was not notorious in his society, yet, he
was more confused of his identity in the first place. This is how we see that there are fluctuating identities throughout
the novel and the same happens with so many Diasporic identities throughout the world.

Key Words: Identity, Transformation, Diaspora, Challenges, Resolution.

I. INTRODUCTION
The concept of cultural identity has never been static, and it has never been fixed when it comes to the
values of a specific category. HomiK.Bhabha (2012) believes that culture is identified by an individual
experience and the perception of the people that exists within a society. Such kinds of perceptions are
changed and are affected by various factors relating to an individual value, status, economic and many
other backgrounds. Such factors are called context dependent factors. Bhabha argues that an individual’s
identity is never limited to a universal pattern or formula that is applied to everyone. Each and every
individual can be influenced by more than one cultures and it has its influence on the reconciliation of the
values of the various cultures. Same is the case within the novel where the identities have never been
fixed and there has always been a fluctuation between identities.
The study deals with the experiences of Karim, a protagonist in the novel of The Buddha of Suburbia by
Hanif Kureishi (1990) who strives for finding out such a community to which he can fully belong and to
which he can fully adjust to while the novel deals with the contrasting experiences of the first and the
second generation emigrants. According to the novel, the first generation immigrants are always to be
driven by the need to achieve the economic prosperity which they want to retain their cultural identity
within the society where they live in. Karim has such a character whose identity is shaped and influenced
by the culture and the environment of his residing country. On one side, he is nostalgic about his home
country, India, but on the other side, he does not want to return there. He loves Western culture as well as
India and his identity is shaped and influenced by many characters, incidents and the places around. On
the other side, Haroon is feeling more attached to Buddhism where it states that the first generation
immigrants always try not to mingle with another new culture.
The study aims to explore the fluctuating identities of Diasporas in Hanif Kureish’s The Buddha of
Suburbia (1990). Identity has different interpretations and is used differently at various occasions. Many
researchers have deemed it a social terminology that characterizes social membership rules that highlight
a specific category of behavior. We are known by the background in which we born. Karim’s father comes
here for pursuing higher education in law, but he lost his track and never returns to India as a successful
lawyer. Karim is unusual mixture of developed continent Europe and underdeveloped continent Asia. This
makes him a biological hybrid as well as cultural one.

5026| Afza Sabir Fluctuating Identities of Diasporas: An Analysis of The Buddha of Suburbia
Identity is unique to individual. It is not always relevant. At a time, one’s has multiple social identities. The
relevancy of identity is dynamic and resort to adopted conditions. A Person should have traits which
bears resemblance to one’s culture and shows differences to another cultures. This resemblance and
difference design one’s identity. When we use language regarding identity, our histories are explained in a
range of social groups into which we are born. Religion assigns us individual identity. Geographical
location provides us definite identities such as Chinese, Pakistani and Irani etc. On a regional level, one
assumes the identities of Southerners and Northerners. Another kind of identity that one adapts at places
such as school, office and the family. In a family we are assigned the roles of a brother, sister, mother and
husband. Likewise in the offices, we assume different roles. Some people are stopped by social changes
which affect people’s identities. This means that change in identities is inevitable. The identity in the case
of Karim is fluid, not stable. Karimhas to change every time to fit him in the society. He adopts himself
according to the required circumstances. The Postcolonial identity is not similar but prone to changing.
Karim is an adolescent, belongs to different background, having an unusual name which does not sound
English. Karim is desperately searching for his identity.

Statement of the Problem

Stuck in a difficult and awkward situation of survival and caught between two worlds, i.e. Western and
Eastern cultures, Karim, the protagonist tries to sense the very basis of his existence. Karim asks about his
cultural belongings and is skeptical, but receives unpleasantly a new sense of his fluctuating image. The
different identity caters for him a new vision, which seems to be changeable and having the traits of both
good and bad. He returns to the previous static identity and feels comfortable with the idea of being
authentic and real. Karim finds himself in unceasing endeavors and conflicts of anxiety surrounds him, he
feels to be bound in those borders of monitoring which are his cultural assets. He thinks this border to be
his destination. The present study aims to analyze various factors responsible for fluctuation between
identities of migrants. This is vivid when he urges and wishes to become an actor. His ambitions to
become an actor reflect his self-transformation. He assumes different roles, vacillates between two worlds
and acts like a pendulum, his identity fluctuates at this point clearly. By adapting, the profession of acting,
he chooses a path to transform himself, assuming on different identities.

Research Questions
1. Why does migrants’ identity fluctuate in the novel, The Buddha of Suburbia?
2. How do cultural differences disturb the peaceful co-existence in the novel?

Significance of the Study

The novel, The Buddha of Suburbia, a semi-autobiographical novel was published in 1990.The novel
remained unexplored in the area of fluctuating identities in Diasporas. The researcher focuses on major
problems faced by the immigrants in the alien land, the problems emanating from fluctuating identities in
Diasporas, regarding Karim and other immigrants, characters. It also focuses on the problems of the
emigrants and their migration to the United Kingdom, after the partition of the Sub- Continent. When the
colonial power left the region, it also discusses the various problems facing the immigrant community in
the alien land. The research explores the importance of acting regarding self-transformation for the
search of identity by the principal character as well as by foil. The research also strives to promote the
postcolonial concept of hybridity and identity.

II. REVIEWED LITERATURE ABOUT THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA

This chapter deals with the available literature on the topic concerned and deals with a review of the data
available on the novel as well as topic. There are many reputed theorists in post-colonialism i-e Edward
Said, Homi.K.Bhabha, Gayatri Chakarvorty, Spivak, Stuart Hall and Sulman Rushdie, who contributed
much to this theory. This topic has become so vast that it is not possible to discuss on it in Post-Colonial
studies. Building on a post structualist understanding of the Saussarean signifier-signified relation,
Bhabha states that cultures “are forms of representation and hence, have within them a kind of self-
alienating limit (Bhabha, 1990, p.210). Bhabha (1990) further asserts that “All cultures are continually in
a process of hybridity” (Bhabha, 1990, p.211). Nothing is permanent and eternal, likewise cultures too, is
dynamic and changes, and evolves and takes on new shapes and forms continuously. The reason is
obvious; they are not founded on solid footings. Bhabha uses this particularly for migrants of the Post-

5027| Afza Sabir Fluctuating Identities of Diasporas: An Analysis of The Buddha of Suburbia
colonial era. He is of the opinion that they are not in the position to merge them thoroughly into Western
culture or cannot remain outside their orbit; rather it supposes the medium position i-e in-between the
two. Bhabha (1990) refers to hybridity and says that it takes place at the moment when there occurs
colonial contact and considers it a plus point, not marring originality. He elaborates hybridity, it is the
symbol resulting from the mixing of colonial forces and stagnancy, and it is the strategy of to recollect the
procedure of domination though not owning it.“Hybridity is the revaluation of the assumption of colonial
identity through the repetition of discriminatory effects” (Bhabha, 1990, p.112). In Bhabha’s (2012) view,
hybridity makes inconvenient the discourse of the colonizer and the colonized and caters a medium for
their expression. He argues that hybridity is “the most common and effective form of subversive
opposition since it displays the necessary deformation and displacement of all sites of discrimination and
domination” (Ashcroft et al, 1999, p.9). ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’ has characters that embody hybrid
identities. Karim, the principal character in the novel, ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’s flummoxed betwixt
cultures and identities trying to show clearly an edge: a quite difficult task for the theorists too, who even
cannot come to an accurate and specific conclusion about the nature of Diaspora, which is not static and is
fluid. As modern world is complex and complicated, nothing is perpetual here. Everything seems to
change constantly in every walk of life. Definitions too, are prone to change and never remain constant.
Nothing is complete in itself just like the situation of being a ‘hybrid’.
Shevchenko (2015) talks about the character of Karim and post-colonial elements in the novel. The critic
first describes the personality and appearance of Karim. Then, he is in his social sphere the way he lives
his life. This is a clear indication that this study is a way of looking into the relationship of some cultural
practices in view of their background and their contribution to literature in postcolonial times. After
reading this essay, one can easily draw a parallel to Kureishi`s character Karim and his experiences as a
young teenager. They both struggle to find their place, and none of them is willing to accept what he calls
separatism. I observed racism as something based on prejudice and therefore unrelated, uncouthness and
the sense of unsuccessfulness prevails that all White are bad and that was unacceptable. (Shevchenko,
2015)

Kalpakli (2015) argues that it can be inferred from the precepts that though these people living betwixt
cultures and suffer from the malaise of separatism, their attempts were futile and useless to merge into
English society will yield and bring affirmative consequences to both communities. In the words of the
critic, Kureishi`s claims that contemporary world is hybrid and that what is required is inventive
inscriptions that provide us with a sense of the changes and complications which are expressed within
our society (Kalpakli, 2015).

Megawati (2014) writes: "Hanif Kureishi brings the characters and characterization in such way to prove
the confusion of sexual orientation” (Megawati, 2014, p.14). His confusion leads to problems in his
identity. The idea of curving out or retaining an identity seems to be dominantly influenced by the
cultures within which this new identity is being formed. The knowledge of their background informs what
they do at present, and how they go on with their lives currently. This can be demonstrated by integrating
Hall`s argument or theory that there are primarily two types of identity. The first one being what he calls
identity is his being. This makes individuals common.

Hall (1996) believes that identity is more than a discipline to study or even to criticize; it is still an
ongoing process so that its completion cannot be easily established. Indeed, like his counterpart, Bhabha,
Hall believes that the concept of identity is an ongoing process.

Ghuman (2000) shows that many Asian adolescents, living in the west, do not want to lose their cultural
identities, by adopting western cultural ideals. For example, the Punjabi community has been referred to
by the white majority as Indians, but few Punjabis identify themselves this way. We can see that,
comprehensively, the postcolonial influence on identity is significantly limited to functional adaptation
(Ghuman, 2000, p.24-25).

III. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research is analytical in nature. The chief source of this research is the text of the book of a novel, The
Buddha of Suburbia, a postcolonial writer, by Hanif Kureishi (1990). The secondary sources were
collected and consulted for the research including books, articles, journals, papers, internet and secondary
data.

5028| Afza Sabir Fluctuating Identities of Diasporas: An Analysis of The Buddha of Suburbia
This study highlights the repercussions of cultural differences and class distinction regarding fluctuating
identities which include division between the immigrants from the suburb to the city and from the
sophisticated lives of the citizens, the once colonized state, the ensuing hatred, prejudice, sexual,
emotional, psychological traumas and the political tug of war for maligning the hostile communities. This
research also focuses to investigate that how peaceful communities are prone to violence, hatred and
prejudice due to difference of ethnic identities. Karim, a second generation immigrant, becomes the
victim of inferiority complex by the treatment meted out to him by the so called civilized world. Though
Karim considers himself to be an Englishman but his aspirations and dreams are shattered to the wind
when he is realized by his inferior societal status. This study also highlights that when cultural and ethnic
identities are revealed and accelerated through political gimmick, then it brings destruction and havoc.
The research portrays that during their stay in the alien land not only caters hatred among communities
but also creates dire consequences as well. At the global level, differences of culture regarding identity of
the minority communities can destroy peace and possibly instigate wars on cultural lines. The dominant
cultures of the developed countries occupy people of underdeveloped countries for imposing their own
cultures. The study explores different aspects of cultural differences regarding ethnic identities and
regards it as catalyst for clash of civilization in the near future. The remedies suggested for establishing
peace and protect the world from future ethnic conflicts are to promote multiculturalism in order to
prevent ethnic differences.
Theoretical Framework
The tool taken for the analysis of the novel is diasporic identity. The diasporic elements in the novel are
searched out that show fluctuation in the identity of characters. There are different interpretations and
studies about identity, but the focus of this study is the change and fluctuation in identity, keeping in view
the theories and ideas of Stuart Hall, Homi. K.Bhabha and Robin Cohen. The theories of Homi.K.Bhaba
particularly in his, ‘The Location of Culture’(1994) relating to in-betweenness and ambivalent status in
diasporic communities and those of the Stuart Hall and Robin Cohen who are directly or indirectly in
consensus with the theories of Homi. K.Bhabha regarding the fluctuating identities of the diasporic
peoples. The researcher has particularly applied the concept of Homi.K.Bhabha in diasporian communities
and their precarious situation in another culture.
Textual Analysis
Migrants' Fluctuating Identity
The novel deals with the fluctuation of the Diasporic identities. The Buddha of Suburbia is a true replica of
fluctuation between Identities of Diasporas. Jonathan Culler raises two main questions dealing with the
identity; first, it “…is the ‘self’ something ‘given’ or something ‘made’… should it be conceived in an
individual or in social terms?”(1994, p.108). It treats the self as unique and inner and it also has
something prior when it performs. Whenever it is considered as social and given then it is easily
determined by the various social attributes; nationality, ethnicity, class, religion race and gender because
such features are considered as given within the social by having its focus on its various dimensions and
aspects.
Sometimes, such an identity can be dependent upon an individual and made, then it deals with the
changing nature and the changing circumstances of a particular acts and facts. If such an identity is made
social, in such a situation, an individual can have many different identities. It is related to the cultural,
social, political, religious, and gender identities. Identities are also formed because of our personal
qualities; hence, new identities are constructed. Identities are also formed within the control of an
individual because it can enhance self-esteem. The poor can turn rich and vice versa. Identities are also
self-made, and each individual identity is made and constructed by himself as well as the society around
him. Identities are also determined by birth and also by origin. As Karim starts meeting new people,
countering new faces, he experiences new reaction to his very existence. In the city, he is greeted unwarily
by the father of Helen, a girlfriend of his, who says, “You cannot see my daughter again. She does not go
out with boys or wogs” (Kureishi, 1990, p.40). Identities are also associated with cultures, class, nation,
caste, family, societies, personal qualities, ethnicity and religion and all such qualities of an individual. For
instance, Karim is forced into portraying a stereotype in a play. Being content with an ambivalent identity,
Karim does not seek to affirm himself and therefore feels no need to be authentically one thing or another.
“You are just right for him. You are dark skinned, you’re small and wiry” (Kureishi, 1990, p.142). The
monologue is soon forgotten by Karim.
Pyke, another director, is also interested in creating performances that are worthy to be believed that in
order to “be someone else successfully you must be yourself” (Kureishi, 1990, p.220). Here Karim wants
to imitateCharlie but he is interrupted by Pyke to take inspiration from someone in their lives. He wants
Karim to take identity from the black people. He relates Karim identity to Indian roots. The control of the
Oriental is again in the hands of the Westerner, as stated by Said,

5029| Afza Sabir Fluctuating Identities of Diasporas: An Analysis of The Buddha of Suburbia
From the beginning of Western speculation about the Orient, the one thing the Orient could not do was to
represent itself. Evidence of the Orient was credible only after it had passed and had been made firm by
the refining fire of the Orientalist’s work (Said, 1994, p.283).
It is not for Karim to express his identity rather his identity is decided by the director, i-e Eastern identity.
Karim also comes in this orbit who is openly declared black, though he being “More beige than anything”
(Kureishi, 1990, p.167). Every step he takes toward other expects him a step away who he really is.
Karim’s becomes a performance of Orientalist ideas, where he incorporates the stereotypes and
prejudices he is faced with in his routine life. It is also the journey and the transformation of an individual
from original identity to the desired identity. It always happens that the subalterns and the victims within
various societies try to transform themselves into a more high-self-esteem which is basically another
identity as in the novel: “My name is Karim Amir, and I am an Englishman born and bred, almost. I am
often considered to … going somewhere” (Kureishi, 1990, p.3). This line indicates that Karim Amir is more
confused about his identity. He introduces himself in a very different way where he says that he an
English man born and bred. In other words, it can be suggested that to be born into an immigrant’s family
in England is to be born into the third space, which paves the way for constructing new identities.
In Bhabha’s own words when he says in the Border Lives: “These ‘in-between’ spaces provide the terrain
for elaborating strategies of selfhood-singular or communal-that initiate new signs of identity, in the act of
defining the society itself” (1994, p.1-2). Therefore the clash of Eastern and Western cultures and the
sense of not belonging can be observed in Karim’s own words. He says, “Perhaps it is the odd mixture of
continents and blood, of belonging or not, that makes me easily bored” (Kureishi, 1990, p.3). He is in the
state of uncertainty, as he is hybrid and is from the mixed race. Having a closer look at the novel one can
infer that the younger and elder generation immigrants show different reactions to English culture. He is
majority of the times considered as a character different from that. Identities are also self-made; same is
the case within the novel where Karim tries to make his own identities. Each individual identity is made
and constructed by himself as well as the society around him, the same happens within the novel where
Karim is trying to make and construct his own identity. Identities are also determined by birth and also by
origin and Karim’s identity is also determined by his birth where his identity is also determined by his
birth as he considers himself as an Englishman of English breed. Identities are also associated with
culture, class, nation, caste, family, societies, personal qualities, ethnicity and religion and all such
qualities of an individual.
Likely, Karim’s identity is also shaped by his background and his culture, religion, ethnicity. It is also the
journey and the transformation of an individual from original identity to the desired identity and the same
novel has made the transformation of an individual from his own identity to their own desired identity. It
also indicates that both cultural and national identities are interrelated to one another. The reason of such
a dependence and interrelatedness is all because of the relation of culture with the nation as the nation is
the cultural bond that gives shared identities to a group of various people who have occupied or have
been aspired to have occupied various/same geographic territory. “He died at the wrong time, when there
was much to be clarified and established. They hadn’t even started… and that the husband he’d chosen for
her was an idiot” (Kureishi, 1990, p.45).It also happens that people have lived in various groups defined
by their cultural similarities and thus having political autonomy. Hence, it is also argued that a nation is
supposed to be a group of people who have shared common culture, ethnic origin, culture and common
history. National identity is a kind of belief in the membership of a nation. It is also expected that an
individual can have such a membership of more than one country which can be of the homeland as well as
of the adopted country. It can also be referred as a double citizenship. Yet a person is born and adopted in
one country, but he is later on considered as the citizen of his homeland and his home country. He is also
considered to be a citizen of that nation which he belongs to and this is his national identity. Hence, such a
national identity is referred as the outstanding aspects of the same guru and the individual meaning of it.
Our histories are described in individuality by our interactions in those social groups into which we are
born as religion, social statues, gender and the race. The novel opens with those lines which describes the
tantalizing situation of the Karim with which he is faced with. “An Englishman born and bred almost. I am
often considered to be a funny kind of Englishman, a new breed as it were…and not… (Kureishi, 1990,
p.3).We becomes aware of the fact that he is cognizant of his position and about his awkwardness. The
novelist too confesses this situation. He feels him to be in-between. He is an Englishman but not to the
point of perfection. He is the son whose parent belongs to two diverse cultures. His father who had come
for the purpose of acquiring higher studies, meets an English woman, Margaret, “a pretty working woman
from the suburbs” (Kureishi,1990, p25). He is therefore, a queer mixture of two continents and two
cultures. His identity is mixed and in the state of motion, never stable.

5030| Afza Sabir Fluctuating Identities of Diasporas: An Analysis of The Buddha of Suburbia
 IV. CONCLUSION
The present study on novel, The Buddha of Suburbia, dealt with some of the contemporary ideas and
concepts; one of the main concepts, that was the focus of the research as well, was the fluctuation between
identities in the novel, The Buddha of Suburbiaby Hanif Kureishi, is one of the most widely read novel in
the history of English Literature, owing to diasporic elements. He has depicted the problems of the
diaspora in its true way. This research is also one of the master pieces when it comes to the discussion of
the problems of the diaspora. It has too many fluctuations within the identities of the several characters
like that of Karim and Haroon, Karim’s father. His life style also kept on changing as soon as they have new
terms with new people all around.
The present research dealt with the problems of the Diaspora living within England. This study
highlighted and explored the various significant and popular themes dealing with the classes, identities, in
the 1970s London. Karim was the protagonist of the novel who told and discussed the story of his
maturity against all such sort of social and political changes. It also tried to attempt and to create his
identity and to know and discover his life, place and the way he grew ups. The story is also narrated and
told in the first person and the story from the age of 17-23 is narrated in detail. The novel dealt with the
experiences of Karim who struggled for finding out such a community to which he can fully belong and to
which he can fully adjust to while the novel dealt with the contrasting experiences of the first and the
second generation immigrants. According to the study, the first generation immigrants were always to be
driven by the need to achieve the economic prosperity which they wanted to retain their cultural identity
within the society where they lived in. Here was the answer to the question that why migrants' identity
fluctuate? The reason was that such a character, whose identity was shaped and influenced by the culture
and the environment outside, was an immigrant one. Haroon was such a character in the novel. On one
side, he was nostalgic about his home country, India, but on the other side, he did not want to return
there. He loved Western culture as well as Indian and his identity was shaped and influenced by most of
the characters, incidents and the places around. On the other side, Haroon was feeling more attached to
Buddhism where it stated that the first generation immigrants always tried to resist complete
assimilation with a foreign culture.

REFERENCES
1. Ashcroft, B., Griffiths, G., & Tiffin, G. (1999).Key concepts in post-colonial studies.
2. London: Rutledge.
3. Bhabha, H. K. (1990). Dissemination: time, narrative, and the margins of the modern nation
4. (pp. 291-322). Na
5. Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The location of culture. New York: Rutledge
6. Bhabha, H. K. (2012). The location of culture. New York, Rutledge.
7. Ghuman,P. (2000). Self-identity Issues of South Asian Young People in Australian Schools.
Australian Journal of Education, 45(1): 48-61.
8. Hall, S. “Cultural Identity and Diaspora”. In Contemporary Postcolonial Theory: A Reader, edited by
Padmini Mongia, 110-121 (London: Arnold, 1996).
9. Kalpaklı, F. (2015). Searching for Identity in Hanif Kureishi’s The Buddha of
Suburbia. SelçukÜniversitesiSosyalBilimlerEnstitüsüDergisi, (33), 81-86.
10. Kureishi, H. (1990). The Buddha of Suburbia, London: Faber.
11. Megawati, W. (2014). The Confusion Of Sexual Orientation Reflected In Hanif Kureishi’s. The
Buddha Of Suburbia (1990): A Sexual Orientation Theory (Doctoral dissertation, Universities
Muhammadiyah Surakarta).
12. Shevchenko, A. R., &Nesmelova, O. O. (2015). Gender identity in British postcolonial novel:
HanifKureishi's “The Buddha of Suburbia”. Social Sciences, 10(4), 421-425.

5031| Afza Sabir Fluctuating Identities of Diasporas: An Analysis of The Buddha of Suburbia