『아니타와 나』 읽기:영국의 다문화주의와 인종주의의 문제

• 영문명: Reading Anita and Me:The Problem of British Multiculturalism and Racism
• 발행기관: 한국영미문학교육학회
• 저자명: 원유경(Yoo kyeong Won)
• 간행물 정보: 『영미문학교육』영미문학교육 제22집 1호, 169~192쪽, 전체 24쪽
• 주제분류: 어문학 > 영어와문학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2018.03.30

영문 초록

In the genre of multicultural children’s literature, Anita and Me gives an insight into traditional Indian culture and describes an immigrant’s longing to assimilate and become part of her new society. Meena Kumar, an Indian immigrant, longs to be a white girl, imitating Anita Rutter who is a “passport to acceptance” into white society. However, Meena ends up realizing the relationship between ‘Anita and me’ is one of condescension and deception, not acceptance, which reflects on a wider scale the problems of Britain’s multiculturalism. Multiculturalism, by definition, embraces cultural diversity without any prejudice against minority cultures, accepting all cultures as equal. However, right from the start, the multicultural policies advocated by the British government have been ambivalent towards immigrants, as demonstrated by the contradictory enactment of the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962 and the Race Relations Act of 1965. Multicultural literature, as an educational tool, tries to appreciate or give a voice to the marginalized and silenced minorities. However, multicultural literature can sometimes fall victim to hackneyed stereotypes and find itself reproducing, instead of improving, present social inequalities. Anita and Me tries to overcome the limits of multicultural literature by representing and then satirizing the stereotypes of, or subverting the romanticization of Indian culture. As it does so, it reflects on the problem of multiculturalism and warns about white supremacy or racism hidden behind a condescending and familiar mask.

키워드

영국의 다문화주의 다문화 문학 다문화 교육 미라 시알 『아니타와 나』 인도계 이민 British multiculturalism multicultural literature multicultural education Meera Syal Anita and Me Indian Immigrants