(Re)reading Acculturation Process in Multicultural Space of Zadie Smith’s NW

Abstract

The present study seeks to delineate the impact of the Other on the acculturative options of the diasporic minorities in the multicultural space of Zadie Smith’s NW (2012). The extent to which the selected characters can be successful in acculturation process to experience conviviality and escape from ethnic absolutism will be discussed by taking an ethico-socio-cultural approach. The interdisciplinary approach includes ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, Paul Gilroy’s socio-cultural critique of contemporary multiculturalism in Britain, and John Widdup Berry’s acculturation theories. This article attempts to demonstrate not recognizing the Other’s difference can be the main cause of the failure of multiculturalism. Time in its philosophical and temporal sense is associated with race to evoke the way past can lead to the present inter-subjectivity breakdown; moreover, the role of ethical responsibility in the subjects’ acculturation process will be addressed.