You are on page 1of 127

MATERIALES ELABORADOS Y RECOPILADOS POR

F. JAVIER GARCA CASTAO


TAMAR ABULADZE
DAMIN ESTEBAN BRETONES

[USO EXCLUSIVO DOCENTE-PROHIBIDA SU COMERCIALIZACIN]

migraciones@ugr.es
http://migraciones.ugr.es

CONTENIDO

FICHA TCNICA ............................................................................................................... 2


SINOPSIS ..................................................................................................................... 4
CARTELES ..................................................................................................................... 7
DAMIEN O'DONNELL. EL DIRECTOR Y DE SU OBRA CINEMATOGRFICA........................................ 8
AYUB KHAN-DIN. GUIONISTA Y AUTOR DE LA OBRA TEATRAL................................................... 10
CONTEXTO ................................................................................................................... 15
CRTICAS ...................................................................................................................... 18
COMENTANRIOS ACADMICOS .......................................................................................... 27
ANEXOS ...................................................................................................................... 36
Husband, C. (2001) La negociacin de identidades en el contexto de la dispora: la
poblacin pakistan en Bradford. D. Turton y J. Gonzlez Ferreras (eds.), Identidades culturales y minoras tnicas en Europa. Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto. Pp.
93-109.
Rica Prez, (1996). T. Minoras tnicas en el Reino Unido. Ejemplo de Sheffield. Geographicalia, 33, 147-165
Robson, P. (2002) Fade to grey: portraying the ethnic minority experience in British
film. International Journal of the Sociology of Law, 30, 235-257.
Ruiz Sutil, C. (s/f) East is East (Oriente es Oriente). Material obtenido de la pgina
Web http://proyectodecine.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/east-is-east-carmen-ruizsutil.pdf
Steinberg, S.R. (2002) French Fries, Fezzes, and Minstrels: The Hollywoodization of
Islam. Cultural Studies. Critical Methodologies, 2(2): 205-210.
Holmes, R. (2007) East is East: using film to disrupt university classroom narratives
around childhood and identity. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 15, 3, 367384.
!

2!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

FICHA TCNICA

Ficha!tcnica!

TTULO: Oriente es Oriente


TTULO ORIGINAL: East is East
DIRECCIN:Damien O'Donnell
PAS: El Reino Unido
AO: 1999
DURACIN: 96 minutos
GNERO: Drama, Comedia
CALIFICACIN: No recomendada para menores de 13 aos
REPARTO: Om Puri (George Khan), Linda Bassett (Ella Khan), Jordan Routledge (Sajid
Khan), Archie Panjabi (Meenah Khan), Emil Marwa (Maneer Khan), Chris Bisson (Saleem Khan),Raji James (Abdul Khan),Jimi Mistry(Tariq Khan), Ian Aspinall(Nazir
Khan), Lesley Nicol(Auntie Annie), Gary Damer (Earnest), Jhon Bardon (Mr. Moorhouse), Emma Rydal (Stella Moorhouse), Ruth Jones (Peggy), Kaleem Janjua (Mullah), Madhav Sharma (Mr. Shah) y Leena Dhingra(Mrs. Shah).
GUIN: Ayub Khan-Din
DISTRIBUIDORA: No disponible
PRODUCTORA: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), FilmFour, Assassin Films
AGRADECIMIENTOS: Andrew Hildebrand, Buki Armstrong, Colin Vaines, David Johnston,
ElinorDay, Emil Romer, Gail M. Patterson, Ian Robinson, Jeremy Kimberlin, Joanna
Beresford, JohnCornfield, John Humphrys, John R. Stubbs, Kate Wilson, Kim
Rmer, Lisa Makin, Mark Shivas,Nasreen Kabir, Natasha Dack, Neil Mockler, Patrick McEnellay, Paul Webster, Phillip Cooper,Rob Gold, Sebastian Born, Sunil Gaur
CASTING: Joan McCann, Toby Whale
DEPARTAMENTO ARTSTICO: Alan Martin, Antoine Robin, Austin Harris, Barry Du Pille, CarolineLindsay, Clifford Lay, Eliza Solesbury, Eugene Scanlan, Fiona Greaves, Geoff
Stainthorp,Graham Stickley, Guy Hunt, Hannah Evans, Ian Coote, Jessica Graham,
John Galpin, JonathanWells, Kamlan Man, Kate Lloyd-Spencer, Lisa Chugg, Mark
Adams, Mark McNeil, Marshall Aver,Matt Amos, Matthew Parsons, Michael
Fairnie, Michael Hoburn, Nick Dent, Robert Gould, RobinThistlewaite, Ros Ward,
Sean Board, Stuart Rushbrook, Tina Kalivas, Toby Ellis, Toby Longin,Walid
Kioumgi, Zoe Harvey
DEPARTAMENTO DE TRANSPORTES: Alan Eccleston, Alec Christie, Andy Cooper, ChristopherKeepin, Gerry Turner, Jon Howard, Jon Lamas-Veiga, Natalie Conway, Nick Curson, NickShuttleworth, Peter Scorah
DEPARTAMENTO EDITORIAL: Dan Roberts, Em. L. Muslin, Kezia Martin, Mark Neale
DEPARTAMENTO MUSICAL: Andy Mackintosh, Deborah Mollison, Fiesta Mei Ling, Jim
Hughes,John A. Coleman, John Parricelli, Paul Clarvis, Paul Morgan, Phil Todd, Rajan Kochhar, StevePrice, Sunil Kalyan, Tony Fisher
DIRECCIN: Ayub Khan-Din
DIRECCIN ARTSTICA: Henry Harris
DISEO DE PRODUCCIN: Tom Conroy
FOTOGRAFA: Brian Tufano

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
!

3!
!

Ficha!tcnica!

GUIN: Ayub Khan-Din


MAQUILLAJE: Claire Smith, Felicity Wright, Mandy Taylor, Mary Hillman, Nadia El-Saffar,
PennySmith, Rebecca Burge, Rowena Deane
MONTAJE: Michael Parker
MSICA: Deborah Mollison
OBRA DE TEATRO ORIGINAL: Ayub Khan-Din
PRODUCCIN ASOCIADA: Stephanie Guerrasio
PRODUCCIN EJECUTIVA: Alan J. Wands
PRODUCCIN EN LNEA: Shellie Smith
SONIDO: Christian Wangler, Gareth Bull, Ian Tapp, Joe Gallagher, John Downer, Ken
Somerville,Oliver Tarney, Penelope Jane White, Peter Murphy, Ron Osman, Trig
Jones
VESTUARIO: Barbara Brady, Gill Howard, Graham Meetho, Jan Simpson, Jayne Collinge LornaMarie Mugan M. Calaghan, Saffron Rider, Sophia Kyllin

4!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

SINOPSIS

(obtenido de http://www.aragob.es/san/cineysalud)
George Khan es un paquistan orgulloso, propietario de una freidura de pescado y
patatas (la tpicamente britnica fishand chips). Lleg a Inglaterra en 1937.Gobierna
a su familia con mano de hierro, actuando de forma autoritaria y, a veces, violen-ta.
Cree que est criando a sus siete hijos para quesean unos paquistanes respetables,
pero estn en Salford, norte de Inglaterra, en 1971. Ella, la esposa Inglesa de
George, a pesar de que ama e intenta honrar a su marido, tambin desea que sus
hijos sean felices.
La pelcula comienza con una procesin catlica por las estrechas calles de ladrillo
rojo de Salford. Los hijos participan en este desfile junto a Annie, una amiga de la
familia. Evitan ser vistos por su padre dando un rodeo y cargando con las imgenes
que resultan totalmente ajenas a la cultura paquistan.
Nazir es el hijo mayor y va a contraer matrimonio segn el rito del pas oriental. Pero,
llegado el momento, sale corriendo y abandona el domicilio familiar. George deja de
considerarlo como un hijo, adems del ultraje de la huida ante toda la comunidad
hay que aadir su relacin con Etienne Franois, un francs que tiene una tienda de
sombreros.
La vida de la familia transcurre entre la feroz persecucin que el padre hace de sus
hijos intentando mantener los valores de su cultura: la religin musulmana, la lengua (urdu), el aspecto fsico, la circuncisin, la obediencia ciega... y la vida real de los
hijos que se debaten entre la falsa obediencia para que su padre no se enfade y la
deleitacin oculta de los placeres de la sociedad que les ha tocado vivir: comer salchichas, bailar, llevar el pelo largo, evitarlas prendas de vestir musulmanas (sari),
salir con chicas blancas
Finalmente, el conflicto estalla porque George Khan concierta el casamiento de Abdul y Tariq con las hijas del Sr. Shah. Los hijos se rebelan sin llegara someter la voluntad paterna y ser la madre laque afronte definitivamente el conflicto enfrentndose
a la familia Shah y a su marido, pero sin con-sentir que los hijos pierdan el respeto
por George, pese a discrepar con algunos aspectos de su cultura. Ella quiere que
sus hijos sigan teniendo libertad de elegir. Por eso sigue queriendo compartir su t
con George.

Sinopsis!

(Obtenido de Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/)


George Khan is a Pakistani immigrant who has livedin England since 1937 and has
been married to Ella, aBritish woman with an Irish-Catholic background, for25 years,
and has seven children with her: (in ageorder) Nazir, Abdul, Tariq, Saleem, Maneer,
Meenahand Sajid. The couple runs a popular chippy. The film starts with an arranged
marriage of the eldest son toa Pakistani girl. The son, Nazir, finds himself unable to
!

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
!

5!
!

go through with the marriage. He runs out at thestart of the ceremony in front of all
the family and guests much to the chagrin of his father and distress ofhis mother. The
perceived shame that this brings on the family results in George disowning his son,
tellingpeople who ask about him that he 'is dead'.
The next crisis to fall on George is the discovery that the youngest son Sajid was accidentally nevercircumcised which is preferred in Islam. Sajid is promptly taken to hospital to get circumcised. When Ella sees the pain her son has suffered from being
circumcised we get the first insight into the conflict betweenher clear love of her husband and her inability to stand up to him. Left alone, the other children eat baconand
sausages, which is forbidden by Islam. When Meenah sees that her parents are
coming back with Sajidshe warns the others and they try to hide the evidence. Ella
comes into the kitchen and smells it and keepsGeorge away just long enough for
them to get rid of everything.
Meanwhile, marriage is still on George's mind, and he accepts an introduction to Mr.
Shah, who is lookingfor good Pakistani bridegrooms for his two comically unattractive
daughters. Despite having seen thedaughters' photographs, George promises Mr.
Shah that his second and third sons, Abdul and Tariq, willmarry them. Sajid accidentally overhears George's plans and reveals them to the other brothers when he
ispressured by Meenah, Tariq and Saleem.
The arranged marriages infuriate Tariq. He ceremoniously destroys the clothes and
watches that his fathertraditionally buys for all his sons' weddings. When George
later sees the desecrated items he attacks andbeats the wrong son for refusing to
tell him the culprit. Ella stands in between the two. This is the first timeshe has stood
up to him. She tells him that George's pig ignorance has caused the alienation of his
children,the reason that they are so much 'trouble' to him. George only hears this as
Ella calling him a pig, a terribleinsult to a Muslim. His uncontrollable rage turns on her
and he beats her badly. In response, the childrenattempt to flee to their brother,
Nazir, in Eccles who, as it turns out, is gay. Nazir drives back toManchester to sort it
out but leaves after his mother begs him to go as his father will go mad. Nazir,desperate not to see his mother hurt only leaves after she begs him saying that
she can always come to himif she needs to.

The final showdown between George and his family occurs during the meeting
where both familiesdiscuss the arranged marriages. Ella knows she has brought up
her children well. The potential parents-in-law make constant subtle attacks on her
and her way of life. There is uncomfortable tension in the roombetween all parties. A
comedic plot piece in the story causes grave offence to the potential mother-in-

Sinopsis!

George sees his world around him collapsing and resorts to draconian measures. He
is losing the controland respect of his family whom he is trying, with his best intentions, to bring up in an Islamic way, atradition he sees as the only choice, where all
are equal, a 'special community' which he expects hischildren to continue. They see
themselves as British, not Pakistani and they get increasingly frustrated withtheir father's attempt to mould them in his image.

6!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

law.She directly insults Ella and her sons calling them 'half breeds'. Ella does not take
this abuse andunceremoniously ejects them out from her home. As Mr Shah leaves
he says to George "Your wife is adisgrace." George attacks Ella once again for this
insult on his dignity and to his name but the childrencome to the defence of their
mother and stop him this time. He becomes a broken man. He has lost hisposition as
man of the house.

Sinopsis!

Despite this, Ella still sees George as her husband, someone she will remain faithful
and loyal to till theend. The film ends on George and Ella having a cup of tea together , a very British form of reconciliation(with George having half a cup, to show
his is half British). It is presumed that all members of the familywill be fine.

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!

CARTELES

Carteles!

7!

8!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

DAMIEN O'DONNELL. EL DIRECTOR Y DE SU OBRA CINEMATOGRFICA

Nacido en Irlanda, se gradu en Comunicacin y Produccin de


Medios de Comunicacin por el Colaiste Dhlaigh College en
1987. Fue co-fundador de Clingfilms, una pequea productora de
Dubln, con tres amigos, luego pas a escribir y dirigir 35 Aside
(1995), un corto cinematogrfico humorstico que gan premios
en festivales de cine alrededor del mundo. Despus, la novia del
guionista y dramaturgo Ayub Khan Din vio 35 Aside en la BBC2. A
raz del inters despertado por este cortometraje, Khan Din le
ofreci el trabajo de dirigir East is East (2000), basado en su exitosa obra. Producida por BBC Films y Film Four, la pelcula gan el
premio BAFTA 2000 a la Mejor Pelcula Britnica y un premio a la
Mejor Debut Cinematogrfico de O'Donnell en el 2000. l comenz a trabajar en otro
proyecto para Film Four protagonizado por Anthony Hopkins y Javier Bardem, pero
la financiacin no se concret. As que O'Donnell decidi rodar Heartslands (2002).
Por desgracia, no tuvo mucho xito de pblico aunque s de crtica. Su siguiente pelcula, Inside I'm Dancing (2005), gan el Premio del Pblico en el Festival Internacional
de Cine de Edimburgo. Actualmente est trabajando en publicidad y televisin, ya
que ha tenido una enorme dificultad de sacar adelanta la produccin de varios proyectos.
Todas sus pelculas tienen unas constantes: historias que estn trenzadas con los
recursos de la comedia pero en un contexto dramtico, temtica sociales que retratan sucesos del Reino Unido en la actualidad, cuidado enorme por una fotografa
naturalista
Filmografa como director

35 Aside (1995) Reino Unido. 26 min. Cortometraje.


Ficha Tcnica Esencial: Guion: Damien ODonnell; Reparto: James Mahon, Maria
Hayden y Moira Deady.

East is East (2000)

Director!

Heartslands (2002) Reino Unido. 90 min. Color.


Ficha Tcnica Esencial. Produccin: Coproduccin GB-USA (Miramax); Guin:Paul
Fraser, Richard Jobson, Andrew Keyte (Idea: Paul Fraser); Msica: John McCusker, Kate rugby; Fotografa: Alwin H. Kuchler; Reparto: Michael Sheen, Celia Imrie,
Mark Addy, Jim Carter, Paul Shane, Mark Strong, Ruth Jones, Phillipa Peak, Jane
Robbins, Joseph Dempsie.
Sinopsis. Es una comedia donde el protagonista, Colin (Michael Sheen), es un
hombre sencillo que se conforma con poco en la vida. Es feliz en su matrimonio,
pero lleva una vida rutinaria en la que su nica distraccin es el partido de dardos
!

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!

9!

que juega diariamente. Pero un da su mujer Sandra (Jane Robbins) le abandona


por Geoff (Jim Carter), el capitn del equipo de dardos y se marcha a Blackpool,
Las Vegas del Norte. A partir de ese momento, Colin emprende un viaje en su ciclomotor para seguir a su mujer y tratar de recuperarla. En el trayecto conoce a
personajes variopintos y entraables que le dan una visin diferente de la vida y
le ayudan a descubrirse a s mismo.
Comentario. Road movie, en la que un ciudadano emprende un viaje que le conducir a ampliar sus horizontes y entender la vida de otra manera. Se trata de un
relato costumbrista, un retrato de la vida inglesa en el norte, retrata los bellos
paisajes por los que el protagonista pasa con su motocicleta, todo ello filmado
bajo una direccin hecha con tacto y enorme sensibilidad. La bella y cuidada fotografa est acompaada con las suaves melodas folk de Kate Rusby logrando un
resultado excelente.

Rory O'Shea Was Here (Inside I'm Dancing)(2004). Reino Unido. 100min.
Color.

Director!

Ficha Tcnica Esencial: Produccin: Coproduccin GB-Irlanda-Francia (Studio Canal,


Working Title Films, Irish Film Board, WT Productions); Guin: Jeffrey Caine; Msica: David Julyan; Fotografa: Peter J. Robertson; Montaje: Fran Parker; Reparto:
James McAvoy, Steven Robertson, Romota Garai, Brenda Fricker.
Sinopsis. Michael se ha resignado a una vida tranquila en la Residencia para Discapacitados Carrigmore, hasta que el dscolo Rory OShea entra en escena. Roy
tiene un plan que les permitir darle la vuelta al sistema y conseguir su propio piso, a pesar de que ambos estn confinados a una silla de ruedas. Con la ayuda
de la guapa aunque inexperta Siobhan (Romola Garai) emprendern una experiencia inolvidable. La amistad e independencia recin conquistadas les ofrecen la
vida en bandeja, aunque no sin consecuencias imprevistas...
-Comentario. Aparte del excelente trabajo de todo el equipo de la pelcula, la historia no solo emociona por la crudeza de unos personajes e interpretaciones realistas, sino porque huye de paternalismos y hace una crtica a una sociedad preocupada por el consumo y las apariencias (impresionante escena la de la "invasin"
del despacho del pap de Michael). Destacar el impresionante trabajo de los dos
actores principales, especialmente el de Steven Robertson. Pelcula dura y vital
que a nadie deja indiferente.

10!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

AYUB KHAN-DIN (GUIONISTA Y AUTOR DE LA OBRA TEATRAL)

(Por Luca Prono, 2004, en http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/)


Ayub Khan-Din naci en 1961 y creci en Salford, Manchester.
Despus de salir de la escuela, trabajbrevemente como peluquero antes de matricularse en la escuela de teatro, donde
escribi su primera obra deteatro, Oriente es Oriente (1997),
por Tamasha Theatre Company. Una historia autobiogrfica
de una familiade raza mixta que crecen en una casa adosada
en un hacinamiento de la clase trabajadora rea blanca deSalford en la dcada de 1970, se estren en el Teatro de la
Corte Real de Londres y posteriormenteadaptado (por el autor) en un largometraje de gran xito. Su segunda obra, Last
Dance en Dum Dum (1999),se refiere a los miembros septugenarian de la anglo-india menguante comunidad en Calcuta, todava seaferran
fuertemente a su pasado imperial de edad.

Notas sobre la cada de las hojas (2004) fue estrenada en el Teatro de la Corte Real
en 2004, y su obra msreciente es Rafta Rafta (2007), una adaptacin cmica de
Naughton 1960 la historia de Bill, todo en buentiempo . Gan un Premio Laurence
Olivier a la Mejor Comedia Nueva en 2008.
Ayub Khan-Din tambin trabaja como actor, y ha aparecido en pelculas como Mi
hermosa lavandera y Sammyy Rosie se lo montan .

Guionista!

En sus dos obras de teatro hasta la fecha, Ayub Khan-Din ha representado las luchas de las personas a llegara un acuerdo con sus legados culturales en conflicto. Su
aclamado Oriente es Oriente (1997), adaptado conxito por el propio Khan-Din para la pantalla en 1999, se centra en la mezcla de razas anglo pakistan vida delas
familias-a en un barrio obrero de Salford en la dcada de 1970 en el momento de la
India -Pakistnconflicto y Powell poltica Enoc de la repatriacin-. Su segundo trabajo,
Last Dance en Dum Dum (1999), quefue recibida con menos xito, se centra en un
grupo de ancianos anglo-indios que viven en la casa colonial endescomposicin de
Dum Dum, en Calcuta, en la dcada de 1980. Los dos grupos mixtos en Din juega a
serobjetivos obvios de racistas y nacionalistas, britnicos en Oriente es Oriente y la
hind en Last Dance a DumDum , pero tambin sufren el precario equilibrio que su
identidad guin conlleva.

Oriente es oriente es decididamente autobiogrfica. Cuando todos los acontecimientos histricos que formanel juego del fondo fueron sucediendo, "yo viva en una parka, Khan-Din, afirm en una entrevista, por lo que laidentificacin con el personaje
ms joven de la obra, Satjid, que es inseparable de esta prenda. En la mismaentrevista, el dramaturgo sostuvo que los personajes de los padres fueron modelados
directamente sobre suspropios padres y que las cuestiones principales y las relaciones fueron muy similares a sus antecedentes.Tales afirmaciones autobiogrficas no
slo dan autenticidad a la historia, sino tambin proporcionar al autorun escudo fren!

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
!

11!
!

te a las crticas: "estoy seguro que la gente tendr algunas crticas acerca de cmo
representara mi padre. Pero al final, estoy representando a mi padre, l no es un
hombre comn paquistan. Hastacierto punto, este es un hombre que abandon su
cultura y se cas con una mujer Ingls, y luego decidique sus hijos deban casarse
con mujeres paquistanes. As que ya sabes, haba una gran hipocresa all. Era una
historia personal. Yo no estaba escribiendo acerca de cualquier comunidadespecfica,
estaba escribiendo acerca de mi padre".

Last Dance en Dum Dum devuelve a los problemas de la gente dividida entre su pasado y sus tradicionesculturales e histricas configuracin actual, aunque la accin se
traslada desde 1970 a 1980 en SalfordCalcuta cuando el fundamentalismo hind fue
apoderando de la sociedad india. Los personajes de la obrason un grupo de ancianos y solitario anglo-indios que viven en una casa colonial en decadencia, un lugar
querefleja su condicin fsica y espiritual. Permanentemente plagado de problemas
financieros, los inquilinos soncada vez ms incapaz de pagar el alquiler al Sr. Chakravatty, el propietario y el extremista hind que tiene laintencin de desalojarlos de su
propiedad para convertirla en un lugar sagrado. Chakravatty afirma que elmismo
Seor Krishna tropez con una roca en el jardn y por lo tanto quiere construir un
templo para el dios.Con el desalojo inminente sobre ellos, los anglo-indios deciden
subarrendar una habitacin a una mujerbritnica ricos, Lydia, y organizar un ltimo
baile que les recuerdan sus das de gloria imperial. Sus accionesdemuestran que de
poco consuelo para ellos. Su primera decisin que cuenta con ms tensiones que
eldinero ya que se sienten resentidas hacia los britnicos por su difcil situacin actual
y tomar esto en Lydia. Encuanto a la danza, que nunca se lleva a cabo como
Chakravatty provoca un motn en contra de sus inquilinos.En ltima instancia, sin em-

Guionista!

La obra retrata los conflictos entre George Khan, unpaquistan padre autoritario que
cree que l puede trasplantar las tradiciones de su patria a Gran Bretaa, suesposa
Ingls y sus siete hijos que, habiendo sido criados en el occidente, rechazan la creencia del padre de queencontrarn su felicidad en la religiosas y culturales convenciones sociales del Oriente. Los nios seconsideran como ingleses, no como "pakis", y no
tienen intencin de casarse dentro del grupo tnico de supadre. El texto llega a su
clmax dramtico cuando Khan arregla el matrimonio de dos de sus hijos sin decirles.Este lgrimas ms a su esposa entre la devocin a su marido y el compromiso
con los nios la felicidad de ella.As, a travs de su desarrollo de la trama, la obra
trata temas que siguen siendo muy sentido en nuestrasociedad contempornea,
tales como los matrimonios concertados, la situacin de la mujer y la diferencia degnero, el conflicto entre cristianos y las creencias musulmanas y los retos a los procedentes de las fuerzas dela secularizacin. Paradjicamente, George Khan, en primer lugar no es el de seguir sus propios principiosortodoxos, afirma, en palabras de
los estudios culturales erudito Paul Gilroy, la identidad no 'como un procesocontinuo
de decisiones y la interaccin social propia, sino como "una cosa que a posea y que
aparecen ".Para l, la identidad se convierte en "una seal silenciosa que se cierra la
posibilidad de comunicacin atravs de la brecha entre una fuerte defensa isla de la
particularidad y su bien fortificada vecinos por igual,entre un campamento nacional y
de los dems (entre los campos: las Naciones Unidas, las culturas y el Allurede la
Raza , 2000).

12!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

bargo, el propietario fundamentalista se convierte en una vctima de su propiaconducta como la mafia se vuelve contra l tambin. Last Dance en Dum Dum es casi
unnimementeconsiderada una obra de teatro segunda decepcionante. A pesar de
su irona y momentos ingeniosos, latrama es a veces confuso y sin consecuencias.
Adems, mientras que el texto es potencialmente un desafoen su intento de retratar
a un grupo de personas rechazadas por dos culturas, la caracterizacin de los angloindios ha sido expuesto como confiar demasiado en los estereotipos tpicos de la
ficcin britnica colonial,como la histeria y la impotencia.
A pesar de que es a travs de las distintas situaciones y entornos, Last Dance en
Dum Dum se enfrenta a losmismos temas que Oriente es oriente . En ambas obras,
la lucha de los personajes para encontrar un equilibrioentre las dos culturas a ninguno de los cuales pertenecen plenamente. Ambas obras presentan el peligro deperder la propia identidad y tradicin a travs de la hibridacin, pero el estrs que la
separacin no es unasolucin viable. Ayub Khan-Din reconoce, a seguir la formulacin
de Paul Gilroy, que la identidad, lejos de seruna categora fija, puede convertirse en
un problema en s mismo. En sus dos textos, el dramaturgo hadramatizado las dificultades y tensiones que surgen cuando "la gente busca para calcular la tcita quepertenece a un grupo o comunidad puede transformarse en ms estilos de solidaridad activa, cuando sedebate en el que los lmites en torno a un grupo debe ser
constituido y cmo - si acaso - que debe serejecutado(entre los campos: las Naciones Unidas, las culturas y el encanto de la Raza , 2000).
ENTREVISTA CON AYUB KHAN-DIN
A QuickChat withAyubKhan-Din
by Mark Olden

Guionista!

date: 6th October, 1999


place: Black's private members' club, London
under discussion: East is East
intro: Mark Olden interviews Ayub Khan-Din, writer ofthis year's most unlikely British
hit, East is EastHere's the pitch. A mixed-race family live in anovercrowded, red brick
terraced house in awhite, working class area of Salford in the early70s. The Pakistani
dad owns a chip-shop andruns his family with iron discipline. The Englishmum is forever trying to reconcile herhusband's rigid ways with the needs of her sixkids - who,
to varying degrees, all reject thevalues their dad grimly thrusts upon them.Throw in
arranged marriages, a dollop of blackhumour, a backdrop of Powellite racism and
theIndia-Pakistan war, and you have an interestingprospect, but probably not - in
this age of starkcommercialism - big box-office. Think again.East is East, the film version of writer AyubKhan-Din's successful stage play, looks set tobe this year's most
unlikely British hit. But forAyub Khan-Din, however wide East is East'seventual appeal,
the story remainsunwaveringly personal. It is, after all, largelyautobiographical.
Khan-Din grew up in Salford, one of 10 childrenof - as in the film - a chip-shop own-

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
!

13!
!

ingPakistani dad and an English mum. In East isEast, five out of the six kids spurn
Islam andtheir father's world view; in real life, all Khan-Din's brothers and sisters did.
Fresh fromGibraltar, where he just got married, Khan-Dinis throwing himself spiritedly
into the publicitymachine as it cranks itself up prior to the film'sgeneral release. His
status at the vanguard ofAnglo-Asian artists moving into the culturalmainstream
(Asian Dub Foundation, Meera Syal,Talvin Singh...), is a far cry from the days when
he left school with only three CSEs, followed bya period as "the worst hairdresser
inManchester". Although Khan-Din entered thebusiness through acting (he had parts
in MyBeautiful Laundrette and Sammy and Rosie GetLaid), he began writing East is
East while still atcollege. Despite its stage success - it was thefirst ever debut to sell
out at London's RoyalCourt Theatre - its passage to celluloid wastortuous. In the film,
Khan-Din is representedby the permanently parka-clad Sajid, playedcompellingly by
Jordan Routledge.
How did you get into writing?
When I left school mid 70s, I was thick as twoshort planks. I managed to scrape three
CSEs:Biology, Religious Knowledge and Art. I hatedschool and I was bit thick. So I got
me a job asa hairdresser and I was the worst hairdresser inManchester. I never got
further than sweepingthe floor and washing people's hair. One day, inthe hairdressers, I picked up David Niven'sbook, The Moon's a Balloon, and read that hewent from
being in the army to being an actor.So I thought if someone can go from onediverse
job to another, why can't I? So I justrang the local college, Salford Tech, and askedif
they did a drama course. They asked whatqualifications I had and just laughed. But I
gotin and started writing East is East there.
What was your involvement with the film?
I was involved right from day one, and reservedthe right to say yes or no.

Among the film's running themes are theIndia-Pakistan war and Enoch
Powell. Arethey particularly vivid memories for you?
When all these events started happening, I wasSajid. I was living in a parka. Enoch
Powell wasalways being thrown in my face as a child, andthe whole Bangladesh
war of independence hada big effect on our household, because whathappened in
the house always revolved aroundthe TV news. In a way, it was almost as if thedisintegration of Pakistan was happening in ourhouse at the same time. It affected everythingthat was going on.

Guionista!

Just how autobiographical is East is East?


The parents are drawn directly from my ownfamily. The youngest boy, Sajid, is me
as achild. All the arguments in the film, all thetheories behind the father's way of
thinking, aremy own arguments and theories which Ideveloped from writing the first
draft of thestageplay to the last draft of the screenplay.The different issues, the different aspects ofdifferent relationships - they're all very similarto my own background.

14!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

Do you have any expectations of how thefilm will be received in the


more traditionalparts of the Asian community?
I've made a point in the film of not making itoffensive or irreligious at all, so there's
nothingthey can point to. It's like walking on egg shells.I'm sure people will have some
criticism abouthow I portray my father. But at the end of theday, I'm portraying my
father, he's not aPakistani everyman. To a certain extent, this isa man who abandoned his culture and marriedan English woman, and then decided that hischildren
should marry Pakistanis. So you know,there was huge hypocrisy there. I made a
pointof not going to any Q&A sessions after the playbecause I didn't want to have to
start justifyingwhat I'd written. It was a personal story. Iwasn't writing about any specific community, Iwas writing about my father.

Guionista!

Do you think the pressures on young Asiansliving between the pull of


different culturesare less severe than when you were growingup?
To a certain extent it's gone full circle. InBradford it's gone from being traditional tobeing modern, and back to being traditionalagain. Because Pakistanis have not
seenthemselves accepted in this country and havefaced racism, along with unemployment andriots, the younger generation has rebelledagainst the older one and
said that they havebecome too modern and too accepting. Youhave to find a balance. When you decide tomove to a country, you have to understand thatyour children are going to be influenced by theculture of that country. I think most of
theyoung Asians have found a happy balance,taking the best and leaving the rest of
eachculture. There will always be traditional familiesand there will always be the kind
of problemsmy brothers and sisters faced. It'll never goaway.

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!

CONTEXTO

Contexto!

15!

16!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

Censo 2001 - Etnicidad y la religin en Inglaterra y Gales


http://www.salford.gov.uk/census.htm
[ver en los Anexos los artculos de Rica Prez (1996) y Husban (2001)]
Nota previa
Grupo tnico.Esta pregunta fue similar a la que se pidi en 1991, pero con cambios en algunas categoras. En particular, la
gente podra marcar la casilla "mixta" por primera vez.Se pregunt "Cul es su grupo tnico? Eligi una seccin de la A a E, a
continuacin, marque la casilla correspondiente para indicar su origen cultural.
A. Blanco.Marque las opciones del cuadro de: ingls, irlands o cualquier otro blanco.
B. Mixto.Marque las opciones del cuadro de blanco y negro del Caribe, blanco y negro de frica, Asia y blanco o
cualquier otro.
C. Asitico o asitico britnico.Opciones de marcar la casilla de: India, Pakistn, Bangladesh, cualquier otro origen asitico (por
favor escriba).
D. Negro o negro britnico. Opciones de marcar la casilla de: Caribe, de frica; cualquier otro.
E. Chino o grupo tnico. opciones de marcar la casilla de: China; cualquier otro.
Religin.Esta pregunta era nueva en 2001 y fue voluntaria. Se pregunt "Cul es su religin" con las opciones de la casilla de
verificacin: Ninguno, cristiana, budista, hind, juda, musulmana, sikh, cualquier otra religin, por favor, escribir en l

Los primeros resultados detallados sobre la etnicidad y la religin del censo de 2001
revelan que el 87,5 por ciento de la poblacin de Inglaterra y Gales (siete de cada
ocho personas) dieron su grupo tnico como blancos britnicos. Las proporciones
ms elevadas que describen a s mismos como blancos britnicos en el Oriente
Norte, Gales y el suroeste (todos por encima del 95 por ciento).
La gente blanca irlandesa constituyen un 1,2 por ciento de la poblacin de Inglaterra y Gales en su conjunto, con la mayor proporcin en el barrio londinense de Brent
(6,9 por ciento de la poblacin). La mayor proporcin de blanco otro (es decir, no
blanco britnico o irlands Blanco) est en el centro de Londres, en particular el
distrito de Kensington y Chelsea (25,3 por ciento).
Londres tiene la mayor proporcin de personas pertenecientes a minoras tnicas.
Los que se identificaron como de origen paquistan la mayor proporcin estn en
Yorkshire y Humber (2,9 por ciento) y la regin de West Midlands (2,9 por ciento).
Dos por ciento de la poblacin de Inglaterra y Gales son indios, con Leicester tiene la
mayor proporcin (25,7 por ciento). Bangladesh form un 0,5 por ciento de la poblacin de Inglaterra y Gales, con la mayor proporcin en el distrito londinense de
Tower Hamlets (33,4 por ciento).

Contexto!

En Inglaterra y Gales, un 1,1 por ciento de las personas son Negro del Caribe, el
0,9 por ciento son africanos negro y otros 0,2 por ciento son de otros grupos de
negro. Los negro caribeos representan ms del diez por ciento de la poblacin
de los municipios londinense de Lewisham, Lambeth, Brent y Hackney. Ms de diez
por ciento de Southwark, Newham, Lambeth y Hackney son negro africano. Ms
de dos por ciento de las personas se describen como otras negro en Hackney,
Lambeth y Lewisham.
Los chinos representan ms del dos por ciento de la poblacin en Westminster,
Cambridge, Ciudad de Londres y Barnet.

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!

17!

La mayor proporcin de personas de origen mixto se encuentra en Londres, con la


excepcin de Nottingham, donde el dos por ciento de las personas se mezclan Blanco y Negro del Caribe.
Las comparaciones con el Censo de 1991 muestran:
La proporcin de los grupos tnicos minoritarios en Inglaterra aument de seis por
ciento al nueve por ciento - en parte como resultado de la adicin de grupos tnicos
mixtos en 2001. Hubo aumentos en cada uno de los grupos tnicos de Asia en Inglaterra y el aumento de la proporcin de negro del Caribe y las personas negro
africano. Sin embargo, la proporcin en la categora de negro otra cay. Algunas
de estas personas en el ao 2001 puede haber marcado mixto blanco y el Caribe
negro o blanco mixta frica y negro. La proporcin de China aument de 0,3 por
ciento en 1991 al 0,4 por ciento en 2001. El nmero de personas en otros grupos
tnicos cay -algunas personas se han clasificado como mixto en 2001-.
En Gales, se produjeron aumentos en la proporcin de la India, Pakistn, Bangladesh y el pueblo chino, y el 0,6 por ciento se clasifican en el ao 2001 como el origen
tnico mixto.
Religin (La cuestin de la religin fue voluntaria, y 4.011.000 personas optaron por
no responder a ella (7,7 por ciento)
Hay 37.3 millones de personas en Inglaterra y Gales que indicar su religin como
cristiana. El porcentaje de cristianos es similar entre los dos pases, pero la proporcin de personas que siguen otras religiones es de 6,0 por ciento en Inglaterra, por
comparacin con el 1,5 por ciento en el Pas de Gales.
En Inglaterra, el 3,1 por ciento de la poblacin del estado es de religin musulmana
(0,7 por ciento en el Pas de Gales), por lo que esta religin es la ms comn despus del cristianismo. Para las otras religiones, el 1,1 por ciento en Inglaterra y el 0,2
por ciento en el Pas de Gales son hindes, el 0,7 por ciento en Inglaterra y un 0,1
por ciento en el Pas de Gales se sikh, un 0,5 por ciento en Inglaterra y un 0,1 por
ciento en el Pas de Gales son judos y 0,3 por ciento en Inglaterra y el 0,2 por ciento
en el Pas de Gales son budistas.

Contexto!

En Inglaterra y Gales 7.700.000 personas han indicado sin religin (14,6 por ciento
en Inglaterra y el 18,5 por ciento en el Pas de Gales).

18!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

CRITICAS

DIRIGIDO POR, 287, febrero 2000, pg. 14 (ver texto original en el Anexo)
Este artculo se muestra ms crtica con la produccin. Hacer revisin del cine britnico
de la lnea de las comedias dramticas suburbiales y multirraciales que proliferaron
en esta poca. Compara a Damien ODonnell con su colega Stephen Frears que en
1985 haba dirigido un filme ms conocido de esta tendencia: Mi hermosa lavandera
(My Beautiful Launderette) y una posterior pelcula: Sammy y Rosie se lo montan
(Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, 1987). Las dos pelculas de Frears, al igual que la de
ODonnell, cuentan histrias de jvenes pakistanes que viven en Inglaterra. Las dos
pelculas de Frears fueron escritas por el novelista y autor teatral Hanif Kureishi y,
Oriente es Oriente escribi Ayub Khan-Din que, por su parte interpretaba a un protagonista en Sammy y Rosie se lo montan. De esta manera, Khan-Din da vida a un
nuevo personaje cuyo prototipo es l mismo: George Khan incluso lleva su apellido.
A diferencia de las anteriores pelculas, donde los personajes estn muy adaptados
a la forma de vida occidental, Oriente es Oriente nos cuenta una historia de una familia mixta: de un hombre pakistan casado con una inglesa y sus siete hijos. Entre el
padre extremadamente tradicional y el resto de familiares se desencadena la lucha
que no slo se puede calificar como lo tradicional y moderno o entre Oriente y Occidente, sino tambin como intergeneracional. Khan, que puede adaptar su nombre al
ingls (George), se casa con una britnica y se gana la vida con fish and chips, Sin
embargo, no deja a sus hijos optar por una vida correspondiente a donde viven y la
cultura de su contexto: les obliga ser buenos musulmanes, comportarse segn los
deseos del padre e incluso contraer matrimonio segn la eleccin de ste con unas
chicas pakistanes.
El crtico Quim Casas considera algo agotado y moribundo esta manifestacin de la
esttica del cine, entre documental y televisivo y califica el filme como poco aportador
ms all de escenas cmicas en torno a las diferencias entre Oriente y Occidente.
Tambin fija nuestra atencin en el estilo suave y disciplinado a lo largo y spero, en
el final, de la pelcula, segn la necesidad.
FOTOGRAMAS Febrero 2000, pg. 147 (ver texto original en el Anexo)

Crticas!

La crtica de esta revista se dedica un poco a contar una corta sinopsis de la pelcua
Orient es Oriente de Damien ODonnell. El conservador George Khan, vecino Norte
de Inglaterra pero de origen paquistan pone su puo de acero para conservar las
tradiciones en la familia de una mujer inglesa y 7 hijos nacidos en Inglaterra. Insiste
en que los hijos contraigan matrimonio concertado y se choca con la resistencia de
ellos.
Segn las palabras de la productora Leslee Udwin, citadas en el artculo, el filme es
un alegato contra la intolerancia.

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!

19!

El artculo describe los intentos del director de mostrar algo anticuada la vida de esta
familia debido a no estar en la vanguardia y la colaboracin de un asesor musulmn
para evitar fallos. Es de destacada la interpretacin femenina de Linda Bassett, por
la que la actriz recibi un premio.
FOTOGRAMAS, Marzo 2000, 1877, pg. 29 (ver texto original en el Anexo)
Presenta la crtica positiva de la pelcula. La considera ligera, honesta y ecunime,
una comedia realista y acogedora.
Se destaca la imparcialidad por parte del director Damien ODonnell, que exactamente por el desconocimiento del mbito anglo-paquistan estuvo dudando acerca
de si aceptar o no la oferta de Ayub Khan-Din, que por su parte s que haba tenido
implicaciones directas con el contexto y la trama del filme. Khan-Din, que haba interpretado un papel de un paquistan en Sammy y Rosie se lo montan de Stephen
Frears anteriormente. Ms tarde realiz una obra teatral Oriente es Oriente, cuya
adaptacin en el ao 1971 se convertira en una simptica tragicomedia.
CINE PARA LEER Pedro Miguel Lamet, 2000. Oriente es Oriente. En Cine para leer.
Enero junio. Bilbao. Ediciones Mensajero. Pp. 241-243. (ver texto original en el
Anexo)
Segn Pedro Miguel Lamet, Oriente es Oriente tal vez no es de calidad de primer
premio del festival, pero es una pelcula bien realizada, libre y ligera entre las obras
de su gnero. El dramatismo se compensa con la excelente comicidad, aportando de
este modo una sencillez y ligereza al filme. El crtico considera como mejor cualidad
de ODonnell como director la frescura y naturalidad con las que ha rodado el film,
dndole una sensacin de haberlo hecho un pakistan, desde dentro.
Se agradece al director que en vez de centrarse en los conflictos culturales como de
entre inmigrantes y los del pas de acogida, lo enfoque como problemas internos
dentro de la familia, intergeneracionales y ms personales. La tolerancia es una de
las mayores reflexiones ofrecidas y provocadas por la pelcula.
Se destaca la interpretacin de los protagonistas Om Puri y Linda Bassett, respectivamente.

Versin cinematogrfica de la obra teatral homnima de Ayub Khan-Din, en buena


medida autobiogrfica, reescrita para el cine por el propio dramaturgo, oriente es
Orienten es una singular crnica familiar en forma de tragicomedia a travs de la
que el autor, cuyo alter ego cabe presumir que toma cuerpo y espritu, en el personaje del hijo menor de la familia Khan, pretende -y consigue- expresar sus ideas no
solo sobre inmigracin e integracin, sino sobre la libertad y su enemigo principal, el
integrismo de cualquier signo. Los Khan son una familia mixta, o mestiza, si se prefie-

Crticas!

Paquistanes de Manchester
C.S.F., ABC, 28701/200, 143

20!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

re. El padre, que se ha cambiado el nombre de pila por el ingles de George, aunque a sus hijos les impone el uso de nombres pakistanes, pese a haber nacido en
Inglaterra y de madre britnica, tiene un pequeo negocio familiar en el que prepara
y vende fish & chips y es un acrrimo defensor de las costumbres ancestrales de
su pas de origen, incluida, adems del odio eterno a los ingleses y a los indios, la
de los matrimonios concertados sin que los futuros contrayentes se conozcan. Con
uno de ellos, roto al comienzo de la ceremonia, se inicia la trama, que se desarrolla
con el lento proceso de emancipacin, ms moral que fsica, de los hijos y la madre.
Tratada en clave de comedia no solo cida sino al borde de la tragedia. el filme, si
hubiera sido escrito por un occidental -su realizador, el debutante Damien O'Donnell,
si lo es hubiese sido calificado de reaccionario, por criticar tan severa como humorsticamente el atraso milenario de un pas. Pero la acusacin no es de recibo, al
estar hecha la critica desde dentro. Y la pelcula es muy divertida, en ocasiones emocionante y con personajes, aunque lejanos, crebles y vivos, e interpretaciones soberbias de cuantos integran el reparto.

Crticas!

El gnero anglo-paquistan
Quim Casas, Dirigido por, 287, febrero de 2000, 14
Las piezas encajan. East is East (Oriente es Oriente), debut de Damien ODonnell en
el largometraje, se inscribe en la lnea de las comedias dramticas suburbiales y multirraciales que proliferaron en el cine britnico de la segunda mitad de los ochenta, al
estilo de la cadena televisiva Channel Four. Stephen Frears fue uno de los ms aventajados y aprovechados cultivadores de aquel cine de crnica social, ansiosamente
realista, que disgust tanto al gobierno de Margaret Thatcher que la dama de hierro
termin por liquidarlo por las buenas mediante recortes presupuestarios y leyes en
consonancia con su poltica derechista. El film ms conocido de esta tendencia, Mi
hermosa lavandera (My Beautiful Laundrette, 1985), se centraba en los avatares
domsticos, sentimentales y sociales de un joven de origen paquistan experto en el
arte de la manipulacin, tema por otro lado muy comn en las pelculas de Frears. El
segundo trabajo de ambiente paquistan-londinense del director, Sammy y Rosie se
lo montan (Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, 1987), escrito igual que el anterior por el
novelista y autor teatral Hanif Kureishi, presentaba las andanzas de otro joven paquistan perfectamente integrado en el modo de vida ingls, Sammy, al que daba
vida el actor Ayub Khan-Din. Nueve aos despus, Khan-Din decida seguir los pasos
de Kureishi y estrenaba, con considerable xito, la pieza teatral en la que se basa
East is East, un retroceso temporal en relacin con las dos pelculas citadas de Frears
-aqu la accin acontece en 1971, en una localidad al norte de Inglaterra- y que, por
esta razn, narra lo que en Mi hermosa lavandera y Sammy y Rosie se lo montan
era slo un vestigio del pasado: si en los films de Frears los personajes no tienen
problemas de desarraigo cultural, adaptados a la forma de vida occidental, a sus
geografias urbanas y modos afectivos, en el de ODonnell los jvenes intentan:
romper con la tradicin celosamente guardada por su padre, para: quien el cambio
de pas no supone el olvido de los ritos religiosos y las i leyes familiares en las que
creci en su tierra de origen, Pakistn. La pelcula de O'Donnell, con guin del propio
Khan-Din, revisita, pues, un cine conocido que cay en desuso, sustituido en cierta
forma por el estilo ms documental y de aparente doctrinario poltico de Ken Loach,

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
!

21!
!

y emplea idnticos argumentos para mostrar el choque cultural. Puede resultar simptico este retorno a las tragicomedias naturalistas del cine britnico, a medio camino del film televisivo y el temario ms documental del free-cinema, pero, por esta
misma razn, porque aquella esttica y aquella forma de contar las cosas lleg en
poco tiempo a sus lmites expresivos, un film como East is East nace moribundo, sin
pocas cosas que aportar mas all de un par de situaciones cmicas bien hilvanadas
en torno a las diferencias entre Oriente y Occidente, las esperadas secuencias de
choque dramtico y el trabajo de un grupo de actores prcticamente desconocido
que estn representando en pantalla vivencias personales o demasiado cercanas
para que no se note, en definitiva, el carcter de exorcismo colectivo de viejos fantasmas que propone la pelcula. Sin demagogia, ausente por lo general en este tipo
de productos de vocacin poco moralista, discurre la historia entre el cada vez ms
violento George Khan, el padre de la familia, y sus hijos e hijas, enjaulados sin remisin en un mundo que debera ser el suyo, pero que han de filtrar a travs de las
ideas tradicionalistas del padre. El orgulloso paquistan, apodado con sorna por sus
vstagos como Gengist (Khan), no tiene reparos en ganarse la vida con aquello que
ms gusta al conformista paladar de los ingleses, el plato de fish and chips, pero no
admite que sus hijos puedan decidir por si mismos con quin se casaran. OIDonnell y
Khan-Din liman algunos aspectos para no acelerar los procesos dramticos del conflicto: uno de los hijos es homosexual y desaparece rpido de la historia, por voluntad propia, incapaz de seguir viviendo bajo unas normas anticuadas, y por decisin
de los autores de la pelcula, que se ahorran un tema peliagudo. Esa es la pauta de
la pelcula, suave y disciplinada durante su recorrido y spera cuando, al final, toca
serlo ms por necesidad que por conviccin expresiva.
Oriente es oriente
Fotogramas, Febrero de 2000, 147

Oriente es Oriente
Jordi Batlle Caminal, Fotogramas, Marzo de 2000, 1877, 22

Crticas!

George Khan es un orgulloso paquistan que lleva muchos aos viviendo en el norte
de Inglaterra. Casado con una inglesa y padre de siete hijos, esta empeado en que
estos conserven las tradiciones de su pas de origen, entre las que se incluye la de
casarse con la persona elegida por el mismo. Los hijos, nacidos y criados en Inglaterra no estn por la labor. Si yo tuviera que resumir el argumento de la pelcula, dira
que es un alegato contra la intolerancia, asegura la productora Leslee Udwin. Para
el director debutante Damien 0'Donnell el mundo retratado en la pelcula estaba muy
alejado de su propia experiencia. Tuvimos un asesor musulmn porque no quera
tomarme ninguna Iibertad, comenta. El terreno en el que hice la mayor aportacin
creativa fue en la estructura y visualizacin. Aunque la accin de la pelcula se desarrolla en 1971, O'Donnell prefiri darle un aire ms de los 70. La comunidad en la
que est situada no est precisamente en la vanguardia, as que su modo de vida
tendr que parecer algo anticuado, segn el director. La pelcula fue presentada en
el festival de Valladolid, donde consigui la Espiga de Oro y el premio de interpretacin femenina para Linda Bassett.

22!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

Que el personaje que encarna, admirablemente, Om Puri (contradictorio: es un paquistan Edan Routledge. orgulloso de su cultura pero, quiz sin darse cuenta, se
vende al enemigo ingls: regenta un negocio de fish and chips) en Oriente es Oriente es el personaje negativo de la peli parece claro a primera vista: los dems llevan
la razn, son tolerantes, flexibles, de espritu abierto y moderno. Pero convendra ser
tambin nosotros algo ms comprensibles y atisbar, como creo que atisba O'Donnell, la dignidad (herida de muerte) de esa criatura pattica. No hace falta blandir el
tan socorrido lema renoiriano para darse cuenta de que, en el fondo, este Gengis
Khan del Norte de Inglaterra tambin tiene sus razones, su corazoncito, su bondad.
Una de las virtudes de esta comedia realista y acogedora es, pues, su ecunime
mirada. O'Donnell cuando Khan-Din le ofreci la direccin de su obra teatral, dud
razonablemente; nada saba l del ncleo anglopaquistan objeto del retrato. Luego
reflexion y acab creyendo que su desconocimiento de ese mundo poda fructificar
en una mirada objetiva, imparcial y limpia. As ha sido: Oriente es Oriente acaso no
sea una gran pelcula, pero s una pelcula honesta, donde los hechos y quienes los
protagonizan se afronta con tacto y penetracin. Algunas cosas ajenas a ella, eso s,
le han hecho pupa. Por un lado, los claros antecedentes de las pelculas de Frears
(Mi hermosa lavandera y Sammy y Rosie se lo montan -donde, por cierto, Khan-Din
tena un destacado papel- tocaban los mismos temas). Por otro, el auge de ese cine
britnico que toca llagas sociales con un bao de costumbrismo y otro de humor: hoy
todas las pelculas britnicas quieren ser Full Monty, y Full Monty solo hay, una. Afortunadamente.
44 FESTIVAL DE VALLADOLID
ngel Fernndez-Santos, El Pas, 27/10/1999

Crticas!

La Seminci ha organizado una gran exposicin de bocetos escenogrficos de Alexandre Trauner, uno de los genios de la decoracin en el cine. Es una maravilla. Y el
concurso continu ayer con Nadie est a salvo de Sam, ltima pelcula del estadounidense Spike Lee, que vuelve a meterse en un fregado ambicioso y de nuevo lo
compone de forma falsaria y hueca. En cambio, el britnico Damien O'Donnell borda
en Oriente es Oriente una comedia magistral.
Si uno se entera despus de haber visto Oriente es Oriente de que es el primer largometraje de su director, el britnico Damien ODonnell, la sorpresa est ms que
fundada, porque todo en esta pequea pelcula coral, hecha con bajsimo presupuesto y altsima autoexigencia, es magistral, desde la escritura hasta la direccin,
pasando por la fotografa y por todas y cada una de las composiciones de los 15 o
20 intrpretes, que parecen haber nacido para hacer lo que aqu hacen. Cuenta
Oriente es Oriente la vida cotidiana de una familia paquistan que vive en un arrabal
de Manchester a finales de los aos setenta. Nada ms que eso. El padre, casado
con una inglesa, sigue aferrado a las tradiciones que se trajo en la mochila de su
pas y de su religin, que chocan frontalmente con los modelos de vida y de conducta de la ciudad europea donde han nacido todos sus hijos, que son ingleses y no
paquistanes. La colisin de mentalidades echa chispas desde las primeras escenas
de la pelcula, chispas que son en realidad ms que eso: autnticas ascuas incendia-

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!

23!

rias, pero que la gracia del relato, la viveza de los personajes, la exactitud del trazado de las situaciones y las continuas sorpresas que nos ofrecen sus esquinas y sus
variantes, reducen a puro humor de la mejor estirpe britnica. Una delicia, pero nada
epidrmica, sino llena de continuas cargas de profundidad, que convierten este juego minimalista en una de las pelculas ms serias vistas aqu estos das.
Si todo es explosivo en la sencillez de Oriente es Oriente, en cambio todo es plvora
mojada en la explosin que Spike Lee quiere contar, y no cuenta, en Nadie est a
salvo de Sam. De nuevo la emprende Lee con un asunto extremoso y lleno de dificultades ms aparentes que reales, como el que se aprieta en la crnica del verano de
1977 en Nueva York, donde se cruzaron sucesos tan espectaculares como el apagn
de la ciudad, los saqueos que lo siguieron, los crmenes en serie del psicpata David
Berkowitz en el Bronx, los linchamientos racistas de las cuadrillas vecinales de defensa, el estallido de las discotecas punkis y otros jalones de la crnica oscura de Manhattan. Resultado: un barullo de imgenes mentirosas, un frentico ir y venir de personajes huecos y acartonados, una pedrea de distorsiones pticas, de encuadres
retorcidos, y todo un almacn de recursos para engaar al espectador, que cuelan si
uno les deja colarse, pero que basta la punta crtica de un alfiler en la mirada para
que revienten hechos aicos como consecuencia de lo que son, un globo hinchado, el
ensimo de este tramposo director empeado en encubrir su vaciedad con asuntos
tonantes y frenticos, destinados a dar la impresin de que se est viendo cine importante cuando lo que hay en la pantalla es nada ms que cine irrelevante, cine
fingido. Al margen del concurso, en la seccin retrospectiva se estn proyectando
algunas de las pelculas que decor el gran Alexandre Trauner. Este formidable decorador, indispensable en la obra de Billy Wilder, Joseph Losey, Stanley Donnen,
Marcel Carn, Howard Hawks y tantos otros eminentes cineastas, tiene aqu la presencia de algunos de sus principales bocetos escenogrficos. Esta muestra justificara
por s sola la existencia de esta edicin de la Seminci. Es, como veo, tal como salieron
de su mano, una de las esencias del cine clsico
Oriente es Oriente' gana la Espiga de Oro y el director Kitano el premio al mejor
actor
ngel Fernndez-Santos, El Pas, 31/10/1999

Los ruidos de la disconformidad no iban dirigidos tanto a un rechazo de Oriente es


Oriente, que es una magnfica comedia que merece entrar en la lista de las mejores
pelculas que hemos visto aqu durante los ltimos nueve das, como a una protesta
sonora por la exclusin de esa lista de tres pelculas a todas luces excepcionales,

Crticas!

La pelcula britnica Oriente es Oriente, dirigida por el debutante Damien O'Donnell,


fue proclamada anoche, en la sesin de clausura de esta edicin de la Seminci vallisoletana, ganadora de la Espiga de Oro, mximo galardn que concede este festival. El premio fue discutido, porque haba otras pelculas ms relevantes, pero no es
un disparate, aunque se oyeron ruidos de disconformidad cuando fue dado a conocer a los centenares de periodistas que abarrotaban la Sala de los Espejos del teatro Caldern. La actriz Linda Basset, tambin por este filme, obtuvo el premio a la
mejor intrprete.

24!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

complejas y de alto riesgo, pero resueltas con derroches de oficio y de talento. Se


trata de Wonderland, filme britnico dirigido por Michael Winterbottom; El viento nos
llevar, ltimo gran poema visual del cineasta iran Abbas Kiarostami y probablemente su obra ms concienzudamente elaborada, y El viaje de Felicia, una autntica
prueba de fuerza del canadiense Atom Egoyan, que resuelve un filme de enorme
complejidad con precisin algebraica, fundiendo tres tiempos en uno sin acudir a la
menor aritificiosidad.La exclusin de estas tres pelculas de gran calado, en contenido
y en forma, que al mismo tiempo afrontan y compatibilizan la aventura de la innovacin y el mantenimiento de las reglas del clasicismo cinematogrfico, vicia de raz la
lgica y desmantela los criterios -en algunos aspectos tan deficientes que rozan a la
pura y simple incompe-tencia- con que ha sido confeccionada la lista de las pelculas
elegidas. En efecto, de un conjunto de obras cinematogrficas caracterizado por su
exigencia, su dificultad y su adscripcin al riesgo de la ruptura formal, han sido seleccionadas, con alguna tmida concesin a la inteligencia, las obras ms convencionales
o los aspectos menos importantes de algunas que se salen de la norma.
Es el caso de la pelcula japonesa Kikujiru, que se ha llevado el premio a la mejor
interpretacin masculina por el trabajo como actor de Takeshi Kitano, su escritor y
director. Esta notabilsima y exquisita pelcula, que merece cualquier tipo de galardn
que quiera drsele, ha sido distinguida, no obstante, por uno de los aspectos ms
irrelevantes que hay en ella, pues proclamar vencedor a Kitano por su trabajo interpretativo, fcil y guiolesco, al mismo tiempo que se silencia el refinamiento que alcanzan su direccin y su escritura, roza la comicidad por la disparatada, casi inconcebible miopa del anlisis cinematrogrfico. Takeshi Kitano no est aqu, pero no sera
extrao que cuando la noticia le llegue a su casa en Japn encuentre sobrados motivos para soltar una carcajada mientras comunica a los amigos un regalo que l era
probablemente el ltimo en esperar. Por suerte, el Premio de la Crtica Internacional
fue concedido a Kikujiru no por la interpretacin de su director, sino por toda la pelcula en s misma.
El Premio Especial del Jurado fue a parar a las manos de la directora turca Yesim
Ustaoglu, por la valiente y bella Viaje hacia el sol, donde expone desde dentro un
alegato visual y moral contra el genocidio del rgimen turco contra el sector de la
poblacin kurda que tiene colonizado y al que desde hace dcadas est aplastando
y diezmando. Un buen premio, casi el nico coherente y a la altura de las circunstancias. Y de las tres obras antes citadas, las ms importantes de todas, slo El viaje de
Felicia entr en la lista de premiadas con el relativo a la mejor fotografa, a todas
luces insuficiente

Crticas!

Damien O'Donnell cree que se engaa al pblico para que acuda al cine
Yolanda Blzquez, El Pas, 24/01/2000
La pelcula Oriente es Oriente, que gan la Espiga de Oro en la ltima edicin del
Festival Internacional de Cine de Valladolid y el premio a la mejor actriz (Linda Basset), empieza a ser un filme que mantiene el tipo en la taquilla britnica con ms
firmeza de la que se le auguraba. El guin, la historia en tono de comedia de los
problemas de una familia paquistan en Manchester, haba ido de productora en

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!

25!

productora con un exiguo presupuesto hasta encontrar al novato Damien O'Donnell.


El director, que estrena su filme el viernes, ha afirmado en Madrid que al pblico
siempre se le engaa para que acuda a las salas de cine.
Damien ODonnell es un director de chaqueta de cuero con aspecto adolescente
que lleg a Madrid acompaado de la actriz protagonista de Oriente es Oriente,
Linda Bassett, formada en el teatro londinense y que mide con cuentagotas sus
apariciones en el cine (Mary Reilly, Oscar y Lucinda). ODonnell cuenta con humildad
que cuando recibi la proposicin de dirigir este filme mand un fax diciendo que se
senta incapaz de afrontar el proyecto.Despus de reflexionar sobre su respuesta en
la barra de un bar se dio cuenta de su error y a la maana siguiente encontr el fax
en la mquina, que no lo haba aceptado. Reescribi entonces una carta de 21 folios
diciendo que aceptaba encantado el proyecto. "Hoy estoy aqu presentando la pelcula porque no tengo correo electrnico".
Las dudas de ODonnell venan de su inexperiencia, con un solo corto en su currculo,
Thirty Five Aside, en 1995, y por la complejidad de abordar los problemas de la comunidad paquistan en Gran Bretaa, lo que para l era "un estreno complicado".
Oriente es Oriente sigue la lnea del cine britnico con apego a los temas sociales,
tratados en formato comedia, que consiguen el respaldo del pblico y el apoyo de
la crtica, al estilo del cine de Stephen Frears, Ken Loach y Peter Cattaneo, entre
otros.

Teatro
Otra de las dificultades de Oriente es Oriente era el trasladar lo que hasta entonces
era una obra de teatro al cine, con el lenguaje del cine, sin construir la trama entre
las cuatro paredes de una casa. Linda Bassett, en el papel de esposa que se debate entre la sumisin a su marido y la actitud contestataria de sus hijos, haba representado este mismo papel en el teatro, lo cual le ayud a encarnar el personaje con
toda facilidad. "Mucha gente me ha comentado que los problemas que se reflejan
en la pelcula no son exclusivos de una familia paquistan sino de una familia con conflictos generacionales". "Lo que se cuenta en el filme de la mezcla de razas y de la
integracin de distintas comunidades africanas, o rabes en la pelcula es un fenmeno que se est produciendo en estos momentos, el mestizaje en nuestra realidad
de todos los das", contesta ODonnell sobre la vigencia de un tema que est centrado en los aos setenta, hechos reales vividos por el guionista, Ayub Khan-Din. El
nio protagonista de la pelcula no se desprende de su parka, el chubasquero que
slo se quita cuando empieza a aceptar su origen y relaciones con los dems.

Crticas!

La historia gira en torno a George Khan, un orgulloso paquistan propietario de una


freidura de pescado y patatas que intenta gobernar su familia con la mano firme de
la tradicin. Pero sus siete hijos y su mujer se desmarcan con la libertad en la que
han crecido en un barrio obrero de Manchester. "No me propuse hacer una pelcula
para un pblico joven sino para el mayor nmero de gente posible. Cuanta ms audiencia mejor", declara ODonnell al contar las penurias de presupuesto.

26!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

"El guionista hizo su pelcula, su historia. Habla desde su verdad personal", comenta
Bassett de que Oriente es Oriente trate algunos temas ms a la ligera, como los
matrimonios de conveniencia en el caso de las mujeres, lo que las obliga a volver a
su pas. El resultado es una comedia agridulce con momentos muy duros que se insertan cuando el espectador est familiarizado con el chiste.

Crticas!

Boca a boca
"Precisamente, se eligi al nio para la publicidad para que la gente se animara a
verla. Era necesario vender la pelcula como una comedia. Es un engao como ocurre
con todas las publicidades de las pelculas. Si hubiramos puesto a Bruce Willis a lo
mejor habra entrado todava ms gente en las salas pero estamos satisfechos con
el resultado. No ha podido ser mejor. Nos engaan para que vayamos a ver las pelculas", matiza ODonnell. "Lo que funciona realmente es el boca a boca", aade
Bassett.

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!
!

27!
!

COMENTARIOS ACADMICOS

Robson, Peter. 2002. Fade to grey: portraying the ethnic minority experience in
British film. International Journal of the Sociology of Law, 30, pp 235257. Glasgow.
Este artculo trata sobre una cuestin, que segn el autor, no parece haber recibido
mucha atencin en la literatura sobre etnicidad, a saber, la representacin de las
minoras tnicas en el cine. Aade que estas cuestiones tienen una importancia social
fundamental, aunque hayan aparecido su estudio de forma limitada en la cultura
popular britnica. A continuacin realiza un anlisis que pretende incluir el contexto
histrico y poltico de las pelculas analizadas. Para ello, muestra varios ejemplos como el caso del film To Sir With Love (1967) de James Clavell, en el cual se retrata el
racismo en la post-guerra de Gran Bretaa de una manera ms suave que en la
fuente literaria original en la que se inspira.
Tambin analiza como se representan jovenes que son parte de dos mundos muy
diferentes, en pelculas como My Son the Fanatic (1997) y East is East (2000). Concretamente, en este ltimo film, destaca como un padre de origen paquistan intenta
imponer las costumbres paquistans a sus hijos, frente a unos hijos que quieren vivir
sus vidas dentro de la comunidad inglesa, tomando cada uno decisiones diferentes.
El autor sugiere que para conocer mejor el proceso social producido por el fenmeno
multicultural es fundamental examinar el contexto social y poltico en el que las pelculas en cuestin se hizo en lugar de simplemente concentrarse en las diferencias estticas y estilsticas entre la fuente escrita y film, como si se trata de procesos puramente artsticos descontextualizados de los procesos sociales que representan.

La autora, a partir de la pelcula inglesa East is East (2000), reflexiona sobre varias
situaciones y conflictos que se presentan en el film, desde la perspectiva del Derecho
internacional privado y su comparacin con el Derecho espaol. Destaca en su comentario tres cuestiones que aparecen en East is East: la integracin de la inmigracin, los matrimonios concertados y la violencia de gnero.
Respecto a la integracin de la inmigracin, seala las diferencias entre el modelo
pluricultural o liberal de respeto de las diversidades culturales (Ruiz Sutil, 2010: 4),
que fomenta la autonoma y separacin de los grupos tnicos, frente al modelo
universalista francs de aculturacin. Aade que la adscripcin de culturas a territorios es simplista, como muestra el retrato de esta familia de origen pakistan en la
Inglaterra de los aos setenta del siglo XX.
Otra cuestin fundamental para la autora es el tema de los matrimonios concertados, eje dramtico que articula gran parte del film. Muestra como la situacin planteada sirve para contraponer las tradiciones pakistanes del padre con las costum!

Comentarios!Acadmicos!

Ruz Sutil, Carmen. 2010. East is East.Granada: Facultad de Derecho.

28!
!

ORIENTE!ES!ORIENTE!
!

bres inglesas de sus hijos, simbolizadas en el rechazo de los matrimonios concertados de los hijos, especialmente con la huida de la boda de uno de ellos, lo que lleva
a ser repudiado por su familia paterna. Adems, indica que en el Derecho espaol
los matrimonios se rigen por las leyes de los pases de origen de cada contrayente,
este tipo de matrimonios estn prohibidos, aunque son contrarias al orden pblico
internacional espaol todas las Leyes extranjeras que admiten el matrimonio concertado por padres o familiares de los contrayentes, sin que stos hayan emitido su
consentimiento matrimonial (Ruiz Sutil, 2010: 4).
Finalmente, reflexiona sobre las diferencias entre violencia domstica y violencia de
gnero en la legislacin espaola, a travs de como el padre pakistan del film acta
de forma violenta con sus hijos. Lo que lleva a concluir a la autora que, siendo todo
violencia rechazable, estamos ante un caso de violencia domstica y no de gnero
segn el Derecho espaol.
Shirley R. Steinberg, 2002. Fries, Fezzes, and Minstrels: The Hollywoodization of
Islam. En Cultural Studies Critical Methodologies 2002 2: 205. SAGE.
http://csc.sagepublications.com

Comentarios!Acadmicos!

El artculo de la investigadora estadounidense Shirle R. Steinberg trata el tema y el


proceso de la realizacin de la investigacin acerca de la construccin de la poblacin
musulmana y raboparlante por el cine del Hollywood. Considera que si la pedagoga implica temas de la produccin y transmisin del conocimiento y de la formacin
de valores, entonces, una de las fuerzas pedaggicas ms potentes en Amrica es
la cultura popular. Los filmes ayudan a las personas a articular sus sentimientos, humor y comportamiento. El efecto producido por la cultura popular cinematogrfica
vara segn los contextos histricos y sociales.
Una de las pelculas examinadas por la autora, ha sido Oriente es Oriente de Stephen ODonnell, que no trata de los raboparlantes, pero s de musulmanes y sus
intentos de mantener tradiciones ancestrales de sus antepasados. Su atencin,
aparte de la trama desarrollada en la pelcula, se fija en la forma en la que es representada la figura del protagonista George Khan conforme su ira y agresin van
aumentando: rodar su imagen por debajo de su protuberante y sudante nariz y
dientes amarillentos. Es una construccin ms de una persona brbara, como en
muchas otras pelculas.
Tras haber analizado varias pelculas, entre ellas Oriente es Oriente, la autora concluye afirmando que la cultura popular (representada en el cinematgrafo, entre
otros) es un programa abierto, manifiesto e influyente que alimenta nuestra necesidad de consumir diversin. Y, que Hollywood, sin ser una excepcin, es construido en
la obsesin, alterizacin, miedo y, sobre todo y ms importante, en lo que se vende.
Es uno de los motivos y maneras de crear construcciones artificiales, sea en el cine u
otros tantos medios de arte y de comunicacin.

DAMIEN!O'DONNELL,!1999!

29!

Rachel Holmes, 2007. East is East: using film disrupt university classroom narratives
around childhood and identity. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 15:3, pp. 367 384
La profesora Holmes redacta su artculo describiendo su trabajo realizado en el aula,
con los estudiantes de la universidad. Se trata de las reflexiones acerca de las nociones de niez retratadas a travs de la pelcula Oriente es Oriente. La pregunta en
cuestin es: si la pelcula Oriente es Oriente trata de convencer los auditorios de los
blancos en que la suficiencia prctica de la cultura y sociedad occidentales. Se opta
por esta pelcula porque cubre el tema de la lucha bicultural dentro de la familia de
un hombre musulmn y asitico, casado con una mujer blanca y ni musulmana y
los hijos de los mismos.
El valor del trabajo consiste en que visibiliza las particulares maneras en las que pueden ser interpretados los conceptos de ser britnico-blanco, britnico-asitico, sureo-asitico y britnico-musulmn. Recoge los datos del aula multirracial, ideas tericas y escritos deconstructores que contribuyeron a su trabajo en la clase, ayudaron a
revelar las lecturas de la narrativa visual tanto por parte del alumnado como de la
de la profesora. Las reflexiones sobre el concepto de raza, de pertenencia a la raza
blanca o a la otra, ser musulmn o blanco-britnico son fundamentales aportaciones del trabajo.

Comentarios!Acadmicos!

La participacin mucho ms activa por parte del alumnado de identidades britnicoasitica o musulmana en comparacin con los blancos y no musulmanes. La autora
hace hincapi con esto en el hecho de que muchas veces la posicin hegemnica de
la raza blanca hace callar su existencia y la invisibiliza. Se contempla el distanciamiento por parte del alumnado blanco y ni musulmn de los personajes de la pelcula, observada por la autora como posible autoproteccin y, la construccin de cualidad de asitico (Asianness en ingls). En la autorreflexin la profesora tambin
encuentra como un impedimento su propia invisibilidad racia, que de alguna manera
obscureca sus habilidades de captar y leer algunas caracterizaciones en el filme
Oriente es Oriente.

Identidades culturales
y minoras tnicas
en Europa
David Turton
Universidad de Oxford

Julia Gonzlez Ferreras


Universidad de Deusto

2001
Universidad de Deusto
Bilbao

Ninguna parte de esta publicacin, incluido el diseo de la


cubierta, puede ser reproducida, almacenada o transmitida
en manera alguna ni por ningn medio, ya sea elctrico,
qumico, mecnico, ptico, de grabacin o de fotocopia, sin
permiso previo del editor.
Publicacin impresa en papel ecolgico
Illustracin de portada: Xabi Otero
Universidad de Deusto
Apartado 1 - 48080 Bilbao
I.S.B.N.: 84-7485-783-X
Depsito legal: BI - 50-02
Impreso en Espaa/Printed in Spain
Fotocomposicin: IPAR, S. Coop. - Bilbao
Imprime: Artes Grficas Rontegui, S.A.L.

Indice
Introduccin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
David Turton (Universidad de Oxford) y Julia Gonzlez (Universidad de
Deusto)

Europa como mosaico de identidades: algunas reflexiones. . . . . . . . . . . .


Estanislao Arroyabe (Universidad de Innsbruck)

23

Minoras, polticas y estrategias en Europa: una perspectiva belga (flamenca)


Paul Mahieu (Universidad de Antwerp)

37

Relaciones entre el Estado y las minoras tnicas en Noruega . . . . . . . . . .


Ada Engebrigtsen (Universidad de Oslo)

45

Minoras, polticas y estrategias en Europa: Alemania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Wolfgang Bosswick (Universidad de Bamberg)

53

Del conflicto a la armona: el caso griego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Maria Dikaiou (Aristotle Universidad de Thessaloniki)

59

La resurreccin de Padania o cmo inventar una identidad tnica en una


tierra con mil campanarios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Enzo Pace (Universidad de Padua)
Balkania Federal, Kosova Republika o fusin balcnica?. . . . . . . . .
Robert Hudson (Universidad de Derby)

65
75

El caso de Irlanda del Norte: conversaciones intercomunitarias y la renegociacin de la identidad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


Stephen Ryan (Universidad de Ulster)

85

La negociacin de identidades en el contexto de la dispora: la poblacin


pakistan en Bradford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Charles Husband (Universidad de Bradford)

93

La negociacin de identidades en el contexto


de la dispora: la poblacin pakistan de Bradford
Charles Husband

1. Antecedentes
Europa se ha convertido en un espacio multicultural cada vez ms
amplio y existe una considerable bibliografa que explora la variedad de
respuestas hacia la creciente diversidad tnica de los estados nacionales
(WRENCH/SOLOMOS, 1993; HECKMAN/BOSSWICK, 1995). Y la agitacin terica provocada por los razonamientos posmodernistas ha quedado reflejada en un cada vez ms complejo anlisis de las identidades
tnicas; incluso con conceptos tales como relaciones de hibridez o de dispora disfrutando casi de un estatus en boga (RADHAKRISHNAN, 1996;
WERBNER/MODOOD, 1997; YOUNG, 1995). Al mismo tiempo, el papel
de los sistemas y los medios de comunicacin de masas a la hora de
crear identidades y de construir valores ha quedado enmarcado dentro
de un debate terico relacionado con el papel de la globalizacin (ROBERTSON, 1992; HANNERZ, 1996; FEATHERSTONE, 1995), con un cada
vez mayor reconocimiento de la compleja geografa cultural y filosfica
de la Dispora (BRAH, 1996; LAVIE/SWEDENBURG, 1996). Todos estos
fenmenos, junto con los debates tericos relacionados con los mismos,
constituyen el amplio esquema de trabajo del presente artculo.
En Gran Bretaa, el desarrollo de las comunidades tnicas minoritarias ha quedado perfectamente registrado, ms recientemente por parte de MODOOD et al. (1997), y existe una extensa bibliografa sobre el
tema. Sin embargo, el papel de los medios de comunicacin con respecto a la formacin de relaciones tnicas y como parte integrante de
un proceso de movilizacin poltica y cultural de las minoras ha conformado un pequeo subconjunto dentro de este campo. Desde el estudio inicial de fondo de Hartman y Husband (HARTMAN/HUSBAND, 1974),
ha tenido lugar un proceso activo de anlisis acadmico en torno al

94

IDENTIDADES CULTURALES Y MINORIAS ETNICAS EN EUROPA

contenido de los medios de comunicacin dominantes y su papel a la


hora de representar a las comunidades tnicas minoritarias (VAN DIJK,
1991; ROSS, 1996; SREBERNY-MOHAMMADI/ROSS, 1995; DOWNING/
HUSBAND, de prxima aparicin). Existe una incipiente bibliografa en
relacin con la produccin y consumo de medios de comunicacin por
parte de las comunidades tnicas minoritarias (HUSBAND, 1994; GILLESPIE, 1995; COTTLE, 1997).
A la hora de formular la investigacin objeto del presente estudio1,
hemos sido claramente conscientes del creciente sentimiento anti-islmico que se evidencia tanto en el seno de la Unin Europea como en Gran
Bretaa. Las comunidades musulmanas en Gran Bretaa se han visto sometidas a una crtica cobertura por parte de los medios de comunicacin
en respuesta al caso Rushdie y a la Guerra del Golfo, al igual que el
papel de la religin como indicador de las identidades minoritarias se ha
convertido en un tema de debate cada vez ms importante en la Gran
Bretaa contempornea (LEWIS, 1994). Incluso la propia localizacin de
las comunidades musulmanas en la Isla podra ser analizada en relacin
con un ms amplio debate en torno a la posicin del Islam en el mundo a
finales del siglo XX (AHMED, 1992; TURNER, 1994). Por consiguiente, en
esta investigacin nos hemos centrado en dos comunidades musulmanas, la pakistan de Bradford y la iran de Londres, las cuales han seguido
caminos muy diferentes para su asentamiento en Gran Bretaa y poseen
races culturales y nacionales muy diversas, de acuerdo con los trminos
empleados por GILROY (1993). El presente artculo se centrar principalmente en la experiencia de la poblacin pakistan de Bradford.
El objetivo fundamental de esta investigacin ha sido reflejar el entorno de los medios de comunicacin de las comunidades musulmanas
en Gran Bretaa para, de este modo, poder ubicarlo dentro de un entendimiento dinmico de la demografa local y del grado de implicacin
de las comunidades en los movimientos econmicos, polticos y culturales, tanto en un mbito local y nacional como mundial. Hemos sido
muy conscientes a la hora de desarrollar este estudio de la problemtica naturaleza del concepto de comunidad al analizar una Gran Bretaa
multitnica y urbana (HUSBAND, 1996).

1 Los fondos para esta investigacin han sido aportados por un proyecto englobado
en el Programa de Investigacin en torno a la Economa y la Cultura de los Medios de
Comunicacin. El equipo del proyecto estaba compuesto por el profesor Charles Husband y el Dr. Yunas Samad (Unidad de Investigacin de Poltica Social e Identidad Etnica, Universidad de Bradford), as como por la profesora Annabelle Sreberny y D. Adom
Sabondchian (Centro para la Investigacin de los Medios de Comunicacin de Masas,
Universidad de Leicester).

LA NEGOCIACION DE IDENTIDADES EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA DIASPORA: LA POBLACION...

95

El primer objetivo tctico era generar un modelo descriptivo de la demografa actual de ambas comunidades. Para ello, era importante ser capaces de establecer la existencia de poblaciones iranes y pakistanes en
Londres y Bradford respectivamente como comunidades subjetivas e igualmente como patrones demogrficos. Estas tareas supusieron un grado
desigual de dificultad en ambas comunidades. Mientras que en el caso de
la poblacin iran apenas exista documentacin, por el contrario, existe
una extensa documentacin acerca de la poblacin pakistan de Bradford
por parte de las autoridades locales, al haber sido objeto de innumerables
investigaciones. Hemos sido capaces, a travs de una diversidad de enfoques, de desarrollar un retrato descriptivo de la demografa de la muy dispersa poblacin iran de Londres, al mismo tiempo que hemos conseguido
identificar las interconexiones subjetivas de identidad que sirven de nexo
de unin a esta comunidad disgregada en el espacio, en tanto que, en
Bradford, a tenor de la documentacin disponible, era posible dibujar una
imagen muy precisa de la distribucin demogrfica de la poblacin pakistan as como identificar los modelos de organizacin social perfectamente
desarrollados que operan en el seno de esta comunidad demogrfica.
No obstante, un perfil demogrfico en s mismo ofrece nicamente
un modelo relativamente estril y esttico de cada poblacin; por lo tanto, estbamos obligados a realizar un estudio complementario para poder generar un enriquecedor entendimiento social y cultural de la historia de la migracin y del establecimiento de cada poblacin, al igual que
de sus perfiles polticos y socio-culturales en el seno de sus respectivos
asentamientos urbanos. Para avanzar en nuestro proyecto necesitbamos
trazar un retrato descriptivo del entorno de los medios de comunicacin
de cada poblacin. Para definir este objetivo en esta etapa, conseguimos dibujar el perfil de la infraestructura de los medios de comunicacin
actuales en lugar de adoptar cualquier medida de utilizacin de los mismos. Al abordar este objetivo, el equipo fue ms all de la identificacin
de los medios de comunicacin escritos y de radiodifusin, consiguiendo
asimismo identificar otros emplazamientos de reproduccin cultural e interaccin social. Una vez ms, este proceso fue muy diferente para las
dos comunidades objeto de estudio, puesto que la poblacin pakistan
de Bradford disfruta de una ms amplia y diversa gama de medios de
comunicacin que la poblacin iran de Londres.
Uno de los objetivos centrales del presente proyecto era dibujar un retrato dinmico del comportamiento de cada individuo en el seno del contexto social y del entorno de los medios de comunicacin dado que sustentan su identidad y se ubican dentro del espacio subjetivo de una dispora.
Mientras que las etapas anteriores permitieron a los investigadores anticipar la variedad de destacadas identidades y la potencial relevancia del en-

96

IDENTIDADES CULTURALES Y MINORIAS ETNICAS EN EUROPA

torno globalizado de los medios de comunicacin, esta fase pretenda generar un mbito de informacin cualitativa que permitiese esclarecer la
candente relevancia de los medios de comunicacin en relacin con la reproduccin de identidades subjetivas en los individuos. Para ello se emplearon dos mtodos: por una parte, un cuestionario para perfilar una lnea bsica de informacin comn a lo largo de la muestra de investigacin y, por
otra, grupos de estudio para generar un conjunto de informacin ms fundamentado que revelara la articulacin de identidades y la utilizacin de los
medios de comunicacin relacionados con las mismas. Aun cuando la informacin del cuestionario era factible de manipulacin numrica, no obstante, constitua igualmente una informacin esencialmente cualitativa a
pesar de que los procedimientos de seleccin de los encuestados y el tamao de la muestra no permitiesen considerar de ninguna manera los mencionados cuestionarios como muestras representativas adecuadas.
El equipo de investigacin utiliz grupos de estudio para generar
una informacin cualitativa que permitiese esclarecer nuestro entendimiento de la construccin de identidades, incluyendo la relevancia del
Islam en dicho proceso, la utilizacin de los medios de comunicacin y
la interaccin de ambos. Los dos equipos consensuaron un esquema de
actuacin comn con objeto de guiar la gestin de los grupos de actuacin. Los grupos de estudio fueron seleccionados tomando como
referencia un muestreo que haba considerado el sexo y la edad como
variables fundamentales. Sin embargo, la logstica de la construccin
de dichos grupos dentro de las dos comunidades no ha hecho posible
cumplir estrictamente con este marco de trabajo. Ambos equipos buscaban utilizar grupos existentes que ofreciesen un perfil distintivo en
trminos de asociacin y que garantizasen, al mismo tiempo, un reflejo
de la diversidad de opinin en el seno de cada una de las comunidades.
Aun cuando muchos miembros de la comunidad iran recibieron
con reservas la idea de esta investigacin, result una ardua tarea encontrar las fechas y los lugares apropiados para que los participantes se
sintieran preparados para tomar parte en las discusiones de los grupos
de estudio. En las escuelas de idiomas los padres disponan de muy
poco tiempo libre, mientras que los participantes en las asambleas de la
comunidad pensaban que stas eran tan escasas que no podan permitirse el lujo de renunciar ni siquiera a parte de una sesin para participar en la investigacin. La gente se mostraba suspicaz con respecto al
propsito de la investigacin y a quien la subvencionaba, mostrndose
asimismo preocupados acerca de los controles y sanciones por parte de
las autoridades tanto del Reino Unido como de la Repblica Islmica.
Por lo tanto, empleamos gran cantidad de tiempo en tranquilizar a la
gente asegurndole que la participacin era completamente annima y

LA NEGOCIACION DE IDENTIDADES EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA DIASPORA: LA POBLACION...

97

que los fines de la investigacin eran de naturaleza acadmica. Todos


estos factores implicaban que la diversidad y claridad de los lmites elaborados con motivo de estos muestreos intencionales no podan ser
plenamente operativos en la prctica. Aquello que metodolgicamente
haba sido concebido como algo clnico e intencional se convirti en la
realidad en algo bastante ms oportunista y pragmtico.
En el caso de la comunidad de Bradford, su mayor perodo de existencia, en conjuncin con las ms densas reas de residencia localizadas, proporcionaron los fundamentos para una abundante diversidad de emplazamientos potenciales para reclutar grupos de estudio. Al igual que con la
comunidad iran, la logstica de utilizar escuelas, centros de la comunidad,
asociaciones de trabajo y organizaciones de la comunidad requera de los
equipos de investigacin una gran flexibilidad a la vista de los horarios de
trabajo determinados por el escenario. Los encuestados pertenecientes a
la clase media resultaron ser los ms difciles de identificar y reclutar. Este
hecho fue, en parte, debido al perfil de la clase de la poblacin y, en parte,
una consecuencia de la disponibilidad limitada de los grupos por motivo
de sus obligaciones laborales y sus agendas sociales. En contraste con la
poblacin iran, una dificultad aadida surgi en relacin con la comunidad pakistan ante el hecho de la percepcin que tenan de la sobresaturacin de investigaciones. Esto significaba que nos encontrbamos con
cierta resistencia por parte de los conserjes de algunos lugares para facilitarnos el acceso. As, se llevaron a acabo considerables esfuerzos a la hora
de convocar a los grupos de estudio, no solamente por parte de los miembros del equipo sino tambin por aquellos que contribuan a la formacin
de los grupos; an as, algunos grupos no se constituyeron en las fechas
pactadas y otros tardaron mucho tiempo en confirmarse.
Sin embargo, una vez que se superaron las dificultades iniciales, fue
una experiencia muy positiva tratar con los grupos de estudio. La respuesta general de los participantes fue positiva y la mayora dej atrs
sus reticencias can bastante rapidez, llegndose a mostrar bastante locuaces. Generalmente, las mujeres de todas las edades y procedencias
sociales fueron las ms receptivas. Despus de dirigir las primeras sesiones, el equipo de Bradford reclut a una mujer joven pakistan con objeto
de que se encargara de los grupos de estudio compuestos por mujeres.
Pero no en todos los grupos las cosas fueron tan fluidas. En algunas
ocasiones, las discusiones de los participantes eran tan acaloradas que la
direccin del grupo resultaba una tarea bastante ardua.
Con el fin de generar un conjunto de informaciones complementarias,
se desarroll un cuestionario encaminado a determinar la utilizacin de los
medios de comunicacin por parte de los individuos, as como a establecer
la creacin de sus identidades personales. A travs de un proceso dirigido,

98

IDENTIDADES CULTURALES Y MINORIAS ETNICAS EN EUROPA

la naturaleza tan diferente de las dos comunidades, puesta en evidencia


desde las primeras etapas de la investigacin, se convirti en algo crtico a
la hora de formular una estrategia divergente en cuanto a la utilizacin del
cuestionario en cada comunidad. Dado el alto nivel educativo y la alfabetizacin en el seno de la comunidad iran, era algo eminentemente factible
utilizar un cuestionario que ellos mismos se encargasen de rellenar. Por el
contrario, los muy diferentes perfiles de alfabetizacin, de educacin y de
clases que caracterizan a la comunidad pakistan desaconsejaron emplear
la misma estrategia en Bradford. Se decidi que, teniendo en cuenta el
probable xito de reclutar grupos de estudio en Bradford, la informacin
del cuestionario debiera derivarse de los mismos participantes en los grupos de estudio. Esto supona dos ventajas: por un lado y en relacin con la
cuestin antes mencionada del grado de alfabetizacin, se les facilitaba a
los grupos de estudio un contexto en el que, en caso necesario, se les poda ayudar a rellenar el cuestionario. Adicionalmente, esta estrategia permita remitir la informacin del grupo de estudio a la informacin del cuestionario y viceversa, puesto que ambos procedan de la misma poblacin.
Los datos obtenidos en esta etapa de la investigacin revelaron la
existencia de una compleja interrelacin entre la identidad tnica y la
relevancia y trascendencia de la afiliacin religiosa, as como claras evidencias de la importancia del sexo y de la generacin a la que pertenecan los miembros como variables fundamentales que operan en cada
una de las dos comunidades. El anlisis de la informacin ha puesto de
relieve la diferente historia y demografa de ambas comunidades y
coincide con las inquietudes tericas actuales de disgregar la experiencia de la inmigracin en un conceptualismo matizado ms generoso
y sensible de las comunidades de la dispora que conviven dentro del
contexto global contemporneo (HESSE, 1993; EADE, 1997).
A la vista de la amplia diversidad de experiencias e identidades en el
seno de las poblaciones objeto de estudio, tendramos que reconocer las
limitaciones de lo que este proyecto ha sido capaz de conseguir en relacin con su objetivo. Con los recursos disponibles, la metodologa de la
investigacin ha evidenciado suficientemente la complejidad de la creacin de la identidad y la relevancia de los medios de comunicacin en el
seno de dos comunidades tnicas minoritarias del Reino Unido muy diferentes. La amplia naturaleza de estas diferencias ha fomentado una
gran confianza en la idoneidad del marco de trabajo terico que apuntala este proyecto con objeto de que proporcione un slido repertorio
conceptual comn. Pero, al mismo tiempo, la riqueza del anlisis terico
y descriptivo que se deriva de esta informacin no debiera obscurecer el
hecho de que el presente estudio ha mostrado esencialmente un cuadro
pintado a grandes brochazos. Esto constituye en s mismo un hecho im-

LA NEGOCIACION DE IDENTIDADES EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA DIASPORA: LA POBLACION...

99

portante a la hora de poner en tela de juicio debates simplistas en torno


a la relevancia del Islam en el seno de las comunidades tnicas minoritarias y retratos simples complementarios acerca de la posicin de las comunidades de inmigrantes en Gran Bretaa. Esta investigacin ha
constatado la diversidad existente en el seno de las comunidades tnicas
minoritarias y la dinmica global-local que opera en el seno y que cruza
de lado a lado la mencionada diversidad. La explicacin de la creacin
de la identidad de la comunidad y del individuo ofrecida por este estudio ha demostrado la compleja interrelacin entre la realidad de los medios de comunicacin (APPADURAI, 1990) y la realidad social (ALBROW,
1997) en una topografa con mltiples estratos.
A fin de complementar el anlisis socio-cultural y poltico inherente a
los objetivos anteriores, este proyecto de investigacin persegua igualmente reconocer el substrato poltico-econmico del entorno de los medios de comunicacin de las comunidades objeto de estudio. Un enfoque
poltico-econmico de los medios de comunicacin constituye un nivel de
anlisis importante y slidamente fundamentado dentro de una investigacin de la comunicacin (GARNHAM, 1990; HERMAN/McCHESNEY,
1997). En el contexto del presente proyecto, este hecho nos ayuda a exponer los determinantes econmicos de la dimensin infraestructural de la
identidad tnica (WALLMAN, 1986). Dentro de los recursos de este proyecto, sta siempre podra ser nicamente una exposicin ilustrativa que
emplea modelos heursticos, ms que un estudio exhaustivo y global de
todos los medios de comunicacin significativos. Consecuentemente, se
seleccionaron modelos de estudio para cada caso de la totalidad del entorno de los medios de comunicacin que operan en cada rea investigada.
No obstante, una vez ms, las diferentes circunstancias de las dos
comunidades investigadas tuvieron un gran impacto en las maneras de
abordar las posibles vas de acercamiento para conseguir nuestro objetivo. El frtil entorno de los medios de comunicacin de la comunidad
pakistan nos permita elegir deliberadamente dentro de una amplia
gama de posibles objetos de estudio. En lo que hace referencia a la comunidad iran, el entorno de los medios de comunicacin era mucho
ms limitado y voltil.
2. Un mapa de la identidad tnica: el tiempo y el lugar
de la comunidad
En ambos lugares de estudio, la elaboracin del mapa de ambas
comunidades en relacin con sus respectivas demografas e historias
constitua una labor bsica para el proyecto. No se asumi que este re-

100

IDENTIDADES CULTURALES Y MINORIAS ETNICAS EN EUROPA

trato pudiese ser idntico al mapa de las identidades subjetivas actuales


de la comunidad (HUSBAND, 1996), el cual podra existir, no obstante, en el seno de dichas comunidades. Este fue el objetivo de la subsiguiente fase de la investigacin.
En Bradford disponamos de exhaustiva informacin demogrfica
sobre la poblacin pakistan. La ciudad de Bradford y el Consejo Metropolitano del Distrito cuentan con un departamento de urbanismo e investigacin muy activo, existiendo, por lo tanto, un conjunto de informacin estadstica que permite rastrear detalladamente el desarrollo
histrico de la poblacin pakistan, estadsticas que han servido asimismo para desarrollar sofisticadas proyecciones acerca de su futura demografa. Tras acceder a dicha informacin, nos ha sido posible dibujar
un retrato descriptivo detallado de la demografa de la poblacin pakistan en Bradford. Adems, existe una larga historia de investigacin acadmica sobre esta comunidad (SAIFULLAH-KHAN, 1976; SAMAD, 1992).
Por consiguiente, la revisin detallada de dicha literatura nos proporcion
un retrato descriptivo de la historia y la organizacin social de la mencionada poblacin.
El Distrito Metropolitano de Bradford es una de las principales conurbaciones del norte de Inglaterra y, al contrario de lo que sucede con
otras de las grandes ciudades, su poblacin sigue creciendo. Tras la primera migracin y asentamiento en la dcada de 1960, Bradford ha
contado durante las tres ltimas dcadas con una poblacin pakistan
significativa. En 1981 la poblacin pakistan ascenda a 34.116 personas,
siendo en el ao 1991 ya de 38.059 y se estima que en el ao 2011 ser
de unas 104.000 personas o, lo que es lo mismo, aproximadamente un
cuarto o ms del total de la poblacin de la ciudad. En la actualidad, la
comunidad pakistan supone ms del 10 % de la poblacin de Bradford; y el 50 % de la comunidad pakistan est formada por menores
de 18 aos. En trminos de espacio, la comunidad pakistan se concentra principalmente en las zonas urbanas ms deprimidas, de las cuales
dos distritos cuentan con una poblacin de ascendencia pakistan superior al 50 %, mientras que en otro distrito supera el 70 %. Esta concentracin en el espacio permite la presencia localizada de una importante
infraestructura de recursos de la comunidad tales como tiendas, organizaciones sociales y mezquitas. Significativamente, el parentesco y las
interconexiones religiosas representan importantes principios organizativos en el seno de la comunidad pakistan, proporcionando una base
tanto para la movilizacin institucional como para los grupos de amistad. La comunidad pakistan est compuesta predominantemente por
miembros de la clase trabajadora con una alta tasa de desempleo, especialmente entre los hombres jvenes, y muchos de ellos viven en zo-

LA NEGOCIACION DE IDENTIDADES EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA DIASPORA: LA POBLACION...

101

nas catalogadas por las autoridades locales como zonas de gran conflictividad social. Debido a incidentes tales como el caso Honeyford,
el caso Rushdie o la Guerra del Golfo, esta comunidad tiene una
sensacin de estar sujeta a un riguroso examen externo y a estereotipos hostiles por parte de organismos y portavoces de la comunidad
blanca mayoritaria; si no constituyen una comunidad acuciada por los
problemas, al menos s una colectividad con conciencia de su propia
identidad.
La mayora de los inmigrantes de Pakistn en Bradford proceda de
Mirpur y eran personas profundamente conservadoras provenientes de
una de las zonas ms subdesarrolladas del Pakistn rural. Las mezquitas
construidas en la primera fase del proceso de migracin y los asentamientos eran frecuentadas sin establecer distinciones de sectarismo,
casta o lugar de procedencia. Pero con la reunificacin familiar tuvo lugar un proceso de fisin, dando lugar a una segmentacin motivada
por razones sectarias, de casta y lugar de procedencia. Esto tuvo como
consecuencia la proliferacin de mezquitas, escuelas islmicas y organizaciones poltico-religiosas. La religin constituye un aspecto esencial
de la organizacin social en el seno de la comunidad pakistan. Las
mltiples divisiones dentro del Islam pueden observarse tambin en
Bradford, siendo los Shiahs, una especie de grupos Sunni que incluye
las rdenes de los Barelvi, Deoband, Jmat-i-Islami y Tabligh-i-Jamat y los
Sufi, uno de los ms activos en la ciudad. Estas divisiones religiosas internas se ven a menudo revestidas de identidades lingsticas y regionales, as, por ejemplo, una mezquita Barelvi puede tener su rgano de
direccin e Imn de una regin concreta y hablar un determinado idioma
o dialecto (SAMAD, 1998). A fin de contrarrestar esta fragmentacin y
con el activo apoyo del Consejo del Distrito Metropolitano de Bradford,
se constituy el Consejo de Mezquitas de Bradford como una especie
de presencia institucional coordinadora en la ciudad (SAMAD, 1992;
REX/SAMAD, 1996). Sin embargo, sera incorrecto asumir que el Consejo de Mezquitas de Bradford representaba a todas las corrientes de
opinin dentro del mundo musulmn en Bradford. Existen otra serie de
organizaciones de militantes, como el Hizb-ut-Tahrir, que tambin han
mostrado una gran actividad en la ciudad.
Es importante constatar que, como poblacin tnica minoritaria establecida y concentrada demogrficamente en Bradford, los miembros
de la comunidad pakistan poseen todos la nacionalidad britnica. Por
consiguiente, tanto en trminos jurdicos como en relacin con la percepcin de esta comunidad de su derecho a la igualdad de tratamiento, debe observarse que disfrutan del estatus de ciudadanos de pleno
derecho, as como de limitados derechos poli tnicos (KYMLICKA, 1995)

102

IDENTIDADES CULTURALES Y MINORIAS ETNICAS EN EUROPA

dimanados de la legislacin britnica sobre las relaciones entre razas


(consultar MACEWEN, 1994). Este es a todas luces un entorno poltico
diferente al que disfrutan otras minoras tnicas en otros estados multitnicos (WRENCH/SOLOMOS, 1993; HECKMAN/BOSSWICK, 1995).
Sin embargo es la separacin existente entre su experiencia de los derechos sustantivos y formales como ciudadanos (BRUBAKER, 1989) la que
les hace ser conscientes de su situacin en la sociedad britnica. Desventajas econmicas, discriminacin racial y un fuerte sentimiento de
estar permanentemente sujetos a la observacin del pas y el abuso
como indicador por antonomasia de la presencia musulmana en Gran
Bretaa han influido enormemente sobre las oportunidades en la vida y
la experiencia de los miembros de esta comunidad y podran considerarse como el origen de los disturbios que acontecieron en las zonas urbanas deprimidas de la ciudad en 1995 (BRADFORD COMMISSION REPORT, 1996).
3. Religiosidad e identidad
Con estos antecedentes, no resulta sorprendente comprobar que, a
diferencia de la comunidad iran de Londres, la mayora de los pakistanes que respondieron al cuestionario expresasen una afiliacin religiosa
distintiva. Esta identificacin religiosa, no obstante, tiene fuertes variaciones relacionadas con el sexo y la pertenencia a una determinada generacin. Por ejemplo, entre los hombres que se consideraban a s mismos como profundamente religiosos nicamente el 33 % era menor de
25 aos, mientras que entre aquellos que se consideraban como poco religiosos el 59 % era menor de 25 aos. Y si las comparamos con las cifras
de las mujeres, solamente el 16 % de las mujeres menores de 25 aos se
declaraba como muy religiosas, mientras que la cifra de mujeres menores de 25 aos que se consideraban como poco religiosas ascenda al
70 %. Sin embargo esta informacin ha de interpretarse con una cierta
dosis de cautela puesto que, como el anlisis descriptivo establece, esta
es una comunidad religiosa muy activa; y, por tanto, incluso aquellos
que se declaran poco religiosos y que no conservan las formas exigibles
a una prctica devota han de ser considerados como mucho ms religiosos que lo que establece la norma en la poblacin tnica mayoritaria. A pesar de estos comentarios, puede mantenerse la tesis de que la
informacin sugiere un mayor o menor nivel de religiosidad dependiendo de la edad, siendo los miembros mayores de la comunidad mucho
ms religiosos que sus homlogos ms jvenes. Para los miembros de
ms edad de la comunidad, el entendimiento del Islam se sita en el con-

LA NEGOCIACION DE IDENTIDADES EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA DIASPORA: LA POBLACION...

103

texto de una tradicin oral ntimamente relacionada con los rituales de


los ciclos de la vida. Este modo de islamismo se empapa de las tradiciones rurales y se ve inevitablemente influido por las prcticas no islmicas, que tiene un significado y se enmarcan en el contexto del Pakistn
que estas personas dejaron atrs ms que con el Pakistn contemporneo. Las tendencias autoritarias y patriarcales dentro de esta perspectiva pueden tener una poderosa sinergia con las convenciones culturales
del norte de Inglaterra. Los valores autoritarios y patriarcales presentes
en el seno del Islam conservador reproducido en Bradford tienen mucho en comn con el machismo norteo tpico de las clases trabajadoras de las zonas urbanas deprimidas de Yorkshire (ALI, 1992). Un
programa comn respecto al rol y al control de las mujeres podra facilitar especficamente una reproduccin de la versin cultural tradicional
del Islam entre los hombres ms jvenes, algo que podra no disfrutar
de una sntesis simblica similar para las mujeres ms jvenes que crecen en el contexto de un poderoso programa feminista dentro de la
cultura de la juventud britnica.
Las generaciones ms jvenes estn siendo, por un lado, educadas
en el contexto de esta tradicin oral, mientras que, al mismo tiempo,
por otro lado su entendimiento del Islam es textual y se deriva de fuentes escritas en ingls. Por lo tanto, los encuestados ms jvenes gravitan hacia un Islam ms ecumnico que minimiza las diferencias que
han sido tan acusadas entre las generaciones mayores. Adems, la informacin de los grupos de estudio revela que, entre las mujeres jvenes nacidas o criadas en Gran Bretaa, el entendimiento del Islam difiere tanto del de las generaciones anteriores como del de sus coetneos
masculinos. Mientras que los jvenes tienden a reproducir el espritu islmico patriarcal, con una poderosa fusin de machismo masculino tpico del norte, las mujeres jvenes estn desafiando este espritu de diversas maneras. Ms que cuestionar el Islam, lo que estas mujeres hacen
es poner en tela de juicio la interpretacin del Islam de su comunidad
como algo no islmico. Las conclusiones cualitativas muestran la existencia de diferencias significativas en torno al entendimiento del Islam
dependiendo del sexo y la generacin a la que se pertenece.
El papel de la religiosidad en las vidas de la comunidad pakistan
adquiere un nuevo significado cuando se examina la informacin que
revela las identificaciones que se han auto impuesto los encuestados.
Cuando se les preguntaba con qu calificativo ms se identificaran
personalmente, el trmino pakistan ha quedado ms asociado con las
generaciones de los ms mayores. Sin embargo, el trmino musulmn
como signo de identificacin era mucho ms frecuente entre las jvenes generaciones, tanto masculinas como femeninas. As, por ejemplo,

104

IDENTIDADES CULTURALES Y MINORIAS ETNICAS EN EUROPA

el 29 % de los hombres que se definan a s mismo como pakistanes


eran menores de 25 aos, mientras que el porcentaje suba hasta el
89 % entre aquellos menores de 25 aos que se consideraban a s mismos como musulmanes. Si comparamos estos datos con los de las
mujeres, el 11 % de las mujeres menores de 25 aos se defina como
pakistan mientras que aquellas que se consideraban musulmanas
constituan el 53 % de las mujeres menores de 25.
Estas conclusiones parecen contradecir evidencias anteriores en las
que la religiosidad estaba positivamente correlacionada con la edad. La
informacin en torno al grupo de estudio indica que el hecho de que
se califiquen como musulmanes no implica necesariamente religiosidad, sino que se relaciona con una transformacin de la identidad tnica dentro del contexto de la sociedad britnica. Para los miembros de
las generaciones ms mayores, las lealtades al clan y la tribu permanecen como algo muy real y el Islam constituye un marco inherente que
se ve subsumido en una identidad pakistan que queda reforzada en s
misma a travs de identidades lingsticas y del clan. Las jvenes generaciones carecen de la inmediatez de estas viejas afiliaciones y, quizs
viendo que es su identidad religiosa ms que su identidad nacional-tnica la que ms preocupa a la mayora de la poblacin, ven el trmino
musulmn como algo que tiene credibilidad poltica y social. Como
hemos visto, el Islam es tambin un vehculo a travs del cual estas generaciones estn negociando sus identidades de sexo y generacin
dentro de la comunidad pakistan. La informacin cualitativa seala
que para los jvenes de esta comunidad, que se ven superados por sus
hermanas en el sistema educativo y marginados en el mercado laboral,
la aseveracin de la identidad musulmana podra permitirles la reafirmacin de la ascendencia masculina reproducida dentro de la expresin
conservadora del Islam de la comunidad, as como la identificacin con
poderosas imgenes de militantes del Islam en cualquier parte del mundo. Para muchas jvenes, por el contrario, el auto identificarse como
musulmanas les permite invocar una identidad islmica devota que
pone al descubierto los aditamentos culturales pakistanes ilegtimamente usados para limitar sus libertades. Ms que desafiar al Islam, lo
que estas mujeres estn haciendo es afirmar el conocimiento textual
del Islam y, por consiguiente, criticar la interpretacin que hace su comunidad del Islam como algo no islmico. Desde esta perspectiva, tambin estn poniendo en duda la doble moral y la hipocresa de sus
compaeros. Por lo tanto, la informacin cualitativa pone de manifiesto
las significativas diferencias en el entendimiento del Islam y su incorporacin a una identidad musulmana segn el sexo y la lnea generacional a la que se pertenezca. Los hombres y mujeres jvenes se en-

LA NEGOCIACION DE IDENTIDADES EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA DIASPORA: LA POBLACION...

105

cuentran enfrascados en una hermenutica creativa en su utilizacin del


Islam con objeto de negociar su espacio sexual y generacional.
4. Medios de comunicacin e identidad
El abundante entorno de los medios de comunicacin que rodea a la
comunidad pakistan permite que se produzca una considerable fragmentacin de la audiencia. Las comunidades tnicas minoritarias en Gran
Bretaa estn bien atendidas por la prensa y la comunidad pakistan no
representa excepcin alguna. Adems de diarios como el Jang y el Asian
Age, existe una amplia variedad de peridicos semanales que incluyen el
Asian Times, el East and Eastern Eye. Y, a escala local, la lnea central del
Telegraph and Argus y del Yorkshire Post se ve complementada por el
Ravi, Awaz y el Pegham. En lo que hace referencia a la radio, adems de
las emisoras locales de la BBC y de emisoras comerciales que realizan moderados gestos hacia las audiencias tnicas minoritarias, existe una cadena llamada Sunrise Radio que se dirige especficamente a las audiencias
del sur de Asia, adems de la emisora pirata Asian Air que trabaja sin las
inhibiciones legales de las emisoras de radio legalmente establecidas. Las
pelculas en Bollywood hindi y los dramas en urdu pueden alquilarse fcilmente en cualquiera de la pltora de pequeas tiendas de alquiler de pelculas de vdeo diseminadas a lo largo de las pobladas reas de residencia de la comunidad pakistan. Adems, el operador local de televisin
por cable ofrece Asia Net y Zee TV. Por lo tanto, el entorno de la comunidad pakistan disfruta de una abundante infraestructura de medios de
comunicacin que ofrecen informacin y entretenimiento dirigidas a diferentes sensibilidades establecidas por la generacin, sexo, afiliacin poltica y dominio lingstico en el seno de la comunidad pakistan.
Las barreras lingsticas que encierran a algunos de los miembros de
las generaciones mayores en los medios de comunicacin en idiomas
asiticos como el vdeo, la televisin o la prensa en idiomas minoritarios,
son igualmente aplicables a las generaciones ms jvenes, que podran
desconocer el idioma de la comunidad y se sienten ms cmodos hablando en ingls. Este filtro lingstico supone un factor determinante
fundamental del modelo que se revela de la utilizacin del medio de comunicacin. Dentro de la prensa minoritaria, los lectores del Jang, predominantemente en el idioma urdu, pertenecen principalmente a las generaciones ms mayores, mientras que el lector del Eastern Eye, en ingls,
es mucho ms joven. Por supuesto, concurren otras circunstancias adems de las variables lingsticas, puesto que el Jang apela ms a aquellos
que estn ms preocupados con los sucesos actuales en el subcontinen-

106

IDENTIDADES CULTURALES Y MINORIAS ETNICAS EN EUROPA

te indio, mientras que el Eastern Eye atrae a aquellos cuyos horizontes


quedan ms determinados por Gran Bretaa y Europa. De hecho, diversas entrevistas con los equipos editoriales de la prensa del sur de Asia
mostraban este hecho como una clara base de la poltica editorial, as el
Jang se centra deliberadamente en Pakistn mientras que el Eastern Eye
es deliberada y globalmente asitico y, sin embargo, se centra mucho
ms en las noticias britnicas y europeas. El tamao y la concentracin
en la ubicacin territorial de las comunidades del sur de Asia en Gran
Bretaa han convertido a estas poblaciones en mercados comerciales
viables para los medios de comunicacin dirigidos a audiencias formadas
por minoras tnicas especficas; esta es una certeza absoluta en el caso
de la comunidad pakistan de Bradford. En gran medida, la comunidad
britnica del sur de Asia constituye un emplazamiento extraterritorial en
el que la poltica indgena del subcontinente asitico florece entre las comunidades de la dispora establecidas desde hace tiempo. Por tanto, en
lo que se refiere a la prensa, este hecho define tanto las audiencias como
potenciales nuevas fuentes. Por ejemplo, en el Jang la mayor parte de las
noticias proceden directamente de edicin matriz en karachi. La tecnologa moderna y la capacidad de los conglomerados de los medios de comunicacin para subvencionar las diferentes actividades conforman elementos crticos para la diversidad de los medios de comunicacin a los
que puede acceder la comunidad pakistan de Bradford.
La edad y el sexo constituan aspectos relevantes a la hora de determinar los hbitos en la utilizacin de los medios de comunicacin y las
conclusiones indicaban que el consumo de los medios de comunicacin
dominantes estaba ampliamente generalizado a travs de la muestra.
Como puede inferirse de todo lo dicho anteriormente, los jvenes hacen
ms uso de los medios de comunicacin dominantes, tanto audiovisuales como impresos, que las generaciones anteriores. Para estas ltimas
las sensibilidades religiosas constituan un factor potencial determinante
a la hora de consumir un medio de comunicacin. Los estudios de los
casos revelaron las potentes economas productivas que sostenan las
operaciones de los medios de comunicacin escritos, pudiendo encontrar algunos ejemplos de conexiones tcnicas y financieras internacionales fundamentales para la viabilidad de sus negocios.
5. Conclusin
El anlisis comparativo de la informacin demuestra la compleja interaccin del sexo y la pertenencia a una generacin a la hora de desarrollar la expresin de la conciencia tnica. El contexto socio-econmi-

LA NEGOCIACION DE IDENTIDADES EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA DIASPORA: LA POBLACION...

107

co en el que los jvenes pakistanes que han participado en la encuesta


estn negociando sus identidades queda reflejado en la articulacin de
su edad y sexo con el Islam y las convenciones de la comunidad. Estos
datos dibujan una situacin muy dinmica en la cual los medios de comunicacin proporcionan opciones personalmente relevantes dentro del
mundo de los medios que reflejan diferentes perspectivas polticas, geogrficas y culturales. El perodo de asentamiento y el perfil demogrfico
de la comunidad pakistan hacen posible una gran diversidad de medios
de comunicacin, los cuales son parte de una infraestructura comercial
trasnacional en la que los diferentes conglomerados pueden subvencionar a los medios de comunicacin y crear importantes economas a escala por medio de la explotacin mltiple de las noticias y del entretenimiento. La actividad de estos medios de comunicacin minoritarios est
provocando la creacin de un entorno de los medios de comunicacin
cada vez ms sofisticado y cambiante. La demografa de la comunidad
pakistan ha construido en su propio seno una lgica de cambio necesaria en tanto que el dominio lingstico del lenguaje de la comunidad
cambia con el tiempo a la vez que una nueva cohorte de gente joven
negocia su propia afiliacin a las tendencias culturales y polticas de Pakistn, Cachemira o Gran Bretaa. La poltica de identidad actual de la
construccin de los lmites de una comunidad tnica minoritaria, as
como la concentracin territorial, parecen garantizar, con toda probabilidad, unos medios de comunicacin tnicos minoritarios esenciales dentro de un futuro predecible.
Bibliografa
AHMED, A.S. (1992): Postmodernism and Islam, Routledge, Londres.
ALBROW, M. (1997): Travelling beyond local cultures: socioscapes in a global
city. En: Living the Global City, ed. J. EADE, Routledge, Londres, pp. 37-55.
ALI, Y. (1992): Muslim women and the politics of ethnicity and culture in
Northern England. En: Refusing holy orders: women and fundamentalism
in Britain, ed. G. SAHGAL and N. YUVAL-DAVIS, Virago, Londres.
ANSARI, A. (1988): Iranian immigrants in the United States, Associated Faculty
Press.
APPADURAI, A. (1990): Disfuncture and difference in the global cultural economy.
En: Theory, culture and society, vol. 7, pp. 295-310.
APPADURAI, A. (1996): Modernity at large: cultural dimensions of globalisation,
University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
BRADFORD COMMISSION REPORT (1996): Report of an inquiry into the wider implications of public disorders in Bradford, The Stationery Office, Londres.
BRAH, A. (1996): Cartographies of displacement, Routledge, Londres.

108

IDENTIDADES CULTURALES Y MINORIAS ETNICAS EN EUROPA

BRUBAKER, W.R. (1989): Immigration and the politics of citizenship in Europe


and North America, University Press of America, Nueva York.
COHEN, R. (1997): Global diasporas, UCL Press, Londres.
COTTLE, S. (1997): Television and ethnic minorities: producers perspectives, Avebury, Aldershot.
DOWNING, J.; HUSBAND, C. (forthcoming): Media, ethnicity and the construction
of difference: monitoring the impact of the media in a multi-ethnic world.
En: International media monitoring, ed. K. NORDENSTRENG and M. GRIFFIN,
Hampton Press, Crosskill NJ.
EADE, J. (1997): Living the global city, Routledge, Londres.
FEATHERSTONE, M. (1995): Undoing culture, Sage, Londres.
GARNHAM, N. (1990): Capitalism and communication, Sage, Londres.
GILLESPIE, M. (1995): Television, ethnicity and cultural change, Routledge, Londres.
GILROY, P. (1993): The black Atlantic, Verso, Londres.
HANNERZ, U. (1996): Transnational connections, Routledge, Londres.
HARTMANN, P./HUSBAND, C. (1974): Racism and the Mass Media, Davis-Poynter,
Londres.
HECKMANN, F.; BOSSWICK, W. (1995): Migration policies: a comparative perspective, Enke, Stuttgart.
HERMAN, E.S.; MCCHESNEY, R.W. (1997): The global media, Cassell, Londres.
HESSE, V. (1993): Black to front and black again: racialisation through contested times and spaces. En: Place and the politics of identity, ed. M. KEITH
and S. PILE, Routledge, Londres.
HUSBAND, C. (1994): A richer vision: the development of ethnic minority media
in western democracies, UNESCO/John Libby, Londres.
HUSBAND, C. (1996): Defining and containing diversity: community, ethnicity
and citizenship. En: Race and community care, ed. W.I.U. AHMAD and
K. ATKIN, Open University Press, Buckingham.
JACKSON, P.; PENROSE, J. (1993): Constructions of race, place and nation, UCL
Press, Londres.
KEITH, M.; PILE, S. (1993): Place and the politics of identity, Routledge, Londres.
KYMLICKA, W. (1995): Multicultural citizenship, Clarendon, Oxford.
LAVIE, S.; SWEDENBURG, T. (1996): Displacement, diaspora and geographies of
identity, Duke University Press, Carolina del Norte.
LEWIS, P. (1994): Islamic Britain, I.B. Tauris, Londres.
MACEWEN, M. (1994): Anti-discrimination law in Great Britain. En: New Community, vol. 2 n. 3 pp. 353-370.
MODOOD, T.; BERTHOUD, R. et al. (1997): Ethnic minorities in Britain, Policy Studies Institute, Londres.
RADHAKRISHNAN, R. (1996): Diasporic mediations, University of Minnesota Press,
Minneapolis.
REX, J.; MASON, D. (1986): Theories of race and ethnic relations, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
REX, J.; SAMAD, Y. (1996): Multiculturalism and political integration in Birmingham
and Bradford. En: Innovation, vol. 9. n. 1.

LA NEGOCIACION DE IDENTIDADES EN EL CONTEXTO DE LA DIASPORA: LA POBLACION...

109

ROBERTSON, R. (1992): Globalisation, Sage, Londres.


ROSS, K. (1996): Black and white media, Polity Press, Oxford.
SAIFULLAH-KHAN, V. (1976): Pakistanis in Britain: perceptions of a population.
En: New community, 5, (3), pp. 222-9.
SAMAD, Y. (1992): Book burning and race relations: political mobilisation of
Bradford Muslims. En: New community, 18 (4), pp. 507-519.
SAMAD, Y. (1998): Multiculturalism, Muslims and the media: Pakistanis in Bradford. Working Paper, ESPR Bradford University.
SREBERNY-MOHAMMADI, A.; ROSS, K. (1995): Black minority viewers and television:
neglected audiences speak up and out, CMCR.
TURNER, B.S. (1994): Orientalism, postmodernism and globalism, Routledge,
Londres.
VAN DIJK, T.A. (1991): Racism and the press, Routledge, Londres.
WALLMAN, S. (1986): Ethnicity and the boundary process in context. En: Theories of race and ethnic relations, ed. J. REX and D. MASON, CUP, Cambridge.
WERBNER, P.; MODOOD, T. (1997): Debating cultural hybridity, Zed, Londres.
WRENCH, J.; SOLOMOS, J. (1993): Racism and migration in Western Europe, Berg,
Oxford.
YOUNG, R.J.C. (1995): Colonial desire: hybridity in theory, culture and race,
Routledge, Londres.

GEOGRAPHICALIA (1996),33, 147-165

MINORAS TNICAS EN EL REINO UNIDO.


EJEMPLO DE SHEFFIELD

Teresa RICA PREZ

Becaria Erasmus del Departamento de Geografa y Ordenacin del Territorio


Universidad de Zaragoza

Resumen: El estudio de las minoras tnicas establecidas en las grandes ciudades


europeas preocupa a los gegrafos, economistas, socilogos y polticos por las
implicaciones de todo orden que las minoras tnicas tienen en la vida colectiva. El
estudio de estas minoras en la ciudad de Sheffield (Reino Unido), pone de
manifiesto la diversidad tnica, demo rfica, socio-econmica y cultural e incluso
espacial de su poblacin, todo ?o cual constituye un componente n u y
representativo de la nueva sociedad que se est configurando en las reas urbanas
europeas como resultado de la inmigracin.
Palabras
espacial.

clave: Minoras

tnicas, migraciones, segregacin/concentracin

Abstract:: The study of the ethnic minority communities in the city of Sheffield
shows the ethnic, demographic, socio-economicand culturel diversity, what is more
the spatial diversity of her population. These constitute a very representative
component of the new society which is forming in the european urbane
metropolitan areas/regions as a result of the immigration.
Key Words: Ethnic minority
segregation/concentration.

communities,

the

migrations,

spatial

INTRODUCCION
La movilidad espacial de la poblacin constituye hoy un aspecto de
importancia fundamental en la Geografa de la Poblacin como determinante de
procesos de crecimiento o declive en ciudades, regiones o incluso pases, bien a travs
de la movilidad residencial, o indirectamente por sus efectos en el crecimiento natural,
y por tanto en la estructura y composicin de la poblacin, as como por su incidencia en
diversos aspectos de la vida cotidiana: mercado de viviendas, servicios, economa,
etc. (CHAMPION & FIELDING, 1992).

148

T.RICA PREZ

El carcter heterogneo de la poblacin de las ciudades europeas desde el punto


de vista de su composicin es el resultado de diversas fases inmigratorias, cuyas causas
son demogrficas y socioeconmicas, y dan origen a diferentes grados de integracin
social y espacial. Como aportacin al estudio de las minoras tnicas en Europa
presentamos el ejemplo de Sheffield (R.U.)
Los flujos migratorios han configurado en algunos pases, como sucede en el Reiiio
Unido, una poblacin heterognea cuyas caractersticas tnicas se recogen en el censo.
A una mayora de poblacin, censada como Wliite, se suman, en proporciones variables,
diversos gnipos tnicos, ampliamente representados en las reas urbanas. La
declaracin de pertenencia a un grupo tnico concreto constituye, pues un elemento ms
de caracterizacin de la poblacin en el Censo de 1991.
Ejemplo de esa heterogeneidad que se refleja en el Censo de poblacin britnico
de 1991, es la ciudad de Sheffield donde junto a un grupo mayoritario que representa e l
94'96% de la poblacin total, denominado White, hay una serie de minoras
configuradas por etnias originarias de pases africanos, asiticos y americanos1.
Sin embargo, la denominacin tnica no coincide siempre con el lugar de
nacimiento, pues en todos los grupos censados, se encuentran personas nacidas dentro y
fuera del Reino Unido, cuyo origen tnico evidencia una importante movilidad
internacional.
Es sabido que la movilidad de la poblacin puede clasificarse atendiendo a su
duracin, razones que la provocan, personas y reas afectadas, etc. Estas categoras m
son excl~~yentes,
pues hay migraciones efmeras y definitivas, voluntarias y forzosas,
rpidas y lentas, en masa o individuales y espont'keas u organizadas, segin sean l a s
circunstancias personales de los desplazados. No obstaiite, hay dos tipos principales
de motivaciones que impulsan los flujos de poblacin: econmicas y socio-polticas. Las
primeras ligadas, sobretodo, a la bsqueda de mejores oporhinidades laborales, y l a s
segundas, a conflictos que pueden ir vinculados a enfrentamientos blicos.

Poblacin ii~cludaen los grupos triicos considerados en el Censo de poblacin del Reirio Unido, el1 1991 :
- White: Wlzitc (griegos, turcos, otros europeos) y Wiiite niistos.
- Black-Caribbean: del Caribe, Guyai-ia e Indias Occideritales.
- Black-Africari: del coritinente africaiio (excepto del Norte de Africa).
- Black-Other: Blnck ( ingleses y otros), Blilck/Wliite, Blrick "niixtus".
- Iridian: Hi~ides.
- Pakistani: Pakistaiies.
- Barigladeshi: Bangladesis.
- Cliinese: Cliinos.
- Other Asian.
- Otros: Norte de Africa, Arabia o Irari, Wliite/Blnck/Wiiite de Asin.

149

Minoras tnicas en el Reino Unido. Ejemplo de Sheffield

En ocasiones las relaciones histricas y polticas tradicionalmente existentes


entre el lugar de origen -colonias- y el de destino de los migrantes -metrpolis-, h a n
sido un factor importante, aunque no exclusivo, de la movilidad internacional. EI7 e l
caso del Reino Unido, los lazos histricos desempean un papel de primer orden puesto
que lia sido una nacin colonizadora, que ha atrado hacia s inmigrantes desde l a s
colonias con flujos variables en su carcter e intensidad a lo largo del tiempo. En los
ltimos cincuenta aos, cabra identificar los mximos flujos migratorios hacia e l
Reino Unido en tres 'olas de movimiento' en las que se diferencian varios procesos (Fig.

1).
Migracin
de
trabajadores

Reunificacin
familiar
2

Movimiento
Post-industrial
3
xjaores de
cualificacin

"
/

"
/

Solicitantes
de Asilo

Tiempo
Figura 1.-Oleadas de inmigracin internacional en ciudades europeas.
Fuente: WHITE (1993).
Despus de la 11 Guerra Mundial, el Reino Unido ha soportado dos grandes olas
de inmigraciones internacionales: la "Migracin de trabajadores" (Labour migration);
y la "De reunificacin familiar" (The family reunification). En la actualidad se est
produciendo la llamada "Ola de movimiento post-industrial "(The zvnve of the postindl~strinlmovement).
La cresta de la primera ola se alcanz entre 1950 y 1970, y se caracterizaba por
sus conexioiies coloniales y la gran diversidad de procedencia de los inmigrantes. Se
trataba fundamentalmente de trabajadores que dejaron a sus familias en el pas de
origen. La segunda ola comenz hacia 1970, producindose en muchos casos en un corto
espacio de tiempo. Y la tercera, conocida como "De movimiento post-industrial", que
se est produciendo actualmente, presenta, a su vez, tres corrientes principales: la de

150

T.RICA PREZ

trabajadores de alta cualificacibn, las migraciones clandestinas, y las migraciones de


refugiados procedentes del Este de Europa y de pases subdesarrollados.
Las principales comunidades tnicas establecidas en el Reino Unido no llegaron
simultneamente. Los inmigrantes de origen afro-caribeo llegaron masivamente entre
1955 y 1960 para suplir la falta de mano de obra en la industria del acero y en otros
sectores; los procedentes de Pakistn haban comenzado a llegar antes de la Segunda
Guerra Mundial, aunque el mximo de entradas se produjo de 1950 a 1960.
En los diferentes pases de la Unin Europea, el rasgo comn de las migraciones
es que los inmigrados se asientan principalmente en las grandes ciudades y en las
regiones industriales. Y lo mismo sucede con la inmigracin clandestina, que tiene en
las ciudades ms oportunidades de encontrar un trabajo y de confundirse entre l a
poblacin total.
La presencia de inmigrantes origina en las reas receptoras tres respuestas
diferentes: a) una aparente asimilacin y disolucin de la propia identidad; b) l a
formacin de grupos tnicos que se constituyen como grupo diferente de la poblacin
mayoritaria; y c) el desarrollo de una sociedad pluralista.

A medida que ha ido aumentando el nrnero de inmigrantes se ha podido


comprobar que no hay coincidencia entre ios deseos de los mismos y las polticas de
inmigracin que generalmente son contradictorias, como se ha puesto de manifiesto en
los acuerdos tomados en la Unin Europea:"El establecimiento de Lm mercado nico
interno conlleva factores financieros y comerciales a expensas de los derechos
hu~i-ianos"(BAIMBRIDGE, 1994).

POBLACION TOTAL Y GRUPOS ETNICOS


El Censo de 1991 registra en la ciudad de Sheffield una poblacin inscrita t o t a 1
de 501.202 habitantes, en los que se diferencian varios grupos tnicos. Presentar una
clasificacin tnico-racial no es habitual en censos realizados en otros pases como
Espaa, aunque s en el Reino Unido.

Eri la ciudad de Sheffield, el grupo tnico denominado Wlzite con 475.977


habitantes es claramente mayoritario mientras el 5'04% restante de la poblacin, lo
constituyen otros grupos tnicos: Blnck Cnribbcnlz, Black Afuicnn, Other Blaclc, Ilzdinlz,
Pakistnlzi, Bnnglndeshi, Cizinese, Other Asinlz, Otller Etlllzic G r o ~ l p sy Born ilz Irelnlzd,
siendo conocidos, debido a su menor presencia numrica, como minoras tnicas (Ethizic
r?iilzovit;y coiiiniu~zities)(Fig. 2).

152

T.RICA PREZ

La superioridad en nmero del primer grupo no debe restar importancia a l a


elevada diversidad tnica que caracteriza a la poblacin de la ciudad, y que influye
de modo evidente en las tendencias actuales de la evolucin demogrfica que son muy
contrastadas, con tendencia al estancamiento y envejecimiento en el grupo
predominante, y conservando un carcter joven los grupos minoritarios.
Entre los grupos minoritarios destacan por su nmero los llamados Pnkistnni y los
Blncls Cnribbenn que son el 30'98% y el 17'46% respectivamente del total de poblacin
de las minoras tnicas, mientras que el resto de los grupos varan desde el mnimo del
3'30% de Otlzer Asinn hasta un 12'55% de Other Ethlzic Groiips.
Atendiendo al lugar de nacimiento, sin tener en cuenta la clasificacin tnica
establecida en el censo de la poblacin de Sheffield, se aprecia que la proporcin de
nacidos en el Reino Unido, incluyendo los nacidos en la Repblica de Irlanda y en otras
islas britnicas, es muy elevada alcanzando al 96'30%. Eso nos permite conocer e l
nmero real de entradas que, segn el ltimo censo, significan solamente el 3'70/0 de 1a
poblacin total, o lo que es lo mismo 18.553 habitantes.
De stos, los nacidos en territorios de la Commonwelth, un total de 11.465
personas, son los ms numerosos seguidos, a cierta distancia, por los nacidos en Europa,
3.141, en pases asiticos, 2.086, y africanos, 999. De los procedentes de l a
Commonwelth ocupan un lugar importante los de Pakistii, 4.296 personas, seguidos de
los de Jamaica, 2.007, India, 1.070, y Bangladesh, 664, y entre los de otras procedencias
destacan los procedentes de Alemania, 111; Repblica de Sudfrica, 285; EE.UU, 385, y
Repblica Popular China, 339 personas.
En ambos casos, bien segn la clasificacin tnico-racial del censo o segn el lugar
de iiacimieiito, sobresale como grupo tnico relativamente homogneo, el Wlzite, con
personas en su mayora nacidas en el Reino Unido, frente a la gran diversidad de las
llamadas minoras tnicas entre las que destacan las Comunidades Blnck Caribbeniz y
Pnkistn~zi.
En sntesis, las categoras ms representadas en los grupos tnicos son:
-Los nacidos en el Reino Unido en los denominados White ya que representan e 1
98'2'X~ de toda la poblacin de este grupo tnico y Other Blnck, ya que e l
94'21/0 de la poblacin de este ltimo grupo tnico ha nacido en U.K.
-Los nacidos f ~ ~ edel
r a Reino Unido entre los grupos Other Asinn, Clzinese, Blnck
Afuicnlz, Baizglndeshi, e Iizdinlz, representan el 80'51%, 7'5,29741, 65'89%,
61'52% y 60'67% respectivamente del total de poblacin de cada grupo.

Minoras tnicas en el Reino Unido. Ejemplo de Sheffield

153

-Con proporcin equivalente de nacidos fuera y en el Reino Unido, Blaclc


Caribbean (45'34"% de la poblacin de este grupo tnico ha nacido fuera y
54'66% l-ia nacido en U.K) y Palcistnni (48'2% d e la poblacin de este grupo ha
nacido fuera y 51'8% ha nacido en el Reino Unido).
Las procedencias son pues equivalentes en los dos grupos tnicos minoritarios ms
representados, Blaclc Cavibbean y Pnkistani, mientras otros gn~posms minoritarios
apoyan su poblacin, unas veces, en la alta proporcin de llegadas como sucede con 1a
Coinzazidad Clzinn ,y otras en los nacidos en el Reino Unido como el grupo tnico Othcr
Blaclc. Todo lo cual configura un mosaico heterogneo con implicaciones de todo orden.

CARACTERISTICAS DEMOGRAFICAS DE LOS GRUPOS ETNICOS


Un rasgo fundamental que diferencia el gmpo Wlzite y el de las Comunidades
consideradas minoritarias es su perfil demogrfico. La estructura demogrfica podra
calificarse de estable en el primero, siendo por el contrario irregular en los otros
grupos, lo cual tiene mucho que ver con la inmigracin. Pero su perfil estructural no es
uniforme ya que cada 'Comunidad tnica' se l-ia constitudo como resultado d e
corrientes de entrada ocurridas en momentos diferentes y generadas en un contexto
poltico, econmico y social tambin diferente, y tienden a conservar XI perfil
estructural originario, al menos durante un par de generaciones (Fig. 3 ) .

El mayor equilibrio numrico entre los diferentes grupos de edades diferencia e 1


perfil estructural del grupo W h i t e , afectado, a sti vez, por una base regresiva y tuia
sobrerrepresentacin de los grupos de 20 a 24 y de 25 a 29 aos, como resultado d e l
mayor nmero de nacimientos ocurridos en la dcada de los 60. Todas las Comunidades
consideradas minoras tnicas se caracterizan por pirmides muy irregulares,
destacando en algunos casos los mximos valores en los grupos de edades ms jvenes,
lo que puede considerarse como una prueba de perfil progresivo, o lo que es lo mismo, e 1
hecho de que la poblacin joven est presente en mayor proporcin que la poblacin
adulta y d e mediana edad. Esto sucede en las Comunidades Bnngladeshi, Black Other,
Otlier Etlznic Grotlps y Pnlcistani, como resultado de la conjuncin de varios procesos:
a.- De Lrn lado, por la reagrupacin familiar de trabajadores anteriormente
inmigrados lo que dio origen a una segunda generacin de inmigrantes e
incluso a una tercera, como es el caso de la Comt~nidadPnlcistnn,

b.-De otro, como resultado de movimientos de familias de exiliados que h a n


mantenido una alta natalidad -como es el caso de la Comtinidlzd Somnl-.
WHITE

PAKISTANI

*/o

*/o

CHINESE

BANGLADESHI

BLACK CARIBBEAN

BORN i
h' IRELAND

Figura 3.- Estructura demogrfica en grupos tnicos de la ciudad de Sheffield


Fuente: Censo, 1991.

Irwaqq!nw3 y3wlg aJ+ua ~opadnssa sauoxeil ap o x a q u la seJ+uarur ' O / ~ ~ Zap


; , ~saPanb
p1agjays ap Telo+uoyseiqod e1 ap e1 ua oysnur esad pepyugnsseur ap ogex ns esolauiiu
syur e1 sa a q y M peprunuro3 e1 ouos .sapepyuniuo3 seyxp ua oxas o ~ +iio out1 ap
uo!se~qod e1 ap an!+es!jru2rs u~~se+uasa~da~xaxqos
o+ue+~ o dLey o~ . . s d l t o ~ g 3 i u y j ~
,lati?O exed 0/"06,9c; ii u u t s y nay?o e ~ e dy08Z,LP ax+ua qysso epeilxasqo (euqnsseur
or+ex-xas)pep!uqnssem ap uo!se~a~
e 7 .a+ua~enynba
sa or+ex-xase1 'sesyu+a sejxourur
se1 ap pepa ap s o d d so1 aqua s a + u e ~ ~ o dses!x?urnu
m~
sersuaJajrp ey rs
~ s e j ~ e +sapep~unuro-~
~ ~ o u ~ ~ se1 ap seuii21e u o l s ~ o d o ~~oeur
d
ua ue+uans
q s pepa
m,ie aiib e1 uo;, uailo! uoyse1qod e1 exed sopesasau so1 IepInssap oTIa ~ o d
szur ap uoyse~qoda+uarsaxsesa exed sorsyilJas ap o+uamneo exokm eun a+uaueFIesasau
~ e a + u eanb
~ d ysqey 'pepnrs e1 ap [e+o+uqrse-[qode1 ap 0/"96,@6[a sa apqM pep!unuro-~
e 1 anb sowrpep olla e rs .uolselqod e1 ap o$uarurrsalailua xod elsuapuadap e1 ua
o+uaurneun d oqxoxd o ~ i q un
q ua a?!qM pepyunwo3 e1 ua ehqse uoyse~qodap esp~oa+
uorsrsods!p xouam e m esljyu2rs osa .coge 21 ap Jouaur uanol ugse~qodap O A , O ~ , L~ coge
~9 z 91 ap uoyse~qodap 0/"9~,09
uos e!pauxa$uy uorslsod eun aua!+uem apqM pep~unuro3
~
( s o y ~9 e 91) so+Tnpzap "A,~L,z;L
d
e? .-[e+o+
uorse~qodns e o ~ s a d s aa+uauren~+sadca~
y o ~ ~la, uos
s ~'so3!?w!sv s o s ? xod
~ opjn+r+suosodnx2 1a wu!113 p u p ! u ' ~ u ~ oe1
3 ua apasiis
ouos e b q sa uoyseIal e$sa sapep!unuro3 sex+oua anb sequarur 'a$uaureil~+sadsax
%86,5
d "/,~L,EP' % z ; s , ~1a
c ; t1o~se1qodap sa-[e+o+
sns e o ~ s a d s aseI-[a
~ ap eun epes ua e+uasaxdax
so?
e O ap uorse~qode1 ' u a ~ ouorse~qod
l
ns sa anb epenaia 01 e oprqap '~ysa"pl8uug
! L L U ? S ~'y3wlg
U ~ fiq?o so1 uesqsap epenala seur ersuapuadap ap sauorse1ax
silm-t ue+uasaxd anb sapepyunuo3 se1 aJ+ug .epysa[ailua o e+Inpe 'uailol uor2illqod
ilun a q m o p a ~ d+as
sa1en2rsap iinw uos epuapuadap ap sauorse1ax se?
.seau?2ouroy
sesgsjJa+sexes~ o d
s o s q ? sodnB so1 ap o+sas -[e xedn~2eapai-td as ou 'uorse~qod e1
ap o+sal la anb o+uayur~sa~ailua
le elsuapua* xoeur uos a[qe+saseur 'aptiM pepIunuo3
e 1 e ersuaJajrp anb o2se~~aurrsdun ap x e ~ q ~apand
y
as anbunz 'opour asa a a
.ougsap ap sjed Ta ua e soprseu o ~royse.raua2epuii2as e1 ~ o o+sa~iduros
d
gsa
uailo[ syur la d ' s e ~ + s n p ~se1
r r ua e ~ q oap omur ap zasessa e1 ~ o dep:e~+e09 1c 0s s o p
so1 ap 1eysru! epealo e1 uos esljl+uap: as pepa seur ap o d d 19 .coge 6 z - s ~ap d 6s-0s
ap sodii~2so1 ua uep as soulxyw so1 'eqo sa uoysen+rse1 'uuaqqznw3-y~wlgpepyunuro3 e1
ap oses la q .soyxe+rsmAruiisolpi-t$sasns Jezrleax e oprun ourax le uapnse ai-tb soqys
sa+ueypn+saap epequa e1 xod uex[dxa as 'oplun ou!ax 1a ua sopysetr ou so[ ap oxaurnu
opeilala Ie oppn 'euly~)pep-iiuro3 e1 ua ~ E - OiISs o p PZ-OZ;ap uo:se~qodap soqxym
souaurouaj ap opeqnsax ouros 'sopeseJsap syur so1
so1 jsv 'uo~sn~oila ua sa~e~nsqxed
uoc ou sauanol s ~ sapepa
u
ap sodnx2 so1 'sdizong u u ! s v r a q j o d L L W ~ ~ L &~ 3 w l g'uwaqqlnw3
y3ulg ' ! 7 p ~ ! H ' U L L ! Z ~ -~J U ~ ! L L ~e1~ /sapep1unuro3
I U O ~
s e ~ + oua 'o21vqura uys

156

T. RICA PREZ

(51188%),Blaclc AfYicniz (55'31%>),e Indiatz (51157%),debido a las caractersticas de


la inmigracin.
En resumen, se puede hablar de diferencias demogrficas contrastadas entre 1a
poblacinwhite y los diversos p p o s tnicos minoritarios producto de las principales
corrientes inmigratorias a las que se suman las nuevas geiieraciones ya nacidas en e l
pas.

CARACTERISTICAS SOCIALES, ECONOMICAS Y CULTURALES


Las denominadas minoras tiiicas presentan algunas particularidades desde e l
punto de vista de sus caractersticas socioeconmicas y socioculturales:
Se reconocen rasgos diferenciales por sus caractersticas socioeconmicas entre
los grupos tnicos as como la evoluciii de los mismos desde la primera a la segunda
generacin (los nacidos en el Reino Unido ms los que llegaron al pas con menos de
cinco aos).
En lo que se refiere al estado civil es frecuente encontrar en algunos gmpos, como
sucede coi1 las Comunidades Wlzite o Blnck-Cnribbenn, situaciones de colznbitncitz y
sepnraciones iiiatri~iioizinles,que son en cambio inusuales en algunos gmpos de origen
asitico como el Pnkistnizi y Bnnglndeslzi, especialmente por lo que se refiere a las
mujeres. En el fondo se trata de un comportamiento de raz cultural, que ha sido
constante tanto en la primera como en la segunda generacin. En otras categoras de
estado civil como las de cnsndos y solteros, tiende a descender el nmero de casados y a
aumentar el de solteros tanto en los asiticos, en particular las segundas generaciones
(Pnkistnnies, Hitzd~ese hijos de Bnnglndeshis), como en la comunidad Wlzite .
Por lo que se refiere a la unidad familiar tambin hay diferencias entre gmpos
hiicos puesto que i~~ntrii~io~zio
con hijos son ms frecuentes entre Pakistanes,
Bangladeshis e Hindes que en los Wlzite, Cnribben~zy Black-African, ya que mantienen
los comportainientos reproductivos de sus lugares de origen.
Finalmente, atendiendo a la frecuencia de uiiioiies intertnicas, estas se llevan a
cabo en mayor medida eiitre los Cnribbenlz ywizite, que entre stos e Hit~dues,
Pnlcistanes o Bntzglndeshis. Hay por tanto menor propensin a uniones iiitertnicas en
algunas Comunidades, as las mujeres de origen Hitzdl, Pnkistniz y Bnnglndeslzi no se
~ u i e n habitualmeiite
con miembros de la ComuiiidadWhite, probablemente por
"reparos" culturales.

Minoras tnicas en el Reino Unido. Ejemplo de Sheffield

157

-SHEFFIELD 1991-

Total

70.1

29.9

(~otal

47.82

52.18

-POBLACION MASCULINA ACTIVA E INACTIVA-

OACTIVOS
SINACTIVOS

-GRUPOS ETNICOS-

-POBLACION FEMENINA ACTIVA E INACTIVA-

70

O ACTIVOS
INACTIVOS

60

so
40
30

20
10

-GRUPOS ETNICOS

Figura 4.- Poblacin activa e inactiva por sexos en los grupos tnicos.
Fuente: Sheffield Census-1991. Elaboracin propia.

158

T.RICA PREZ

Desde el punto de vista de sus caractersticas econmicas, el estudio de 1a


poblacin activa e inactiva en los gmpos tnicos minoritarios pone de manifiesto q ~ ~
las mayores proporciones de poblacin activa masculina se encuentran en l a
Comunidad Blnclc Cnribbenn (76'54%), Blnclc Other (80139%), Pnkistnni( 71 '18%) y
Wlzite (70'18%), a cierta distancia de los valores ms bajos en las comunidades Clzinese
(51'42'X)) y Other Asinn (42'10%). Sin embargo, si atendemos a la diferenciacin por
sexos no siempre se corresponden estos valores ya que aunque la Comunidad Pnkistnni
tiene una elevada poblacin activa masculina, la femenina es escasa. Siendo los
menores valores de poblacin activa femenina los de la Comunidad Pnkistnrzi (25 %) y
Bnnglndeshi (25'44 %/o y a cierta distancia lrzdinn (56'64 /O' ) y Black Other (61'82%)
(Fig. 4).
En cuanto a su ocupacin los hombres que trabajan n tiempo conzpleto predominan
en la Comunidad W h i t e , Borrz irz lrelnnd, Other Asinn y Chinese, pero son en cambio l a s
mujeres en la Comunidad Blnclc Caribbea~z o en la Blnck Other. Del mismo modo los
hombres predominan como trabajadores n tienzpo parcial, en la Comunidad Blnclc A f r i c a n
y Bnnglndeshi, pero las mujeres en la Comunidad W h i t e . Afectando del mismo modo 1a
categora de dese~nplendostanto a hombres como a mujeres en los grupos Black A f i i c n n ,
Palcistalzi y Bnnglndeshi fundamentalmente.
La destacada proporcin de poblacin jzlbilnda en el total de poblacin inactiva
de la Comunidad W h i t e y de los Born i n lrelnnd, y un elevado ndice de estudiantes,
tanto varones como mujeres, de las Comunidades C/zinn, India, Blnck African y O t h e r
Asinlz., constituyen el grueso de la poblacin inactiva.
La diversidad cultural es enorme si atendemos a algunas de sus manifestaciones
mas importantes como es la lengua utilizada. Entre las minoras tnicas de Sheffield
se han contabilizado hasta 47 lenguas diferentes. La lengua inglesa es la oficialmente
reconocida y la hablada normalmente por la poblacin, lo que no excluye el uso de
otras lenguas. De la gran variedad de lenguas habladas, sobresalen la Ptlrzjnbi-LIrdu,
Bengal, Soninl, Arnbe , Creole-Patois y Cnntonese, que en 1992 eran habladas por 1.866
alumnos bilinges en Educacin Sec~mdariaen la ciudad de sheffield2. A pesar de que
las consideradas minoras tnicas representan una pequea parte de la poblacin total,
Lm i-iunero importante de organizaciones, se contabilizaron 26, estn vinculadas a los
diversos grupos tnicos y constituyei-iun vel-iculo de apoyo a la lengua y cultura propia

Lenguas de uso frecuente en Sheffield, aparte de la oficial, y procedencia de la poblaciii que las utiliza
- Punjabi-Urdu: India, Pakistn.
- Bengali: Baiigladesl-iy Oeste de Bengala-Ii~dia.
- Somal: Comalia.
- Arabe: Yemen, Iraq, Irn, Palestina y algurios somales.
- Creole-Patois: Islas del Caribe, Jamaica.
- Cantonese: Cl-iina.

Minoras tnicas en el Reino Unido. Ejemplo de Sheffield

159

de cada grupo, llegando a contar con mas de 1.000 alumnos, jvenes fundamentalmente,
durante el curso 1994-95.

LOCALIZACION ESPACIAL DE LOS GRUPOS ETNICOS EN LA CIUDAD


Desde el punto de vista de la Geografa es de gran inters conocer adems de las
caractersticas demogrficas y socioeconmicas propias de estas poblaciones, su
distribucin y efectos en el espacio.
En el caso de Sheffield las diversas minoras tnicas estn presentes en mayor o
menor medida en cada una de las reas administrativas en que est dividida 1a
ciudad, aunque cada Comunidad tiende a concentrarse en unas reas residei-iciales ms
especficas. La Comunidad Wlzite se localiza preferentemente en toda la periferia
urbana (SE, SW, NE y NW) y disminuye su presencia hacia el centro de la ciudad. El
grupo Blnck-Cnribbean se localiza fundamentalmente en las reas del Centro-Este
urbano, sin que se produzca necesariamente segregacin tnico-espacial ya que h a y
Blaclc-Cnribbenn viviendo en las reas donde predomina la poblacin de la Comunidad
White y viceversa. Lo mismo sucede en el resto de los grupos tnicos que aunque estn
distribudos por toda la ciudad dominan en algunas reas (Fig. 5).
La localizacin de Blnck-Africnn coincide con la del grupo Blnck-Cnuibbenn, a 1
igual que sucede con el grupo Otlzer Block, de manera que se concentra el grupo Blnck en
barrios como el de Cnstle o Burlzgrenve en el sector centro oriental de la ciudad.
Los grupos tnicos de origen asitico, Bnnglndeshi y Pnlcistnni, coinciden en
algunas reas del Este, Dnrnnll, Bz~rnguenve,Brithside o Firth Pnrk -principalmente-,
pero no siempre es as pues la Comunidad Bnnglndesh tiene adems otra rea de
importante localizacin, el barrio de Hnllnnz, al SW. Igualmente, las Comunidades
India11 y Chinese comparten con la Bnnglndeshi el SW de la ciudad en la proximidad
de la Comunidad White como sucede con el barrio de Ecclessnll para White e Indinn o coi1
el rea de Mosboroz~ghpara White y Chinese, en el SE de Sheffield. Como resultado se
estn configuraiido reas urbanas caracterizadas por una cultura mixta con predominio
de uno u otro grupo tnico-cultural.
Los Otlzer Ethlzic Groups, se localizan entre Comunidades nsidticns y blnck,
configurndose unos espacios de proximidad y contacto entre grupos de diferentes
continentes -Asia, Africa y Amrica-.
Finalmente hay diferentes comportamientos de localizacin dentro de una
misma Comunidad ya que si se considera a los de origen irln~zdscomo lo hace el Censo

de 1991, se comprueba que no coincide exactamente con la localizacin de la Comunidad


Wliite sino con la Blaclc y Asia12 en las reas de Bt~nzgveave,Shavrozo,etc.

0
L-'J

u
u
m

l a
11 n

10
28

Poblacion pdkistani

29 a 199
200 a 5096

10422 a

13200

132U1 a

15b30 a 18708
le709 a 475977

10 a
39 8

38

67

Poblacion Hlach Caribbran

68 a 230
231 a1127

,O

Poblacion ' ~ h l t0
~

2 a
8
9 a 13
1 4 n 4 7
48

12b

P ~ h l a ~ i u "r ~i l a c hAfrican

a
O

10 a
19 a

31 a E0
SDoISb

O
E3

4 a

'"

18
30

Pohldcion indu

14

Poblarion ctiii3

27

7r

44

43
281

Figura 5.- Localizacin espacial: grupos tnicos en la ciudad de Sheffield.


Fuente: Sheffield Ceiisus-1991. Elaboracin propia.

Minoras tnicas en el Reino Unido. Ejemplo de Sheffield

161

No se da segregacin espacial propiamente dicha aunque s cierta concentracin


qLie es mayor en los Asinn Groups, Black African, Blaclc Caribbean, Pakistani y
Banglacieshi y mucho menor en la Comtinidad White. El 70'17% de la poblacin de 1a
Comunidad Pakistani vive en cuatro reas principales-Darnall, Bunzgrenve, Firth Pavlc
y Slzarrozu- y el 82'13'Yo de Banglndeshi en Darnall, Cnstle, Sharrozu y Nether Edge,
mientras que la poblacin de las cuatro reas principales de la Comunidad White :
Mosborozrglz, Chape1 Green, Soirth Wovtley, Ecclessall, representa solo el 20'6% de $1
total en la ciudad.

ALGUNOS PROBLEMAS DE LAS MINORIAS ETNICAS


El estudio de las Comunidades tnicas minoritarias de Sheffield nos aproxima
no slo al conocimiento de sus rasgos demogrficos, socio-econmicos, culturales y de
localizacin en el espacio urbano, sino tambin a la problemtica en la que a menudo se
encuentran inmersas estas Comunidades. El racismo y la discriminacin, el desempleo,
la salud, la vivienda y la prdida de las tradiciones culturales son algunos de los
grandes problemas que, en ocasiones, padecen estas poblaciones.
Un trato oficial diferente y algunas actitudes pblicas denotan sntomas de
racismo y discriminacin. Este comportamiento no es algo nuevo en el R.U. pues ya se
registraron ataques a ciudadanos de color en Liverpool, Londres y Glasgow despus de
la Primera Guerra Mundial hasta el punto de que el propio gobierno britnico lleg a
reconocer como problema, en 1981/82, los ataques raciales. Sheffield no es una
excepcin, tan solo de Abril a Octubre de 1991 se contabilizaron mas de 50 incidentes
con violencia verbal o fsica.
Cuatro fenmenos principales, los abusos verbales, la discriminacin en nios, 1 a
conducta abusiva y las amenazas grficas u orales son algunas de las muestras racistas
que representan alrededor de un 70% del total de incidentes. Ms recientemente, de
Enero a Marzo de 1994 hubo algo ms de 100 denuncias por discriminacin y ataques
raciales efectuados en diferentes lugares: en la calle, en el trabajo, en casa, en l a s
escuelas, etc lo que significa un aumento de denuncias respecto a las ocurridas en
periodos anteriores sin contar las que no se llevan a cabo y se mantienen en secreto. Las
dificultades para la bsqueda de los agresores son enormes y solamente se solucionan la
mitad de los casos.
Es muy frecuente que tanto agresores como agredidos sean jvenes; as por
ejemplo, del 76% de los casos en qtie es conocido el agresor, durante el perodo AbrilOct~ibrede 1991, el 6% es menor de14 aos, el 37% tienen de 14 a 16 aos, un 16'5% de 17
a 25 aos y otro 16'5% ms de 26 aos. Tanto las agresiones verbales como los ataques y

la discriminacin racial es frecuente que sucedan en las escuelas entre alumnos, y en los
lugares de trabajo donde se contrata preferentemente a trabajadores de la Comunidad
White.
El desempleo afecta de modo desigual a los diversos p p o s tnicos y a l a
poblacin masculina y femenina. Es la poblacin masculina de las comunidades BlaclcAfvicniz (40155%), Pnkistnni (39'15%) y Blzlzglndeshi (38'88%) una de las ms afectadas,
y tambin la femenina de las citadas Comunidades Pnlcistnni (41'78%) y Banglndeshi
( 3 9 ' 4 3 ' ~ j ) Por
~ . el contrario, en el caso de los varones la Comunidad Clzinese (8'14%) es
la menos afectada, y en el caso de las mujeres la Comunidad W h i t e (7'36%). Es ste m
importante problema para algunos grupos tnicos minoritarios como reconocen
diferentes asociaciones de la ciudad, aunque la intensidad del mismo vare entre unos
y otros: bajos valores en la Comunidad Clzinese y altos en la Pnlcistnni y Banglndeshi.

- Salud y vivienda: Segn las autoridades encargadas de la sanidad en l a


ciudad, los problemas de salud afectan de modo ms evidente a las minoras tnicas
que a la Comunidad W h i t e . En ello influye el desempleo, las dificultades con e l
lenguaje, las diversas formas de discriminacin, los altos valores de pobreza frecuente;
en definitiva, la suma de toda una serie de elementos que directa e indirectamente les
afectan.
Cada Comunidad se ve afectada por problemas especficos: as por ejemplo, en
el caso de los asiticos, se da mayor incidencia de enfermedades como la diabetes y las
del corazn entre varones y las depresiones entre las mujeres. La Comunidad con mayor
incidencia de enfermedades de larga duracin es la de los procedentes de Irlanda,
mientras es menor en las Comunidades Chinese y Other Asiniz.
Las condiciones de vivienda de los grupos tnicos minoritarios, medidas a travs
de varios indicadores de confort: disponibilidad de ducha o baera, calefaccin,
automvil, etc... son deficientes. Los que cuentan con un menor nunero de servicios tales
como ducha-baera son la Comunidad Chinese (6'3"/0), Othev A s i n ~ z (4'7"A)) y Blaclc
Afvican (4'5'X1), en contraste con otros p p o s con valores mucho menores como 1a
Comunidad W h i t e (1'7"/0).
Carecen de calefncciiz, el 31'X) y 29'9%) de las Comunidades Palcista?zi y
Bnizglacleshi. Un elevado porcentaje de Blaclc African (69'08%), Blnclc Cnribbeniz
(63'17"/0 y Blnck Otlqer (56'65%) no poseen automvil, produciiidose un elevado iiunero
de personas por vivienda en la Pnkistlzizi y Bnnglndeshi. En cambio, las coiidiciones son

Las porcentajes iio se refieren al total general de poblacicii si110 al total de poblacirr actizai de cada grupo
Gtnico.

Minoras tnicas en el Reino Unido. Ejemplo d e Sheffield

163

en general mejores entre la Comunidad W h i t e que es la ms numerosa, como se h a


mencionado con anterioridad.
Racismo y discriminacin tienen a veces conexin con los problemas de l a
vivienda. El nmero de quejas registradas en el Departamento de la vivienda a lo
largo del ao 1993, fueron 93 tanto referidas a dificultades para encontrar Lula
vivienda como por las deficientes condiciones de las mismas.
- Prdida de tradiciones culturales: Estn siendo absorbidas las minoras
tnicas por una cultura mayoritaria? Un anciano Pakistani fue muy expresivo a l
respecto:"yo qzliero volver n m i pas pero nzis hijos vehtisnn hacerlo, los chicos Izan

con~eizzado a decirnos que cesemos de hablar ntlestrn lengila de Pnkistin porqzie n o


conipre~zden". Ciertamente hay generaciones nacidas en el Reino Unido que no se
preocupan del mantenimiento de la cultura tradicional que tiene sus races en otros
pases, pero hay tambin jvenes que buscan mantenerla y/o recuperarla. La
antigedad y origen de las corrientes migratorias y la actitud de los jvenes pesa en e 1
valor dado a la cultura tradicional.

CONCLUSIONES
La ciudad inglesa de Sheffield es un buen ejemplo de la heterogeneidad tnica
que tiende a crecer cada vez ms en las reas urbanas europeas, debido a 1a
importancia creciente de la movilidad internacional de la poblacin. Las diferencias
entre la Comunidad nativa, mayoritaria, denominada W h i t e y los grupos minoritarios
que representan el 5'04% de la poblacin total, se reflejan en sus caractersticas
demogrficas, sociales, econmicas y culturales y en una localizacin espacial
diferenciada en el plano de Sheffield.
La tendencia al envejecimiento es la caracterstica demogrfica ms
sobresaliente del grupo mayoritario, a diferencia de la mayora de Comunidades
mucho menos numerosas que tienen una considerable poblacin joven. Se constatan
diferencias sociales que tienden a acortarse a medida que aumentan las uniones
intertnicas, a excepcin de las Comunidades asiticas que suelen ser ms cerradas.

En el plano econmico, la situacin varia entre Comunidades y grupos de


poblacin, aunque globalmente el problema del desempleo afecta por igual a varones y
mujeres en las Comunidades Blnclc African, Pnlcistnni y Banglndeshi. La poblacin
retirada procede sobre todo del grupo W h i t e y los estudiantes de grupos de origen
asitico como la Conztiizidnd Chinn o Hindil.

164

T. RICA PREZ

Culturalmente, la existencia de 47 lenguas es una buena muestra de l a


diversidad de la poblacin inmigrada y de que los inmigrantes extranjeros a pesar del
carcter oficial de la lengua inglesa, encuentran medios para mantener SLI lengua
nativa.
La diversidad caracteriza tambin la distribucin espacial de las minoras
tnicas en Sheffield. Se encuentran reas de cultura mixta y reas dominadas por UI
p p o tnico-cultural como en los bnrrios Bnngladeslzi o Jninnicnno, que no constituyen
por el momento espacios de segregacin ni de exclusin.
Sin embargo, algunos problemas comunes afectan en diferente grado a todas las
minoras tnicas: el racismo y la discriminacin a los Black; el desempleo sobretodo a
grupos de Pnkistl~z y Banglndeslz ; los problemas de salud y vivienda resultan ms
frecuentes tambin en estas dos ltimas Comunidades y en las nfricnnns y jni.nnicnzns ;
siendo la prdida de las costumbres tradicionales un motivo de polmica interna
general entre las diferentes generaciones que las componen.
En definitiva, las minoras tiiicas forman parte del contingente iiimigratorio en
la poblacin de Sheffield y aunque numricamente no alcanzan cifras considerables
constituyen un componente muy representativo de la nueva sociedad que se est
configurando en las reas urbanas europeas.

BIBLIOGRAFIA
BAIMBRIDGE M. et al. (1994): "The Maastricht Treaty: exacerbating racism in Europe?". Etlznic
and Rncinl Stiidies. 17, 3, 420-436.
BERRINGTON, M. (1995): "Marriage and family formation among the White and ethnic minority
population in Britain". Ethnic and Racial Stlidzes, 17, 3, 517-544.
C.P.S.C. (1993): 1991 CENSLIS. Coiintui~report: Soiifli Yorlslire(Part.l/2). Ed.C.P.S.C. London
CHAMPION, T. & FIELDING, T. (Eds.) (1992): Migration processes pntterns. Vol. 1. Belhaven
Press. London.

faits, clziffues, politiqiies. L'Observateur


GARSON J.P. (1992): Migratioizs interi~at~onales:
L'0.C.D.E. Organisation de Cooperation et de Developpement Economique. Paris.

de

HIGUERAS, A.(1981): "Reflexiones acerca de los movimientos de poblacin". Geograpizicalin, .9.


Institucin Fernando El Catlico-Instituto de Geografa Aplicada. C.S.1.C-Departamento de
Geografa. Universidad de Zaragoza.
KING , R. (Ed.) (1993): Mnss inigratiorzs in Eilrope. Ed. Belhave. 65-82. London.

International
Journal of the
Sociology of Law

International Journal of the Sociology of Law


30 (2002) 235257

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijsl

Fade to grey: portraying the ethnic minority


experience in British film
P. Robson*
University of Strathclyde, The Law School, Stenhouse Building 173 Cathedral Street, Glasgow G4 0RQ, UK

Abstract
This paper is principally concerned with a matter which does not appear to have received
much attention in the literature, namely the representation and adaptation of the ethnic
minority1 experience in film. These issues have, for the reasons explained below, only appeared
in a limited way in British popular culture. The imperial and inter-cultural experience of race
has appeared in a variety of forms over the years. This paper seeks to place this film coverage
in its historical and political context. It does this by looking in some detail at how one
particular representation of ethnicity in Errol Braithwaites autobiographical To Sir with Love,
fared in its adaptation for the screen. A much blander portrayal of race and racism in postWar Britain emerges from the film of To Sir With Love than that of the original literary source
with the background of racism largely removed from the film. The paper suggests that to
obtain a better purchase on the process of adaptation it is crucial to examine the social and
political context within which the films in question are made rather than simply concentrate on
the aesthetic and stylistic distinctions between the written source and film2 as though these are
pure processes to be assessed in some kind of artistic vacuum. This examination is premised on
the basis that there is significance in examining the cinematic portrayal of such developments.3
r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

*Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-141-548-3738; fax: +44-141-553-1546.


E-mail address: peter.robson@strath.ac.uk (P. Robson).
1
For a discussion of the problems of terminology for black and British Asian cinema and her reasons
for adopting black as the appropriate description see Lola Young in Questions of Colour (Givanni, 1995,
p. 40). This essay looks beyond this experience and adopts the term ethnic minorities to reflect this,
conscious of the problem of the mode of perception that this might be seen to imply.
2
Richardson (1969).
3
Gabriel (1998).
0194-6595/02/$ - see front matter r 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 9 4 - 6 5 9 5 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 3 6 - 9

236

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

1. The political and social context of race and ethnicity in Britain


Even in the United States, the worlds principal film producing country there have
been only a limited number of films on racial and ethnic issues with less produced
and directed by ethnic minority writers and actors4. In Britain the number has been
extremely restricted. Britains racial and ethnic mix, however, is quite distinct from
that of other English language film producing countries like the United States,
Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The history and nature of this mix appears to
have had an impact on the issues which filmmakers in Britain have sought to bring to
the screen. Britains ethnic minority population has a number of distinctive
characteristics. They are principally from the former British Empire and they are
classified in census terms as not white.5 Their presence in Britain is almost wholly
voluntary.6 They reflect the racial and ethnic make-up of the former colonies. Their
numbers are relatively smaller than the public imagine at some 7.1% of the overall
population.7 The white population amounts 54,670,000 and the total ethnic minority
population is 4,045,000.8
It is a population increasingly born in Britain. Some 50% of the ethnic minority
population were born in the United Kingdom and in the age group up to 14 the
figure is 90%.9 Calls for repatriation become more problematic for racist politicians.
Racist politics declined as a force in Britain during the 1990s from a high point in the
late 1970s when the popular vote was 3% and the rights for whites National Front
put up candidates in 300 out of 650 Parlimentary seats. In the 1997 General election,
the vote for the 30 candidates of the successor racist British National Party was a
little over 35,000. Even with Proportional representation in the June 1999 elections
the far right with its obsession about a non-white takeover of Britain made no
breakthrough like the Front National in France or the resurgent fascist right in
Germany10 and no wide national support has since occurred.11

Cripps (1978).
Annual Abstract of Statistics (HMSO), 2002, Table 5.6.
6
There is of course the slavery link with enforced removal from Africa to the West Indies. Slavery as a
social institution within Britain as opposed to the colonies was a feature of British life between the 17th
and 18th centuries. Estimates are not essayed in the standard work on slavery of the number of slaves in
BritainThomas (1998), The Slave Trade.
7
Race in Britain 2001, Observer, November 25, 2001 Special Reportthe median answer of the 1000
adults in the ICM telephone research conducted in September and November 2001 suggested an ethnic
minority population of 24% or 14.3 millionp. 12.
8
Table 5.6; Population by age and ethnic group: Great BritainAnnual Abstract of Statistics, 2002.
HMSO, London, 2002. The major groupings of ethnic minority citizens are as follows: Black Caribbean
529,000; Black African 440,000; Black Other 129,000; Black mixed 178,000; Indian 985,000; Pakistani
675,000; Bangladeshi 257,000; Chinese 151,000; Other Asian non-mixed 242,000; Other non-mixed
219,000; other mixed 240,000.
9
Population Trends. HMSO, London, Autumn 2001, p. 15.
10
Target: England The Guardian, April 27, 1999, p. 15.
11
The more notable BNP performances in the Oldham East bye-election and subsequent local elections
of 2002 seem more attributable to specific local factors than a widespread upsurge in support for the far
right agendaThe Guardian, May 15, 2002.
5

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

237

On the face of things there is no necessary link between immigration and colour.
There was no suggestion that the inter-War Italian or post-War Polish and
Lithuanian communities threatened to dilute the national stock or that they
posed a threat to British culture. Anti-Semitism produced a slightly different
reaction.12 Concerns about the national stock were expressed as fears about the
politics of European immigrants before the Great War. The threat to jobs of these
individuals fleeing pogroms was the moral panic, which led to the control of entry
into Britain in the first place.13
Until the outbreak of the First World War there precious few limitations on who
could enter and leave Britain. Control over entry into Britain from 1913 was initially
exercised under the legislation dealing with aliens. The entry into Britain depended
on whether a person was a British subject. In the immediate post-Great War era,
however, there were race riots in a number of British seaports resulting in a handful
of deaths. The Government paid a sum of d5 per head for some 1500 seamen to be
repatriated to the Caribbean and West Africa.14
In the inter-war period the number of non-white faces in Britain remained small. It
has been estimated that there were some 10,000 black inhabitants in Britain in 1948
when some of the earliest attempts to restrict black workers rights were attempted
through the National Union of Seamen.15
As the 1942 Beveridge Report on welfare reform made clear one of the concerns of
the Government in the years of war and reconstruction was the lack of numbers of
the workforce.16 This problem was met by immigration from the colonies,
particularly from the West Indies. They were actively recruited by those with
worker shortages like London Transport. Numbers of immigrants in response to the
demand for workers rose from the late 1940s over the next 30 years from the low
base indicated to 836,00017 in 1966 and 1.1 million by 1971.18 The response of the
host population was negative, as it had been during immigration from Ireland during
the 19th century. The common colour and tongue of such immigrants, however, led
to assimilation in Britain with extensive intermarriage.19
Immigrants from the new Caribbean and Indian sub-continent were, however,
more easily identified. Serious race riots took place in 1958 in Notting Hill in
London and Nottingham as far right groups sought to use the issue of race to
supplement their traditional concern with the alleged International Jewish
Conspiracy.20 There were calls for repatriation from both politicians in mainstream
12

Holmes (1979).
Lloyd (1970, p. 8).
14
Humphries and Gordon (1990).
15
The Solution that started a problem Cashmore (1989).
16
Report on National Insurance and Allied services (Chairman Sir William Beveridge) Cmd 6404
(HMSO), para 15, p. 8.
17
Social Trends (1970, Table 17).
18
Social Trends, (1974, Table 13).
19
Swift (1990), Davis (1991), and Handley (1964).
20
For an account of the shift of the far rights concerns from a concentration on anti-semitism to black
citizens in the post-War era, see, Martin Walker (1980).
13

238

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

parties as well as traditional racists on the right.21 This bore fruit in the
Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 whose real objectives were admitted by one
of those in the Government of the day
The Bills real purpose was to restrict the influx of coloured immigrants. We were
reluctant to say as much openly. So the restrictions were applied to coloured and
white citizens in all Commonwealth countriesthough everybody recognised that
immigration from Canada, Australia and New Zealand formed no part of the
problem. 22
It was in this context that Braithwaites book, To Sir With Love, documented his
experiences as one of the earlier post-War Service immigrants. Apart from UK
passport holders, other Commonwealth citizens were required to obtain a Ministry
of Labour voucher to enter the UK. Irish citizens were exempted. Vouchers were
limited and the number issued fell from over 30,000 in 1963 to fewer than 2500 in
1972. The 1962 Act was denounced by the Labour Party when introduced but not
altered when they achieved office in 1964. They had accepted the notion that good
race relations was best served by limiting immigration. As the Labour MP for
Birmingham Sparkbrook, Roy Hattersley, put it in 1965
Without integration, limitation is inexcusable; without limitation, integration is
impossible.
Given the small indigenous non-white British population, the subsequent
Immigration Act 1971 with its notion of patriality23 effectively allowed in white
Commonwealth citizens while excluding non-white ones.24 The numbers of
immigrants was reduced.25 This is the context in which one needs to situate the
legislation protecting those already in Britain from racial discrimination.
1.1. Eliminating discrimination
National legislation was introduced in 1965 by the Race Relations Act, which
sought to outlaw discrimination in public places like cinemas and dance halls. An
overt colour bar had not been a frequent feature of British life. Discrimination had
tended to be private and not publicly advertised as Braithwaite found when trying to
obtain a job and accommodation. In place of signs saying No Coloureds, rooms
21

For a brief overview see Hill (1986, pp. 2731).


Deedes (1968, p. 10).
23
Entry, if one grandparent had been born in Britain which covered many whose forebears had
emigrated to Canada, Australia New Zealand, etc.
24
Annual Abstract of Statistics, 2002 (HMSO), Table 5.8. Matters were made even more restrictive with
the British Nationality Act 1981 and the Immigration Rules of 1973 and their updating in the 1990s.
25
By 1997, some 59,000 were accepted for settlement and in the next 2 years there was rise to 68,790 in
1998 and 97,120 in 1999. In addition, between 20,000 and 40,000 asylum seekers applied to Britain during
the early 1990s from a range of countries. Towards the end of the decade, the figures rose sharply to 71,000
in 1999 and 80,000 in 2000 mainly as a result of internal wars and inter-ethnic conflicts in various parts of
the world.
22

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

239

tended to have been already let. The scope of the protection offered through a
discrimination approach was extended to housing and jobs with the introduction of
the Race Relations Act 1968. The principle was retained in the updating of this
protective legislation in 1976. The Race Relations Act 1976 operates principally
through an individual complaints framework. There is the option for individuals to
take action through tribunals where they have been discriminated against on the
grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national origin. These actions may be supported
by the official body set up to promote good race relations, the Commission for
Racial Equality. This body is also charged with working at the structural level to
address systemic discrimination by investigations and more recently with other
public bodies requiring to promote equality of opportunity and good relations
between people of different racial groups.26
The legislation has not been an unqualified success in the workplace.27 In addition,
ethnic minorities form a disproportionate proportion of the prison population. They
are more heavily and crudely policed than the white population. They are
underrepresented in the machinery of law and order. They form only 1.8% of the
police force and none of the senior judiciary. Concern is widespread that systemic
racism operates in the operation of the law against ethnic minorities.28

2. Nature of coverage of race and ethnicity in British film


As has been noted, in Britain the non-white population grew from 10,000 to a little
over 4 million in 50 years. An imperial power relinquished a major empire during
this time. There is a wealth of material here for cinematic treatment. British cinema
has looked at racial and ethnic issues in three quite specific and distinct ways during
different eras.29 These approaches correspond quite closely with particular concerns
in cultural and political life. These can be characterised as the confident imperialist
perspective/funny foreigners phase, the integration or blending-in phase and the era
of ethnic self-examination and self-confidence.
2.1. The imperialist era
2.1.1. The colonial period
As indicated the existence of a significant Empire covering large parts of Africa
and the Indian sub-continent continued after World War II. Imperialism was keenly
espoused by a number of prominent politicians like Enoch Powell well into the 1950s
and it was only with reluctance, often in the face of armed struggle, that the process
of de-colonisation was completed. Movements for self-determination bore fruit
26

Race Relations (Amendment) Act, 2000.


McCrudden and Brown (1991).
28
MacPherson Report into Stephen Lawrence murder (1999) Chapter 6, pp. 6.346.39.
29
For a different way of assessing the changes in filming of the black experience see Jim Pines in British
Cinema and Black Representation (Murphy, 2001).
27

240

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

principally after World War II in the Indian sub-continent in 1947, in Africa and the
Far East throughout the 1950s and 1960s.30 Films were made in the inter-war period
which embraced the notion of Empire as a civilising force and which were still found
in the 1960s.
Typical of this approach to other ethnic groups as uncivilised but mouldable is the
filming of Edgar Wallaces story of a District Officer restoring peace amongst the
child-like natives Sanders of the River (1935). Thus, we have the film starting with a
tribute to the notion of civilising colonialism and the role of men like Sanders.
Africa...tens of millions of natives under British rule, each tribe with its own
chieftain, governed and protected by a handful of white men whose everyday
work is an unsung saga of courage and efficiency. One of them was Commissioner
Sanders.
The tone of interchange and relationships between Sanders (Lord Sandi) and the
chiefs is typified by Sanders pep talk to his assembled chiefs prior to taking a 12month sabbatical
In my place the Lord Ferguson shall stay and give the law to all the peoples of the
river. I want you to obey him as if you were his own children.
The condescension and obviously assumed inferiority of the natives is the crux
of this story about how the tribes are unable to respond to anything other than a
mighty charismatic white man. He, Sanders is the fount of all order and when other
unscrupulous foreigners seek to subvert this control for their own profit they do so
by putting out a cryptic message which underlines the limited and child-like nature of
the native tribes
Sandi is dead. There is no law any more.
His successor, Ferguson, is urged to treat the natives as you would unruly school
children when they run amok on discovering that the charismatic white ruler is no
more.31 The main star of the film, Paul Robeson is reputed to have been outraged at
the final portrayal of Africans in the final version of the film.32 In fairness, without
going into the rest of the film, the lines, which he himself was provided with, make it
pretty clear that his character was going to be portrayed as a wheedling self-serving
servant of imperialism, albeit with charm.
The same contrast between the western and native culture is found in Song of
Freedom (1936). This seemed to offer a rather more significant role for Paul Robeson
by providing him with the chance to do more than sing and smile. The accidental
overhearing of London stevedore John Zingas stunning voice by the Opera
impresario, Donozetti, results in Robeson touring the world. By chance he discovers
30

India and PakistanAugust 1947; Ghana, 1957; Malaya, 1957; Cyprus, 1960; Nigeria, 1960; Sierra
Leone, 1962; Tanganyika (Tanzania), 1962; Somaliland, 1962; Uganda, 1962; Nyasaland, 1963; Northern
Rhodesia (Zambia), 1963.
31
The self-serving nature of this portrayal did attract oblique criticism at the time notably in the Will
Hay spoof Ol Bones of the River (1938).
32
Bourne (1998), p. 16.

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

241

that he is a descendant of Queen Zinga and is the lost King of the West African
island of Casanga. This unusual film, nonetheless, despite having a black actor in the
leading protagonist role still portrays African tribal life as riven with ignorance and
superstition.33 Contentment is to be found by acceptance of Robeson as the true
King of the islanders whence his ancestors came so that he can lead them with his
Western ways from being backward, uncivilised and impoverished.
A related later feature of the Empire is the relationship between colonisers and
colonised in the dog days of the colonial era. In Bhowani Junction (1956), 34 Victoria
Jones, a woman of Anglo-Indian parentage discovers that she is tolerated but not
fully accepted due to her half-caste status. She rejects the suits of her Anglified
fellow half-caste, Patrick Taylor and of Nationalist activist Ranjit Kasel, and
becomes the mistress of a white Army officer. Told in flashback, we see the way in
which Britains military and gubernatorial withdrawal from the Indian sub-continent
is reflected in the problems of identity she experiences due to this racial status. The
conclusion of the film suggests an upbeat ending with love winning out against
prejudice from both communities. The dominant mood in the film is of an isolated
and problematic situation for the young couple in the new India and for AngloIndians generally rather more in keeping with the John Masters original text and the
analysis of Ranjit Kasels mother
Have you ever met an Englishman that didnt insult you. Havent your own
people worked for them for a hundred years and how are they going to reward
you. They are going to leave you here with us. And what do you think we are
going to do with Anglo-Indians? Were going to make you realise that you are
Indians. Inferior Indians. Possibly disloyal because you spent the last hundred
years licking Englands boots and kicking us with your own boots.
A number of films during this late colonial era looked at these cross-cultural
relationships including the British The Wind Cannot Read (1958). This rehearses the
notion of forbidden love between Suzuki, a Japanese female translator, and Dirk
Bogardes military student during the Second World War. The problem of social
disapproval that the couple seeks to overcome is elided by the death, from a
mysterious illness, of Suzuki.35 Thus, the trope is played out in these films
superficially as one of culture clash with the crucial problem being acceptance by the
dominant white society.
2.1.2. Foreignness on the home frontfunny foreigners and laughable minorities
There has continued to be a strong adherence in local situated family comedy
and drama to racial and ethnic stereotypes. From the 1940s through to the
1970s Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English stereotypes abound along with funny
33

Bourne (1998), pp. 2328.


See, also, North West Frontier (1956)wise imperialists counterposed to simple destructive native
hordes.
35
See also The World of Suzie Wong (1960) about Hong Kong prostitute, Nancy Kwan, who attracts the
attention of by two western men, William Holden and Michael Wilding.
34

242

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

foreigners.36 Typically, in an otherwise undistinguished musical vehicle for a trio of


British popsters37 there is a sequence in the social security benefits office in What a
Crazy World (1963) firmly in the tradition of the American black servant
stereotyping.38 All kinds of foreigners are shown disrupting the normal process of
British youth avoiding work by themselves turning up and seeking State financial
assistance.39 What makes it of particular noteworthy is the way it feeds into a
populist right-wing concept of dole scrounging being connected to foreignersin the
instance of the film principally non-white.40 A sequence in the world of work
factory, restaurant or cafecould have achieved the notion of nascent multiculturalism equally well.
Crude stereotyping abounds in this period. It may be fondly meant but canny
Scots,41 devious Welsh42, feckless Irish43 and hidebound English44 are the staple of
dramas and comedies.45 Other ethnic groups are similarly treated whether they are
amusing servile Indians46 or onion-toting Frenchmen.47 It has to be said that an
absence of light and shade in characterisation is not unusual at this time with Trade
Unionists as ogres in both comedy and drama48. There are exceptions like the
reflection on the nature of inherent national, as opposed to individual characteristics,
in the context of the initial ostracism and subsequent acceptance of a wartime
German bride by her RAF hero husbands family and home town.49
2.2. Host reactionthe question of integration and blending in
In response to the increase of immigration from outwith Europe or the old
Commonwealth (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa) and the re36
For something of a different treatment see Pool of London (1950) where a subplot involves a tentative
relationship between a black sailor and a white theatre cashier. Problems of integration into a white society
and cultural acceptance are hinted atthe story occupies a very brief amount of screen time compared
with the machinations of the smuggler Bonar Colleano.
37
Joe Brown [hit with films title song], Marty Wilde [father of Kim] and Susan Maughan [cover of
Lesley Gores Bobbys Girl].
38
Donald Bogle in Black Beginnings: from Uncle Toms Cabin to The Birth of a Nation. (Smith, 1997).
39
The Dole Office song features pig-tailed Chinese, singing Italian waiters, long-robed Africans, Arabs
in headdress, Caribbean dancers, an Irish navvy and a drunken kilted Scotsman.
40
In the 1990s the Conservative Social Security Secretary Peter Lilley, entertained his partys Annual
Conference with his tales of immigrants knowing only a few words of Englishsocial security and
housing benefit were in this alleged vocabulary. This notion finds a place in the Dole Office sequence in
What a Crazy World.
41
Geordie(1955); Sailor Beware (1956); The Fast Lady (1963).
42
A Run for Your Money (1949); Doctor in the House (1954); Lucky Jim (1957).
43
Captain Boycott (1947); The March Hare (1956);
44
The Admirable Crichton (1957); The Man in the White Suit (1951); The League of Gentlemen (1960).
45
Contemporary TV satirised the same crude stereotypes with Johnny Speights bigot Alf Garnett [Till
Death Us Do Part (1966-8 passim) and Clement and Le Frenais Likely Lads (19641966).
46
The Millionairess with Peter Sellers (1960); North West Frontier (1959).
47
Summer Holiday (1962).
48
Im All Right Jack (1959); The Angry Silence (1960).
49
Frieda (1947) (Director: Basil Dearden).

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

243

emergence of neo-Fascist politics we find an initial tendency to simply ignore racial


issues as in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). The casual good-natured but
offensive racial stereotyping of the Seaton family in their encounter with a black
soldier found in Sillitoes book50 does not appear in the film version. Sillitoe himself
explained that the book was originally written as short stories and poems featuring
the character of Arthur Seaton.51 The omission of the section involving the visit of
Sam, the black soldier visiting Arthurs relatives at Christmas does not detract from
the narrative flow of Arthur Seatons passage from a carefree young philanderer to a
married man with responsibilities. By the same token, the mother of Doreen,
Arthurs fiancee, is presented as a simple petit bourgeois mother-in-law stereotype.
Her enigmatic Indian lodger/lover, Chumley, does not feature although, again, this
does not affect the narrative thrust of the story. These absences can be taken to
signify the relative invisibility of ethnic minorities in most parts of the Britain in the
late 1950s, albeit Arthur Seatons Nottingham was the scene of some of the 1958 race
riots.
Race and its impact on the existing society are, however, found in a couple of films
made in the wake of the riots. These adopt a liberal equal treatment agenda. In
Flame in the Streets (1961) there is a clear rejection of discrimination in the
workplace over the promotion of a black foreman. This occurs after the espousal of
a clear anti-racist stance by John Mills trusted Trade Unionist, Jacko Palmer. This
is a man who despite his years of service refuses to take promotion within the Union
and leave the factory floor. His call to his comrades is impassioned and wins the day.
Jackos own reaction to discovering his daughter wants to marry a black teacher
from Africa is to warn against the relationship for the sake of the children. This
was almost exactly the response the author, Erroll Braithwaite, records receiving
from his girlfriends father in To Sir With Love.52
Palmer then has to confront the ugly and, to him, unexpected racism of his wife
when she discovers that their daughter is planning marriage with a black teacher.
Im ashamed of you. When I think of you and that man sharing the same
bedyIts filthy, disgusting, it makes my stomach turn over and I want to be sick.
This shows the workplace racists as being, at least on the face of it, economically
driven by fear for their jobs. This is in contrast to the wife whose loathing of the
black teacher is irrational. The film was not well received by some critics who saw it
is a simplistic issues film and it did not do well at the box office.53
Race also appears within the generalised social prejudice against the unmarried
teenager in A Taste of Honey (1961). The film, based on the 1959 stage production,
addresses serious and controversial issues that were seldom openly discussed at the
time of its productionsingle parenthood; inter-racial relationships and the
50
Chapter 14as is pointed out in the publication of the film script Sillitoes book has been significantly
pruned and the storyline simplified with characters and events being either telescoped or omitted.
51
Introduction to 1979 edition, p. 1.
52
Chapter 21.
53
Murphy (1992a).

244

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

treatment of gays. Here, the father of the child of the pregnant Jo-Rita
Tushinghamis black. The reaction of those around her ranges from condemnation
to support. The boyfriend of Jo is Jimmy, a coloured naval rating from Cardiff.
He has proposed marriage and when Jo is left by her feckless mother they have sex.
He duly disappears not knowing of Jos pregnancy. On discovering that Jo is
pregnant her mothers concern is crude suggesting either that the child be adopted by
the black midwife or Put it on stage and call it a Blackbird. This resignation
indicates rather less faith in integration than the liberal Ted Willis had implied in
Flame in the Streets where the young couple were left facing the difficult future
together.
It is in the context, then, of these cultural and political developments that the
adaptation of To Sir with Love (1967) needs to be seen rather than as some feeble
British version of The Blackboard Jungle (1955) which had led to riots when
screened.54 To Sir with Love has a very mild underlying theme that the outlook for
humanity is broadly positive. Erroll Braithwaites British Guyanan teacher wins over
his unruly class of mildly rebellious young students with his personality.55 Strangely
enough for a London-set mid-1960s film, apart from Sidney Poitier,56 there are only
three other non-white faces. This reflects the situation when Braithwaite wrote about
in the early 1950s but not 15 years later. One critic of the film was scathing
The sententious script sounds as if it has been written by a zealous Sunday school
teacher after a particularly exhilarating boycott of South African oranges.57
As indicated below, race does not feature through most of the film until the
question of flowers for the dead mother of Seales, the mixed race boy in the class,
emerges. No one is initially prepared to deliver these because they would not want to
be seen visiting such a house. In an unlikely seeming denouement all the children
caste off their bigoted views and turn up at the house for the funeral. This scene is
not, as the above film critic implies, a nod towards a strained liberal agenda, but a
faithful re-enactment of Braithwaites original text.58
The issue of bigotry between old and new Britons was covered in an explicit way in
a feature film of the early 1970s derived from a half-hour situation comedy series
running between 1972 and 1976Love Thy Neighbour (1973). The situation derives
from the premise that the two bigoted factory workers, Eddie and Bill are
neighbours. Eddie is a white Trade Unionist and Bill is a black boss-orientated
54
Apparently, as a result of the inclusion in the soundtrack of Bill Haley and the Comets Rock Around
the Clock.
55
Slightly more obliquely racism emerges in a film where the issue is avoiding assumed racism by
passing whiteSapphire (1959).
56
A follow-up To Sir With Love 2 takes Poitier out of retirement after a further 30 years in education in
Londonto south side Chicago in 1997released straight through to budget video. Lulu retains a cameo
role singing the title song.
57
Quoted in Halliwell 1999, p. 816.
58
Chapter 20the author had made a similar assessment until checking back with the original text. In
his entry in the Cambridge Guide to English Literature Braithwaites third volume of autobiography is,
however, described as self-congratulatory.

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

245

Conservative. They insult each other with gusto. Beneath the insults there is both a
permanent standoff as well as a possible resolution awaiting. There is the symbiosis
of mutual entrapment in their jobs and houses. In addition, there is the promise of
ultimate respect for each other since the obviously sensible wives get on just fine. The
actors, Jack Smethurst and Rudolph Walker, reviewed this work 25 years later after
the rise of racist politics and racial attacks and murders in the interim. They
suggested that this series and film did nothing to support racist abuse since each use
by Eddie of the word coon, nignog or sambo was balanced with Bill getting
to say honky and spook59 Despite the 1958 riots and Enoch Powells prophecy
of rivers of blood in 1968 the actors suggested that racism and racial issues had
not really surfaced when the series started in 1972.60

3. Black and Asian British experience as the focal point


In the era when the number of non-white citizens had grown beyond 5% of the
overall British population the focus shifts from the reactions of indigenous Britons to
non-white faces. A very different lens looks at life from the point of view of Black
and Asian Britons in a small number of films over the past two decades at a time
when the theme of the host community reaction has been virtually silent.61
The ever present theme in the films reflecting the Asian experience centres on the
problems of living in two distinct cultures. This experience is initially found in My
Beautiful Laundrette (1985) and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987) which were
written by Hanif Kureishi and directed by Stephen Frears. They both document the
impact of moving to Britain on Pakistani family life. The question of identity and the
relationship between immigrants, Britain and Pakistan is the theme shared by both
films. The main character Omar has a father who has had to leave Pakistan because
of his radical politics. His family are entrepreneurs. Omar meets various members of
his family at the house of his uncle Nasser and aunt Bilquis. He is introduced to,
Cherry, the Anglo-Pakistani wife of his drug-dealing cousin Salim
CHERRY...I know all your gorgeous family in Karachi
OMAR (This is a faux pas) Youve been there?
CHERRY You stupid, what a stupid, its my home. Could anyone call this silly
little island off Europe their home? ...
BILQUIS Cherry, my little nephew knows nothing of that life there.
59

History of British ComedyBBC 2March 1999.


There is some oblique support for this kind of insensitivity in the continuation throughout the 1970s
of the Black and White Minstrel Show. This had started, ironically perhaps in 1958 and its blackface white
caste did not leave our screens until 1978.
61
For fascinating coverage of early black directed films like Pressure, Black Joy, Burning an Illusion and
Babylon see Lola Youngs (1996) and Jim Pines in British Cinema and Black Representation (Murphy,
2001, p. 177).
60

246

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

CHERRY Oh God Im so sick of hearing about these in betweens. People should


make up their minds where they are.
The film in a variety of different situations points up the complexity of being Asian
in Thatchers England, uncomfortable in both the minority Pakistani immigrant
ethnic culture and within the predominantly white host British culture. By the end
of the film despite the attack by Johnnys ex-mates on the launderette it seems that
Omars love for Johnny has made his decision for him and he is committed to this
relationship with the problems it entails for both of them.
In Laundrette also his uncle Nasser has problems in deciding where his loyalties as
a member of an ethnic minority lie. Nasser is also prepared to employ Johnny, the
white former fascist, engaged to help out in the laundrette of the title by Omar
with whom he went to school. The work for Omars uncle Nasser involves doing odd
jobs. These include unscrewingillegal eviction of tenants or squatters. Johnny
draws attention to the paradox of evicting a black tenant on behalf of Nasser, a
successful Pakistani businessman
JOHNNY Arent you giving ammunition to your enemies doing this kind of...
unscrewing. To people who say Pakis just come here to hustle other peoples lives
and jobs and houses...
NASSER But Im a professional businessman not a professional Pakistani.
Theres no race question in the new enterprise culture.
Receiving equal treatment means being treated as badly as anyone else in the
interests of profit. There is also fracturing between the non-white communities
referred to later in Bhaji on the Beach. At the end of Laundrette the oblique ending
favoured by Kureishi in his screenplay leaves unclear the future of the other major
in between, Omars uncle Nasser. Is he able any longer to continue living within
two distinct and grating cultures separated as he is from both his family and his
white mistress but reconciled with his brother? Omars prospective marriage partner,
his cousin Tania, has made her decision for full rejection of the traditional female
Pakistani role. It is fair to say, however, that this seems to centre more on
claustrophobic restrictions of family as opposed to embracing the host culture.
The tone is darker and more overtly about class and gender politics as well as race
in Sammy and Rosie. The return of Sammys father to his beloved London to find a
riot torn streets and the change in the culture is the initial context for the exploration
of identity of immigrants. The wider problem of belonging to a place that no longer
exists is a persistent notion throughout the film.
RAFI For me England is hot buttered toast on a fork in front of an open fire...
This is said in the context of criss-crossed motorways, flyovers, huge direction
indicators, and swirl of fast-moving traffic, dreamlike, noisy strange. This is not the
England that Rafi remembers and a place of such endemic conflict that he ends up
taking his own life. Sammy and Rosie portrays an England which is not sympathetic
to individuals or groups with values outwith the mainstream

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

247

A more affirmative, but critical view of minority ethnic experience is found in


Bhaji on the Beach (1993). This traces the problem of the second generation adjusting
to a different culture and creating a new self-confident distinctive culture. For once
the white world is marginal to the issues explored which are much more to do with
generational and gender conflict. The coach trip from the midlands to Blackpool has
as its underlying theme a series of subtle challenges by the Indian daughters and
nieces to the disapproving older women of their families. Coupled with this is a
portrait of the narrower authority structure within the male headed family unit. The
attempt of Amrit to persuade his wife to return to her servile abused position for the
sake of their sonbut really to save face for him in the community is unsuccessful
when he reverts to his true violent nature. The threats, though to these traditional
forms of determining how life is to be lived have their source not in the specific
prescriptions of white society but in the alternative glimpse of another way afforded
by that society. The source of potential ethnic conflict is located not in a story about
white racism but rather the novel question for British cinema of a black/Asian
romance. Here, it echoes in a rather more optimistic light the theme of the American
Mississippi Masala (1992).
Conflict within cultures is a question which is explored in two films in rather
different registers looking at how young people react to being part of two distinct
worlds. The theme of belief in a secular society emerges in Hannif Kureishis sombre
My Son the Fanatic (1997). This shows youth seeking certainty in a society without
fixed moral certainties. The rejection of pleasure is central to this exploration of the
appeal of fundamentalism in which taxi-driving middle-aged Parvez is at a loss to
understand why young people wish to surrender the right to think for themselves.
The authoritarian nature of Muslim thought is what the adapting fitting in
immigrant father in the end cannot bring himself to accept. The fact that this breaks
up his family and leaves him at the end of the film adrift from his wife, son and
mistress means as he admits I have managed to destroy everything. I have never felt
worseyor better.
The same kind of issues are covered in East is East (1999) with the various children
from a mixed Anglo/Pakistani marriage seeking to put into practice their own takes
on how to live in a predominantly white culture. Set in the early 1970s one son is an
entrepreneurial adapter cut-off by his father and his younger brothers and sister have
to decide how to live their lives. Will this be within what they see as their repressive
communities or in the hostile but seemingly freer white world? This tension is
reflected in three of the brothers dual identities as Tariq/Tony, Nazir/Nigel and
Abdul/Arthur. Although this is a comedy the pull of two very different cultures and
the potential for personal conflict is the central trope in all aspects of the film. Setting
the film in the early 1970s allows the theme to present as a view back to when issues
seemed starker. The virulent repatriation racism of Powellism and the restrictive
moral certainties and rules of the Muslim world are interspersed with broad comic
moments which have been described as unexpectedly crude.62 The different members
of the family make different choices.
62

Brian McFarlane in The More things ChangeyBritish Cinema in the 90s (Murphy, 2001, p. 277).

248

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

The essential ease of making choices between cultural demands is a feature of the
most recent exploration of the British Asian experience, directed and co-written by
the director of Bhaji on the Beach, Gurinder Chadha. In Bend it Like Beckham
(2002), a light, almost sitcom touch is brought to the tale of a young girl, Jess
Bhamra, who has a talent for playing football. Football does not fit in with the
submissive marriage orientated path prescribed by Sikh culture and being taken by
Jess older sister. The dominant aspect of both Sikh and lower middle class English
cultures which the film reveals is the need to keep up appearances and pay attention
to what the community will think. There is also a complicating love interest for Jess
in the shape of her football manager, Joe, across the racial divide. This, however,
comes from a man from a minority group himself, as Joe is Irish. Jess family came to
Britain from East Africa and her father was a keen cricketer and it turns out the
discrimination he suffered on arrival in relation to playing cricket has caused his
opposition to sport. This then segues into a Hollywoodesque touch with a magical
melting away of all other opposition to the proposed California football scholarships
of both Jess and her white teammate Jules. The tidy happy resolution might seem to
smack of target audience expectations but Hanif Kureishis Parvez would have fully
approved.
From the black perspective there has been no real equivalent to the blaxploitation
films of the 1970s or the canon of work of Spike Lee which have achieved wide
distribution or video status.63 The number of British films produced as a whole
reached an all-time low at the start of the 1980s rising in the 1990s to just over 80. 64
Much of the limited work has suffered from the increasing concentration of
advertising and promotion on a handful of films.65 Young Soul Rebels (1991) and
Babymother (1996) were, however, produced with the financial support of Channel
Four Films and are available in video format. Like British Asian films, they are
concerned with the experiences of individuals from ethnic backgrounds and their
inter-relationships. These films are as close as we get to a black British cinema in the
terms indicated by Cripps66. The status and issue of citizens of mixed race is briefly
raised in Young Soul Rebels where one of the two main soul D.J. protagonists has a
white mother. Racism and homophobia within the black community are touched on
as in the discussion of the identity of the murderer of a young man found in a park
shortly before the 1977 Silver Jubilee celebrations.
Carlton
Cant trust dem alf caste bwoy ye no. Ye dont know which side them on. I could
well believe it was one a dem kill that black bwoyy.as far as I and I concern,
musa be a white bwoy, an if it wasnt a white bwoy, Ill lay on money it was a alf
castey.
63

Distributionthe burden of the filmmaker and Why are black films so poorly distributed both sides of the
Atlantic Black Film Maker (April/May, 2002), 14although this refers more to theatre showings than
video availability.
64
BFI Film and Television Handbook, 2001, p. 23.
65
The British Film Industry in the 1990s Peter Todd (in BritishCinema of the 90s), p. 17.
66
Cripps (1978).

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

249

Caz is suspect because he associates with Chrisson of a black father and white
motheras well as white people. Which is more problematic between race and
homosexuality is left uncertain
Caz
Youre fulla shit Davis! The bruvva dat got killed on the parkhe was what you
call an anti-man, a bwatty bwoy. Dat make it alright no? You concerned bout
who did it now?
Davis hesitates, he has no quick answer
Caz throws down his cloth, leaves the garage, not waiting for one
The marginalisation of black interests in white dominated culture is, however, a
much more extensive focus in the film. The white world is peripheral in the daily lives
of the protagonists except as the force that moulds black experience.
Similarly in Babymother (1995) the struggle of Anita to escape from the influence
of her partner, Byron and to make it as an artiste in her own right in the world of
reggae is not mediated by race or the white world. The conflict is between traditional
male chauvinism and her perception of a womans role and potential. She finds
strength from the successful struggle of her supposed sister Rose who managed to
obtain professional employment through support from her own mother and selfbelief after giving birth to Anita.
This is a cinema of self-confidence which does not rely on the validation of the
dominant white culture. Themes centring around how the cultures intersect are dealt
with principally from the minority viewpoint. The issues of interest in Asian and
black British cinema are how those communities relate to each other. This is not to
say that racism and the impact of white Britain is not important. This is something
which may either be merely sketched in as in the car park taunting in Bhaji on the
Beach or which is so much a part of life that it hardly needs emphasising. Explaining
his decision to cut the pub fight scene in East is East, director Damien ODonnell
explained
The whole idea of them being surrounded by racism is made abundantly clear
earlier on in the film and done with humour so why should we have it again in a
serious sense67
3.1. Adaptation and the simplification of social issues
In order to locate film more firmly within their socio-political context it is
proposed to examine the changes which emerge when adaptations are undertaken
from literature to film. Historical surveys of developments in British social issues
cinema have tended not to concern themselves with literary sources as a discrete
topic of analysis68. They have tended to focus more on the relationship between the
67
68

East is East DVD Deleted Scenesdirectors comments.


Hill (1986, 1999), and Murphy (1992b).

250

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

cultural zeitgeist and the kinds of films, which have been able to secure funding. In a
work on the new realism in the British cinema from the mid-1950s to early 1960s
John Hill explores the social and economic context of the production of such films.69
The concern is more particularly with the relationship between film and ideology.
Lola Young in her examination of both race, gender and sexuality in British film is
concerned with the development of ideologies about race, gender and sexual
orientation to see how these have been mediated in films dealing with these aspects of
otherness.70 In much the same way John Hills work on the 1980s traces the
relationship between the cultural cinematic artefacts produced in this decade and the
core features of Thatcherism.71 Notions like class, gender, sexual orientation and
ethnicity and the various struggles around their interpretation provide the context
against which films of the 1980s are assessed. They are seen as major factors both
informing the making of film as well as being vehicles for the elaboration of distinct
versions of the nation and politics. The focus in these works however is solely on the
films and there is very limited coverage of the relationship between the screenplays
and any source they may have had in plays or novels.
The principal focus of adaptation studies, for their part, has been on how
literature or major works of fiction have fared when they reached the screen, with
particular emphasis on the question of fidelity.72 This has not been without its
critics, of course.73 Given the major cinematic and televisual coverage of some
writers it is not surprising that the treatment of the work of writers like Shakespeare,
Dickens and Thackeray has dominated.74 Different ways of categorising adaptation
have emerged from the writers in this area drawing on the works examined. Thus,
Wagner produces a triple category of adaptation covering transposition, commentary and analogy denoting the distinct ways in which the cinema industry has dealt
with literary sources.75 They have sometimes simply rendered their content in a
visual form. Wuthering Heights (1939), Jane Eyre (1944), Madame Bovary (1949),
Lord Jim (1965) are amongst those which fall into this category of Wagners. On
other occasions filmmakers have altered the original, either deliberately or
intentionally. Here, the fictional work is a point of departure for the new creation.
This may involve re-emphasis or re-structuring. Catch-22 (1970) and A Clockwork
Orange (1972) are examples of this relationship between fiction and film. Finally
Cabaret (1972) and Death in Venice (1971) are put forward as representing the
method which involves using different techniques to make a very different work of
art from the original. This may involve shifts in time, location or characters. Wagner
even provides a way of seeing the early James Bond films as fitting into each of these
categories. Sinyard, for his part talks of adaptation as criticism. He suggests that the
69

Hill (1986).
Fear of the dark (1996).
71
Hill (1999).
72
Sinyard (1986), Orr and Nicholson (1992); Writing and Cinema, Bignell (1999, Part 3); Adaptations:
from text to screen, screen to text Cartmell and Whelehan (1999, Part II).
73
McFarlane (1996, pp. 811).
74
Giddings et al. (1990), Davies and Wells (1994).
75
Wagner (1975, Part 3).
70

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

251

best adaptations of books for film involve the adaptation being seen not as a
pictorialisation of the complete novel but rather a critical essay, which stresses what,
is perceived as the main theme.76 The best adaptations, suggests Sinyard, provide a
critical gloss on the novels and a freshly imagined cinematic experience that enrich
the appreciation of anyone sincerely devoted to film literature.77 In his fascinating
essay78 on To Kill a Mockingbird, for instance, Colin Nicholson does not explore the
wider background of lynching or official courtroom murder prevalent in the
Southern United States which put Finchs actions into context.79
More recently Brian McFarlane has stressed that this concentration undervalues
the intertextuality of film.80 He notes that the non-literary, non-novelistic
influences at work on any film are often crucial. Such matters as conditions within
the film industry and the prevailing cultural and social climate at the time of the
films making are major determinants in shaping any film. McFarlane notes that
such notions are difficult to formalise as opposed to questions of narrative
faithfulness. This paper seeks to engage in such a process in the context of To Sir
With Love.
It is the authors contention that the transformation in the adaptation process can
best be understood by looking at the specific pressures and influences operating on
filmmakers. This context provides a richer picture of the constraints on filmmakers
rather than seeing this principally as an abstract artistic process. Further the
relationship between social and economic developments needs to be examined to see
what kinds of parameters informed writers and filmmakers in their work.
3.2. Adapting Erroll Braithwaite
To Sir With Love documents the experience of one black teacher in post-war
Britain. It is based on the autobiography of the same title of Erroll Braithwaite
published in 1959. Braithwaite traces his first 6 months as a general class teacher of
15 years olds at a tough secondary school in East London in the early 1950s. He
describes his experiences as a well-qualified and educated black engineer seeking
work in post-War London after working extensively in South America and the
United States. The question of colour makes several appearances in the book.
Braithwaite devotes a significant section of the early part of the book to explaining
the reaction of potential employers to discovering that this well-qualified applicant
was black.81 Jobs that were open have suddenly been filled. Braithwaite even checks
the veracity of this with a white friend who is informed that indeed the job is still
vacant when he applies. We see how it is that Braithwaite has ended up teaching.
Some messages are mixed. On his way to his new school he comes across the
76

Sinyard (1986, Chapter 8).


Sinyard (1986, p. 117).
78
Colin Nicholson in Hollywood and race:To Kill a Mockingbird, (Orr and Nicholson, 1992).
79
See, for instance, special 400pp. issue of the Alabama Law Review, 1994 devoted exclusively to locating
Atticus Finch in his political and historical context.
80
McFarlane (1996, p. 21).
81
Chapters 4 and 5 (almost 10% of the books total length).
77

252

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

resistance of one passenger on a bus to sitting next to him mixed in with the
disapproval of this behaviour by the bus conductor.82 Similarly, at school his colour
scarcely figures. His struggle is with the children as a teacher/authority figure rather
than as a black man. At this time racial awareness is limited. It seems to be limited to
parents and one of his fellow teachers.83 For instance, the possibility of his renting a
room founders on the racial prejudice of the mother of one of his pupils. His attempt
to rent is met with a withdrawal of the room Im not letting and an explanation
that theres some darky here asking about the room. It turns out she is the mother
of one of his pupils. She changes her mind when her daughter puts her under
pressure to rent to Sir. By this time Braithwaite has thought better of the
advantages of living nearer his place of work.84
Braithwaite also has to endure mild racial humour when he cuts his hand and
one of the boys, Potter, expresses surprise at his blood being red. Potter is upbraided
by one of the girls, Pamela Dare who has a crush on Braithwaite. The latter brushes
over the incident agreeing with Potter that it shows that colour is only skin deep.
There is, however, a confrontation between Dare and the boys about their
insensitivity in asking all sorts of questions about Sirs otherness
Do you ever wash Sir? Do you feel the cold, Sir? Do you ever have a haircut,
Sir?85
She challenges them to reconsider whether the teacher might not be hurt by their
remarks and that perhaps it is not just a joke. Finally she turns on Seales, the child
of a black father and white mother, and points out that at least he should know
better. He replies that he did not say anything and she turns on him
You never say anything. Youre coloured too, but you just sit back and keep your
mouth shut.
Braithwaite, nonetheless, appears to be making progress in widening the cultural
horizons and also racial awareness of his poor East End pupils taking them on a trip
to the museums in the West End of London. One of the girls is bold enough to
verbally challenge the disapproval of other travellers at the sight of a black teacher
with white school students in the subway.
In addition, one of the central dramatic conflicts of the book does centre on race.
It is not, though, concerned with Braithwaites colour. Instead it involves the funeral
of Seales mother. The class voluntarily takes up a collection for a bouquet of
flowers. Delivering these flowers is not something, however, which the class are, at
first, willing to do. More importantly, nor is there any question of them attending the
funeral, as this would involve going to the home of a black person. Braithwaite is
82

Chapter 1.
The other male teacher, the unpleasant Weston takes opportunities to make a series of pointed
remarks referring to Braithwaite as our sunburned friend, being a black sheep to the slaughter and his
working black magic. Weston is, however an unpopular loner in the staffroom where all other teachers
are supportive.
84
Chapter 13.
85
Chapter 14.
83

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

253

amazed that the tolerance and colour blindness which the class have shown towards
him are really so superficial. He loses faith in the project which he has been engaged
in treating them as adults. When he turns up on the day of the funeral at the street
where the Seales family live he is moved to tears when he discovers that the whole
class have in fact taken heed of his obvious disappointment and are there outside the
house.
Racial intolerance also appears in a part of the book devoted to the development
of the romance between Braithwaite and fellow teacher Gillian Blanchard. They
receive rude treatment when they go out in public together and there is an absence of
parental support for their relationship. Her father urges them in the interests of any
children they might produce to reconsider their relationship. His concern, he
explains, is based not on prejudice but on realism.
Hence, the initial impetus of Braithwaite into teaching, his location when teaching,
his relationship with his pupils as perceived by the outside world and his civics
teaching are all crucially mediated by his otherness. His blackness in a racist white
world provides much of the narrative drive coupled with his negotiation of a pupil
crush by the pupil, Pamela Dare.
The 1967 film version written, produced and directed by James Clavell retains only
limited fragments of this juxtaposition. The action is updated to the contemporary
setting of the mid-1960s. There are more ethnic minorities in Braithwaites classin
addition to Seales there is an Asian girl and a Chinese girlboth of whom have nonspeaking roles. On the other hand, a number of features of the book disappearthe
racists in the bus and later on the subway are not included; the racist employers who
caused Braithwaite to give up seeking world in his chosen profession receive no
mention; the romance with the white teacher, their experience of going out in public
together and the reaction of her realist/racist father is absent from the screenplay.
What is left are two incidentsthe funeral flowers dispute with its positive
conclusion about racial harmony remains along with the cut hand incident. What we
have in the film is a story about young people maturing and coming of age with the
help of a sympathetic adult. The role of Sidney Poitier could almost have been as
easily played by any actor. Teachers are the strange other rather than anything
more complex involving ethnicity. This notion was in fact adopted in the TV series
made in the wake of To Sir With Love. The same characters appear in Please Sir. The
teacher becomes an ineffectual but nice Northern white man in his first teaching
post.86
Some of the changes in emphasis stem from the absence of the main protagonists
inner thoughts ever being expressed. The driving force is the narrative rather than
the combination of reflection and narrative found in the book.87 The overall removal
of much of the meat of the Braithwaite book, however, does not stem from the need
86
LWT 19701978; the characters continued into post-school world in The Fenn Street Gang. The
school based TV series itself spawned a 1971 film of the same name. There were four ethnic minority pupils
but they occupied minor roles with minimal speaking parts.
87
Stuart Laing in The fiction is already there: Writing and Film in Blairs Britain (Bignell, 1999)on
Nick Hornbys adaptation of his episodic thoughts into a narrative structure in Fever Pitch.

254

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

to insert a narrative structure. This is there already. It can, rather, best be seen not
simply as Clavell taking artistic licence with Braithwaites text but as part of British
cinemas representation of race and ethnicity as an issue. This in turn has altered
over the years as race has signified a different role in British society as Britain has
been transformed into a multicultural society. The emphasis in the 1960s was either
to airbrush racial minorities out of the scene or to concentrate on the reaction of the
white majority community. With the emergence of a significant British-born
population the focus has shifted to the problems of those who, like Meenan Khan in
East is East have a different racial identity from that ascribed to them by either their
families or new neighbours. She indicates she is not prepared to accept the direction
of her father towards an arranged marriage and declares she is not marrying a
fuckin Paki
Im not Pakistani. I was born here. I speak English not Urdu.
3.3. Conclusion
The Filmography in Representing Blackness88 is revealing. In none of the essays in
that collection do any of the films referred to in this essay feature.89 From Sanders of
the River through Flame in the Streets and To Sir With Love down to My Beautiful
Laundrette and Young Soul Rebels nothing appears. Work in the British cinema has
been on British issues. It has been determined by Britains own quite specific
historical and political history. Many of the themes in writing on black American
cinema do not easily resonate in Britain. The stereotypical Uncle Tom portrayal
of British citizens has not been a feature of British film.90 By contrast, we have Paul
Robeson treated on his merits in The Proud Valley (1939) and being accepted
unquestioningly into a Welsh coalmining community. They are keen to win a singing
competition and they have noted that Robeson scored highly in the singing stakes,
and taking the pragmatic view that down the mine colour does not signify. Rather
there has been the rather different agendas of colonialism or post-colonialism. The
post-bellum, post-servitude adjustments of the South from decades of Jim Crow laws
have no simple equivalent within the British experience.
In addition, British cinema has faced its own problems in terms of competition
from the dominant English language film producing country, the United States. This
has been a long-standing issue since the beginnings of film91 with various
protectionist devices like local quotas used over the years.92 The numbers of British
films seen and distributed has always been limited in comparison to the United States
where some 400 films are produced annually. In the 1990s the number of films
88

Smith (1997).
The index of Reel to Real tells a similar tale with only two passing references to British film.
90
Richards (XXXX, Chapter 3, p. 60). The black man as hero.
91
Victoria de Grazia, Mass Culture and Sovereignty: The American Challenge to European Cinema 1920
1960. Journal of Modern History 61(1), 1989, 53.
92
Toby Miller in The Film Industry and the Government: Endless Mr Beans and Mr Bonds? (Murphy,
2000, p. 37).
89

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

255

produced in Britain with financial involvement averaged just over 80.93 Not
surprisingly, the major proportion of films exhibited were American68% with a
further 16% joint US/UK productions.94 Although the number of cinema
attendances rose steadily during the 1980s and 1990s to 139 million from the 1984
low point of 54 million95 the range of films on offer continue to be dominated by
Hollywood films. The rise of multiplexes and megaplexes from 1 with 10 screens in
1985 to 142 with 1222 screens in 1997 has not led to a wider range of choice at the
cinema. Instead there have been multiple screenings of blockbusters and a
programming policy involving what Stuart Hanson describes as a narrow range
of product from the major distributorswho are all American.96 This combination
of a limited British film industry and limited space within cinemas has not helped in
the development of films concerned with specific local issues around ethnic identity.
This combination of cultural and material factors has led to a British cinema with
broad themes that correspond to particular moments in British socio-political
historythe Colonial Experience; the host reaction to Commonwealth immigration
and finally the Immigrant and second generation experience. The themes have not
been entirely self-contained. Hence we do find films about the colonial experience in
the 1960s97 as well as films about host community reactions98 along with ethnic
experiential cinema. What is interesting about the most recently acclaimed film from
director Mike Leigh is the treatment of race in this film about a racially mixed
family.99 Brenda Blethyn discovers in Secrets and Lies (1995) that the daughter that
she gave up for adoption, without even seeing, over 25 years ago is black. The
question of race is at no point in this film an issue but how the characters react to the
tissue of secrets and lies which have both sustained the familys relationships over the
years and prevented them from expressing their true feelings. These are, however,
human and cultural rather than racial and ethnic problems.100
This paper has sought to show that in the area selected the history and context is
quite specific. An imperial and colonial role had a major influence. The informal
censorship system which moulded the portrayal of the social issue of poverty was
absent.101 By locating these films in their cultural and political context it is possible
to understand their varying images of ethnicity as well as the process of adaptation
rather better. In relation to adaptation, this is particularly so when the original
source has a limited status of its own. This approach, at least in its initial phase,
suggests that adapted films are also susceptible to such a perspective in place of a
93

Peter Todd in The British Film Industry in the 1990s (Murphy, 2000, p. 17).
Dyja (1999, p. 35).
95
Dyja (1999, p 30).
96
Stuart Hanson in Spoilt for Choice? Multiplexes in the 90s (Murphy, 2000, p. 48).
97
Death Drums Along the River (1964)a supposed remake of Sanders updated and altered into a
simple Africa-set thrillerno black actors have any speaking roles.
98
Scum (1979).
99
Contrast with Made in America (1993) with Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Danson where the clash
between African American and redneck culture is, at least at the beginning, the central theme.
100
Although Secrets and Lies has been criticised for its portrayal of the daughter Hortense.
101
Murphy (1992b); Peter Robson in Poverty in Film, Law and Society Association Meeting, 1998
(mimeo).
94

256

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

concentration on the aesthetic and stylistic distinctions between the written source
and film.102 Thus the interesting changes we find in the film versions of books on
ethnic issues, like To Sir with Love and Bhowani Junction can more viably be
assessed. This process of adaptation involved requires to be looked outwith an
artistic vacuum.
When we do this we can appreciate the 1967 film adaptation of To Sir With Love
more fully. It is an updated and toned down tale of mild inter-generational conflict in
a formal hierarchical setting. The situation of black professionals in 1960s Britain,
their specific problems and their rationale for being in the position they are in, is not
addressed. Seeking to do a 21st century remake would offer a different challenge.
Changes would include an update. The major protagonist would now be an asylum
seeker and the film would concentrate on his or probably her familys travails within
their new multicultural, multi-ethnic community. The limited finance available in the
British film industry suggests a co-production involving the import of a big star as in
the original.103 The kind of themes which have achieved commercial success in
British black and Asian film suggest that a historical retelling of the post-War exServiceman immigrant would be an unlikely option. Given the penchant for these in
the United States104 this underlines the crucial need for work on adaptation and
evaluation of film themes to be truly intertextual and located firmly within the actual
rather than simply the aesthetic.

References
Bignell, J., 1999. Writing and Cinema. Person, London.
Bourne, S., 1998. Black In the British Frame: Black People in British Film and Television 18961996.
Cassell, London.
Cartmell, D., Whelehan, I. (Eds.) 1999. Adaptations: From Text to Screen, Screen to Text. Routledge,
London.
Cashmore, E.E., 1989. United Kingdom: class, race and gender since the war.
Cripps, T., 1978. Black Film as Genre. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
Davies, A., Wells, S., 1994. (Eds.), Shakespeare and the Moving Image. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Davis, G., 1991. The Irish in Britain 18151914.
Deedes, W., 1968. Race without Rancour.
Dyja, E. (Ed.), 1999. BFI Film and Television Handbook.
Gabriel, J.W., 1998. Whitewash: Racialised Politics and the Media. Routledge, London.
Giddings, R., Selby, K., Wensley, C., 1990. Screening the Novel: The Theory and Practice of Literary
Dramatization. Macmillan, Basingstoke.
Givanni, J. (Ed.), 1995. Remote Control:Dilemmas of Black Intervention in British film and TV. BFI,
London.
Handley, J.E., 1964. The Irish in Scotland.
Hill, J.S., 1986. Sex Class and Realism: British Cinema 19561963. BFI, London.
102

Richardson (1969).
Sidney Poitier had starred in many films including The Defiant Ones (1958) and In the Heat of the
Night (1967) although it was in his next film that he broke new ground with an inter-racial romance in
Guess Whos Coming to Dinner (1967)
104
A Soldiers Tale (1984); Separate but Equal (1991); Malcolm X (1992) inter alia.
103

P. Robson / International Journal of the Sociology of Law 30 (2002) 235257

257

Hill, J., 1999. British Cinema in the 1980s. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Holmes, C., 1979. Anti-semitism in British society 18761939. Edward Arnold, London.
Humphries, S., Gordon, P., 1990. Forbidden Britain: Our Secret Past 19001960. London.
Lloyd, T.O., 1970. Empire to Welfare State. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
McCrudden, Smith, Brown, 1991. Racial Justice at Work. Policy Studies Institute, London.
McFarlane, B., 1996. Novel to Film: An Introduction to the Theory of Adaptation. Clarendon, Oxford.
Murphy, R., 1992. Sixties British Cinema. BFI, London.
Murphy, R., 1992. Realism and Tinsel: Cinema and Society in Britain 193949. Routledge, London.
Murphy, R. (Ed.), 2000. British Cinema of the 90s. BFI, London.
Murphy, R. (Ed.), 2001. The British Cinema Book, 2nd Edition. BFI, London.
Orr, J., Nicholson, C. (Eds.), 1992. Cinema and Fiction: New Modes of Adapting 19501990. Edinburgh
University Press, Edinburgh.
Richards, J., Films and British National Identity: From Dickens to Dads Army.
Richardson, R., 1969. Literature and Film. Indiana University Press, Bloomington/London.
Sinyard, N., 1986. Filming Literature: The Art of Screen Adaptation. Croom Helm, London, Sidney.
Smith, V. (Ed.), 1997. Representing Blackness: Issues in Film and Video. Athlone Press, London.
Swift, R., 1990. The Irish in Britain 18151914.
Thomas, H., 1998. The Slave Trade: the History of the Atlantic Slave Trade 14401870. Papermac,
London.
Wagner, G., 1975. The Novel and the Cinema. Associated University Press, Cranbury, NJ.
Walker, M., 1980. The National Front. Penguin, London.
Young, L., 1996. Fear of the Dark: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Cinema. Routledge, London, New
York.

East is East (Oriente es Oriente)


Carmen Ruiz Sutil
Profesora de Derecho internacional privado de la Universidad de Granada
1. Pelcula.
TITULO
East is East (Oriente es Oriente)
FICHA TCNICO-ARTSTICA
Ao: 1999
Pas: Reino Unido.
Direccin: Damien ODonnell
Guin: Ayub Khan-Din
Fotografa: Brian Tufano
Montaje: Michael Parker
Msica: Deborah Mollison.
Director artstico: Henry Harris
Produccin ejecutiva: Allan J. Wands
Produccin: Leslee Edwin
Reparto: Om Puri (George Khan), Linda Bassett (Ella Khan), Jordan Routledge (Sajid
Khan), Archie Panjabi (Meenah Khan), Emil Marwa (Maneer Khan), Chris Bisson (Saleem
Khan), Raji James (Abdul Khan), Jimi Mistry (Tariq Khan), Ian Aspinall (Nazir Khan),
Lesley Nicol (Auntie Annie), Gary Damer (Earnest), Jhon Bardon (Mr. Moorhouse),
Emma Rydal (Stella Moorhouse), Ruth Jones (Peggy), Kaleem Janjua (Mullah), Madhav
Sharma (Mr. Shah) y Leena Dhingra (Mrs. Shah). Ganadora de la Espiga de Oro y el premio a la
mejor actriz (Linda Bassett) en el Festival de Cine de Valladolid, en 1999.
Duracin: 95 min.
SINOPSIS
George Khan es un paquistan orgulloso que reside en Inglaterra desde 1937. El
trabajo que realiza es por cuenta propia, concretamente es propietario de una freidura
tpicamente britnica de pescado y patatas (fish and chips). George est casado con una
nacional inglesa que, a pesar de que ama e intenta honrar a su marido, desea que sus siete
hijos sean felices, pero stos se resisten a mantener algunas costumbres paternas,
1

principalmente la de la concertacin matrimonial. George gobierna a su familia con mano


de hierro, actuando de forma autoritaria y, a veces, violenta, pues siente que sus siete hijos
deben ser unos paquistanes respetables. Los hijos, por su parte, se consideran ciudadanos
ingleses, pues han nacido y viven en la localidad britnica de Salford, y slo aspiran a ser
como los dems, ciudadanos de un mundo moderno que toman sus propias decisiones y
elegen personalmente su destino. Entre los hermanos, hay una chica a la que le gustara ser
jugadora de ftbol y no hace ms que martirizar al pequeo, un nio de 12 aos que
siempre lleva una parka con capucha y que el padre est empeado en que le hagan la
circuncisin. Otro de los hermano es el donjuan del barrio; otro va frecuentemente a la
mul o mezquita para recitar el Corn. Asimismo, hay otro hermano que se escapa de la
boda concertada y que es repudiado de la familia por su padre. El rechazo a la celebracin
de la boda concertada se convierte en uno de los temas centrales de la pelcula, pues
George intentar pertinazmente que dos de sus hijos se casen con las hijas de un pakistan,
aunque este objetivo no es alcanzado porque la chicas son extremadamente feas.
El director de la pelcula ha optado por realizar una comedia con ciertos ribetes
dramticos. Con ello se consigue restar importancia al problema tnico, satirizando la
repulsin que algunos britnicos sienten por los extranjeros, y potenciar la problemtica
comn que afecta tanto a inmigrantes como a oriundos, dramatizando situaciones que
pueden producirse en cualquier entorno familiar. De este modo, la escenas que hacen
referencia a la discriminacin racial son presentadas con un nada disimulado sentido del
humor que consiste, por ejemplo, en ridiculizar al viejo racista que se manifiesta contra los
pakis, el cual tiene una nieta que sale con uno de ellos y un nieto que, adems tener como
mejor amigo al ms pequeo de la familia, se pasa el da saludando al estilo pakistan. Ahora
bien, en un intento de posicionarse contra cualquier tipo de racismo, la pelcula tambin
hace referencia a la repulsin racista que siente los pakistanes contra los indios. Pero no es
ah donde se desea defender la igualdad, sino en el drama de una familia con un padre que
intenta preservar la tradicin familiar a cualquier precio, lo que le cuesta la prdida de un
hijo que decide abandonar el hogar paterno tras negarse a contraer un matrimonio pactado.
Est negativa a preservar la tradicin no deja de ser un conflicto comn en cualquier pas
del mundo, y especialmente, en cualquier familia de perfil conservador britnica. Destaca
entre los dems personajes, el del pequeo Sajid Khan, un muchacho que vive dentro de un
vieja parka de la que nunca se despoja. Una parka protectora que simboliza la necesidad de
proteccin frente a un mundo que le resulta hostil y de la que tan slo se liberar cuando
todos los prejuicios salgan a la luz. Mencionar, asimismo, la labor interpretativa de Linda

Bassett, que encarna a la madre, uno de los personajes ms interesantes de la pelcula sobre
el que gira el desarrollo narrativo de la accin.
2. Temtica jurdica.
Palabras clave: Matrimonios concertados, integracin de la inmigracin y violencia de
gnero.
El Reino Unido ha sido desde tiempos inmemoriales receptor de inmigrantes y
asilados polticos por diversos motivos. El eje central de esta comedia es la inmigracin y
los contrastes culturales en una familia de origen pakistan instalados en tierras britnicas,
que comienza de un modo magistral: en tan slo unos segundos, en una breve exposicin,
nos presenta el conflicto principal de la pelcula: la lucha de un padre aferrado a sus
costumbres, creencias y cultura, por no sentirse traicionado por sus hijos, que luchan por
adaptarse a un entorno completamente diferente, que muchos de ellos es el nico que
conocen, al haber perdido su identidad de origen. Es decir, el eterno conflicto tnico y
cultural al que se ven sometidas las personas que han abandonado su pas de origen
buscando una vida mejor.
No obstante, la cinta tiene una intencionalidad mltiple que no se limita solamente a
retratar la vida de una familia peculiar en la Inglaterra de los aos setenta. El director hace
reflexionar desde el punto de vista de una persona que vive en una cultura distinta o bien
nace en un pas distinto al de sus races culturales o religiosas. El film transcurre entre el
drama y la comedia, por lo que resulta entretenido. Con los toques cmicos utilizados se ha
querido desdramatizar temas muy serios y actuales, como el conflicto de Cachemira entre
India y Pakistn, matrimonios concertados, la circuncisin, el racismo, los inmigrantes de
segunda generacin, los barrios obreros de las afueras de Manchester, la homosexualidad y
el rechazo, la violencia de gnero y la resignacin de la mujer.

3. Comentario del profesor.


Todos los temas dramticos planteados en la pelcula son demasiado serios, aunque la
fotografa de Brian Tufano, dirigida por ODonnell, introduce la tcnica de la mirada oculta
para que la cmara subjetiva permita sentirnos espectadores dentro de un docudrama. De
esta manera, Sajid, el hijo pequeo, es el principal protagonista de ese tipo de mirada, unas
veces desde la grieta (con una forma determinada) de su escondite en el reducido almacn
del patio y otras, desde el interior de la capucha de su parka (prenda que perder, al igual
que su prepucio, para transformarse esta vez en nio occidental). El joven no sabe muy
bien si debe seguir las tradiciones de su padre, respetando su condicin paquistan (El hijo
de un paquistan es siempre respetuoso) o romper con ellas. El movimiento de cmara subraya los
acontecimientos vividos por el joven como testigo cmplice con el espectador y nos
permite asomarnos a las tradiciones de otros lugares, regiones o pases, que pueden
resultarnos extraas y sorprendentes.
La temtica central de la pelcula sirve para analizar si esas situaciones podran existir
en el Derecho espaol. En particular, hay varios problemas planteados en la pelcula, como
son: los matrimonios concertados y sin consentimiento; la integracin de la inmigracin; la
violencia de gnero. El Derecho internacional privado multicultural parte de la premisa
bsica que le proporciona el universalismo multicultural, aunque existen ciertos lmites que
debe ser respetados en los pases occidentales y que son traduccin de los valores
comunes de Justicia universalmente aceptados. Pero salvaguardados stos, es positivo que
se aplique un Derecho extranjero o se d validez a una decisin extranjera, con el objetivo
de aceptar, en Occidente, los fenmenos e instituciones procedentes de otras culturales y
civilizaciones, incluso aunque no se correspondan con las instituciones jurdicas vigentes en
Occidente pero slo en la medida en que se respeten los valores comunes de Justicia
universalmente aceptados. En cuanto a la institucin del matrimonio en Derecho espaol,
hay que sealar que existe un sistema matrimonial nico, al que se accede mediante
distintas formas de prestar el consentimiento, civiles y religiosas. El consentimiento
matrimonial se rige por la ley nacional de cada contrayente ex art. 9.1 del Cdigo civil,
aunque son contrarias al orden pblico internacional espaol todas las Leyes extranjeras
que admiten el matrimonio concertado por padres o familiares de los contrayentes, sin
que stos hayan emitido su consentimiento matrimonial.

Las posibles frmulas comparadas de integracin del inmigrante y, sobre todo, una
adscripcin geogrfica o poltica a un determinado Estado puede ser simplista e injusta. No
obstante, es interesante sealar las diferencias de modelos existentes en la actualidad. La
poltica de extranjera caracterizada en el Reino Unido est basada en el modelo
pluricultural o liberal, que a diferencia del modelo universalista o nacionalista de la
aculturacin tpico de la poltica francesa, radica en el respeto a las diversidades culturales.
El modelo britnico fomenta la autonoma y separacin de los grupos tnicos y evita el
mestizaje, la interaccin, la contaminacin cultural. La configuracin pluricultural de
Espaa y su propia historia poltica lo aleja de lo tanto de los postulados asimilacionistas
del modelo francs como del modelo britnico. El modelo espaol apunta en parte a
objetivos interculturales, pero lo hace desde la teora, porque tendremos que esperar unos
aos para ver el resultado definitivo. No obstante, en la Ley Orgnica 2/2009, de 11 de
diciembre (BOE nm. 299, de 12 de diciembre) sobre derechos y libertades de los extranjeros
en Espaa y su integracin, aparentemente pretende mantener este equilibrio a travs del
establecimiento de un marco de derechos y libertades de los extranjeros que garantice a
todos el ejercicio de los derechos fundamentales.
Por otra parte, el fenmeno de la violencia domstica viene deparando a la Unin
Europea desagradables sorpresas. La lucha contra la violencia de gnero se ha convertido
en una prioridad para los Estados. Por eso en las sociedades de talante democrtico, donde
priman los valores de respeto, tolerancia, justicia, participacin e igualdad, los Poderes
Pblicos desarrollan una labor tendente a dar respuesta a tan grave y doloroso problema,
reaccionando desde todos los frentes, (jurdico, social, sanitario, asistencial, etc), con
actuaciones que persiguen su prevencin, su erradicacin y la proteccin de la vctima. En
la actualidad, los ciudadanos estn muy sensibilizados con quien sufre malos tratos
habituales y piden una repuesta enrgica y severa, a diferencia de las dcadas anteriores,
como los aos setenta donde transcurre la trama de la pelcula. Sin embargo, en ocasiones,
el concepto mismo de violencia de gnero no est bien definido y se confunde con el de
violencia domstica o violencia a secas, con lo que la lucha contra aquella puede resultar
menos eficaz de lo que se pretende. En Espaa, la Ley Orgnica 1/2004, de 28 de
diciembre, de medidas de proteccin integral contra la violencia de gnero se toma como
ejemplo de la importancia que tienen las diferentes definiciones y el mbito al que se aplica
cuando se trata de luchar contra la violencia contra las mujeres. Por ser una ley integral, no
contempla nicamente el castigo a los maltratadotes y la ayuda o proteccin a las vctimas,

sino que es una norma ambiciosa que pretende combatir esta violencia desde todos los
ngulos posibles. El objeto de la Ley integral es actuar contra la violencia que, como
manifestacin de la discriminacin, la situacin de desigualdad y las relaciones de poder de
los hombre sobre las mujeres, se ejerce sobre stas por parte de quienes sean o hayan sido
sus cnyuges o de quienes estn o hayan estado ligados a ellas por relaciones similares de
afectividad, aun sin convivencia (art. 1 de la Ley). De esta manera, se trata de dar una
respuesta global a la violencia que se ejercer contra las mujeres, abarcando los aspectos
preventivos, los educativos, los sociales, los asistenciales y los de atencin posterior a las
vctimas, sin olvidar la respuesta punitiva que deben recibir estas manifestaciones de
violencia y las medidas cautelares y definitivas de proteccin a la vctima. Adems,
contempla la normativa civil que incide en el mbito familiar o de convivencia donde
principalmente se producen las agresiones.
En lo que se refiere a las penas que se imponen a los maltratadotes, la Ley consigna el
uso de la discriminacin positiva, lo que no es muy habitual en materia penal. As, se
impone el agravamiento de las penas que ya existan por violencia de gnero, pero slo en
el caso de que el agresor sea varn y la vctima una mujer con la que tiene o ha tenido una
relacin afectivo-sexual. Concretamente se reforman los artculos 153.2, 171.4, 172.2 y
148.2 del Cdigo Penal que pasan a aumentar las penas en relacin a los delitos de
violencia, lesiones o amenazas en el caso de que el agresor sea un varn que ejerce violencia
contra una mujer que es o ha sido su pareja. Si se produce una agresin en el mbito
domstico por parte de una mujer contra otra mujer, contra un varn, un hijo o hija, un
anciano o anciana, una persona dependiente, o bien una agresin de un varn contra
otra persona que no sea una mujer, en estos casos las penas que se aplican son las que ya
existan en el Cdigo Penal contra estos delitos, pero no entraran dentro del mbito de
aplicacin de la Ley integral. Por tanto, la Ley integral no combate toda la violencia
domstica, ya que no se incluye en el concepto de violencia de gnero a la que pueda
producirse en parejas homosexuales, ni a la que pueda producirse contra diferentes
miembros de la familia (hijos, padres, personas dependientes). Estos argumentos crticos
producen dao a los intentos de atajar desde las instituciones el feminicidio y la violencia de
gnero, adems de confundir el concepto de violencia de gnero.
En mayo de 2005, el Tribunal Constitucional aval por siete votos a cinco la
constitucionalidad de la Ley integral, porque la aplicacin de la misma era compatible con

el principio de igualdad consagrado en la Constitucin espaola. La doctrina del Tribunal


Constitucional establece que no sern contrarios al artculo 14 de la Constitucin establece
que proclama la igualdad de sexos y los tratos diferenciados a favor de las mujeres con el
fin de corregir desigualdades de partida, de eliminar situaciones discriminatorias, de
conseguir resultados igualadores y de paliar la discriminacin sufrida por el conjunto social
de las mujeres. Se aade que puede lograrse mediante un derecho desigual igualitario, lo
que, ante prcticas sociales discriminatorias, constitucionalmente es exigible al Estado
social asegurar la efectividad de la igualdad entre los sexos.
En definitiva, el legislador espaol ha considerado la necesidad de una accin
especfica para luchar contra la violencia contra las mujeres y no contra cualquier violencia.
Ello no deja desasistidas ni supone un trato injusto a las vctimas de cualquier tipo de
violencia. Lo nica que esta diferencia en las penas es que el Estado considera que la
violencia machista tiene un carcter especfico y que requiere medidas especficas. Al
aprobar la Ley integral, el Estado reconoce que la violencia contra las mujeres no se parece
a ninguna otra violencia, ni siquiera a la violencia domsticas, pues la primera tiene un
carcter estructural y est determinada por factores de desigualdad histrica. Es importante
reconocer que la violencia de gnero es distinta, porque sirve como instrumento de control
del patriarcado sobre las mujeres y que la sociedad est estructurada sobre dicha
organizacin.
4. Actividades a desarrollar por el alumno.
Tras la exposicin de la pelcula, el profesor realizar una serie de comentarios y
forzar un debate que permita al alumno centrarse en los problemas de carcter jurdicosocial reflejados en la pelcula
Elementos de debate:

Todas las formas de matrimonio, de las distintas culturas, son igual de respetuosas
con los derechos de las mujeres?

Cules son las costumbres que salen en la pelcula que no son compatibles con los
distintos principios de la Declaracin Universal?

Por qu en los pases occidentales las mujeres han conseguido una libertad que no
tienen las mujeres de otros pases y culturas?

Cul es la reaccin de la mujer de George Khan y de los hijos ante los malos
tratos? Cmo se debe reaccionar ante una situacin de este tipo?

La pelcula combina dosis bastantes equilibradas de comedia y de drama: es una


buena frmula para acercar temas tan complejos como las dificultades que surgen
durante los procesos de integracin de los inmigrantes?

5. Lecturas recomendadas y sitios webs de inters


BIBLIOGRAFA
-

BORRS RODRGUEZ y MERSINNI, F., El Islam jurdico y Europa (Derecho,


religin y poltica), Institut Ctala de la Mediterrnia dEstudis i Cooperaci,
Barcelona, 1998.

SNCHEZ LORENZO, S. (ed.), La integracin de los extranjeros. Un anlisis


transversal desde Andaluca, Atelier, Barcelona, 2009.

DIAGO DIAGO, P., La mundializacin y las relaciones jurdicas entre padres e


hijos, en A. L. CALVO CARAVACA y J. L. IRIARTE NGEL (eds.),
Mundializacin y familia, Colex, Madrid, 2001, pgs. 143 ss.

ESPINAR VICENTE, J. M., Sociedad multicultural y Derecho internacional


privado, en I. GARCA RODRGUEZ (ed.), Las ciudades de soberana espaola:
respuestas para una sociedad multicultural (Melilla, 6-9 de abril de 1999), Universidad de
Alcal, Madrid, 1999, pgs. 36 ss.

MAESTRE CASAS, P., Multiculturalidad e internalizacin de valores: incidencia


en el sistema espaol de Derecho internacional privado, en CALVO
CARAVACA, A. L. y IRIARTE NGEL, J. L. (eds.), Mundializacin y familia,
Colex, Madrid, 2001, pgs. 195 ss.

M. ELBAZ y D. HELLY (dirs.), Globalizacin, ciudadana y multiculturalismo, Editorial


Maristn, Granada, 2002.

A. GIDDENES, Un mundo desbocado. Los efectos de la globalizacin en nuestras vidas, 5


edic., Taurus, Madrid, 2003.

N. ALSAYYAD y M. CASTELLS (eds.), Europa musulmana o Euro-Islam? Poltica,


cultura y ciudadana en la era de la globalizacin, Alianza editorial, Madrid, 2003.

O. ROY, El islam mundializado. Los mulsulmanes en la era de la globalizacin, Edicions


Bellaterra, Barcelona, 2003.

U. BECK, Qu es la globalizacin?, 9 edic., Paids, Barcelona, 2002.

J. de LUCAS, Gobalizacin e identidades, 1 edic., Icaria&Antrazyt, Barcelona, 2003.

AA.VV., La globalizacin de los derechos humanos, Crtica, Barcelona, 2003

P. L. BERGER y S. P. HUNTINGTON, Globalizaciones mltiples. La diversidad


cultural en el mundo contemporneo, Piados, Barcelona, 2002.

C. RUIZ SUTIL y R. RUEDA VALDIVIA (ed.), La situacin jurdico-familiar de la


mujer marroqu en Espaa, IAM y Consejera para la Igualdad y Bienestar Social,
Sevilla, 2008.

SITIOS WEB DE INTERS


www.aragon.es/san/cineysalud/descargas/orienteprofe.pdf;
www.aragon.es/san/cineysalud/descargas/orientealumno.pdf

Cultural Studies <=> Critical


Methodologies
http://csc.sagepub.com/

French Fries, Fezzes, and Minstrels: The Hollywoodization of Islam


Shirley R. Steinberg
Cultural Studies <=> Critical Methodologies 2002 2: 205
DOI: 10.1177/153270860200200210
The online version of this article can be found at:
http://csc.sagepub.com/content/2/2/205
Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com

Additional services and information for Cultural Studies <=> Critical Methodologies can be found
at:
Email Alerts: http://csc.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts
Subscriptions: http://csc.sagepub.com/subscriptions
Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav
Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav
Citations: http://csc.sagepub.com/content/2/2/205.refs.html

Downloaded from csc.sagepub.com at Biblioteca Universitaria de Granada on March 7, 2011

French Fries, Fezzes, and Minstrels:


The Hollywoodization of Islam

Shirley

R.

Steinberg

Montclair State

University

Identity Construction Bullets


~

I loved Ben-Hur and Cleopatra. They were long but riveting The longest film my parents subjected me to was in 1962 when I sat through Lawrence of ArabIa (LOA) (Spiegel, Lean, Lawrence,
& Lean, 1962). It didnt take long to get the pomt, the rest of the show was tedious: A mmor officer from England was sent to visit Pnnce Faisal and ended up leading an army of Arabic tribes to
fight the Turks-he was a hero Guess that was my earhest media exposure to Arabs.
June 1968: Just down the freeway from my school, Robert Kennedy had been shot by Sirhan
Sirhan, defined m the news as &dquo;a man of Jordaman descent I loved Bobby-remember the dark
and swarthy photos of the murderer, who quickly disappeared from our news limelight.
In 1968, Time magazme featured a cover story on the plight of the Arab refugees. I did a speech
based on the issue; I couldnt understand why the Arabic countnes surroundmg Israel would not
let their Muslim brothers and sisters m to their homelands. I understood why the Israelis didnt
make room: The country was too small and had been given to Jews. My social studies teacher didnt know anything about it.
Four years later, just beginning a new college semester, the news hit that Israeli athletes had been
kidnapped by Arab terrorists, a group known as Black September. We were glued to the television
as we watched cameras cover the
occupied residences, we saw shadowy figures identified as the
kidnappers on the phone negotiating with authorities. Then we saw the German police shoot and
&dquo;

kill both the terrorists and athletes on the tarmac of the Mumch airport. I flew to Munich once. I
assumed the tarmac was still there. No one was able to show me where it was.

I had not visited New York City after the Twin Towers had been built. When the World Trade
Center was bombed in 1993, it was shocking but very removed from my life. I had never seen the
buildings Few were killed, lots of fancy cars smashed The news reported it was the work of Arabic
terronsts In 1994, we went to New York and scanned the World Trade Center to see where the
bomb had hit We were astounded at how huge the buildings were and how small the bomb damage had been. The buildings were obviously indestructible.

In

A network break-in

1996,I was watching CNN m a hotel in San Francisco A bomb had destroyed a federal buildmg m Oklahoma City. The first words from the radio, TV, and papers mdicated that Arabic terronst groups had planned the mass attack Hours later, a White man was in custody. No apology
to the previously identified perps I believe some Arab Amencans complained about the erroneous
accusation; the news quickly moved on to the unfoldmg McVeigh story.
to regular programmmg in 1997 revealed the headliner that Princess Diana
had been killed m an auto accident along with her boyfnend, Dodi Fayed. Fayed was a Muslim, an
Egyptian, whose wealthy father had been denied Bnush citizenship by the queen-he also owned
Harrods of London. Continued tabloid coverage that year claimed that Diana could have been
murdered to keep her from humiliating the royal family by her relationship with an undesirable
man.

Cultural Studies H Critical


&copy; 2002 Sage Publications

Methodologies, Volume

2 Number

2, 2002 205-210

205

Downloaded from csc.sagepub.com at Biblioteca Universitaria de Granada on March 7, 2011

206

September 11, 2001.

I love media. I love film, television, radio, and print. We unabashedly have
several TVs in the house; they are always on. We watch movies-on tape, on
television, and in the theatre. I listen to the radio 2 hours a day commuting and
devour a newspaper if given the time to sit and read it. Magazines are a joy;
books on tape save me on long trips. The media is also part of my vocation; it is
natural for me to play with it, analyze it, and criticize it. After September 11,
my pleasure became my pain as I watched each breaking news story, over and
over again, on every channel-in every venue. I also knew I had to write about
what I saw and heard. As I romped through my memories and the construction
of my consciousness about Muslims and Arabic-speaking people, I decided to
analyze how the cultural pedagogy of Hollywood had depicted these groups.
I maintain that if pedagogy involves issues of knowledge production and
transmission, the shaping of values, and the construction of subjectivity, then
popular culture is the most powerful pedagogical force in contemporary America. The pedagogy of popular culture is ideological, of course, in its production
of commonsense assumptions about the world, its influence on our affective
lives, and its role in the production of our identities and experiences (Grossberg,
1992). Movies help individuals articulate their feelings and moods that ultimate shape their behavior. Audiences employ particular images to help define
their own tastes, images, styles, and identities-indeed, they are students of
media and film pedagogy. Audiences often allow popular culture, vis-~-vis
films, to speak for them, to provide narrative structures that help them make
sense of their lives. This emotional investment by the audience can often be
organized in emotional/ideological/affective alliances with other individuals,
texts, and consciousness formations.
Thus, this affect mobilized by the popular culture of film provides viewers
with a sense of belonging, an identification with like-minded individuals-this
feeling becomes progressively more important in our fragmented society
(Grossberg, 1992). Keeping in mind the complexity of the effects of film popular culture, the affect produced is different in varying historical and social contexts. With these notions in mind, I went in search of the assumptions that may
have been made in the viewing of films containing Arab or Muslim characters. I
did have a couple of research questions in mind: Why is it so easy for many
North Americans to hate Muslims? Why are they so easy to fear and blame?
With these questions, I hoped the films I viewed would shed some tentative
answers and, more important to my own scholarship, ask more questions.
Selecting my films was difficult-and easy: difficult because I wanted to get
a large representation of films from which to draw my data and easy because
there are few popular films that contain content including Arabs or Muslims. I
selected 17 films and watched and rewatched them on television or videotape. I
selected movies that any modicum of my memory signaled that there was suffi-

Downloaded from csc.sagepub.com at Biblioteca Universitaria de Granada on March 7, 2011

207

depiction of Arabs and or Muslims to discuss. I began to view the films


scripted scenes and/or dialogue that needed reexamination. After I had
gathered these data, I revisited my notes to identify themes, archetypes, and
auteurship in the films. With brevity in mind, I will delineate some of my
observations and findings in this article (a longer version of this article will be
included in The Miseducation of the West: Reexamining Western-Muslim Relations) (Kincheloe, Steinberg, & Kharem, forthcoming).
cient

and

Most of the films I viewed dealt with Muslim Arabs. However, Not Without
My Daughter (NWMD) (Ufland, Ufland, & Gilbert, 1990) and East Is East
(Udwin, Khan-Din, & ODonnell, 1998) are films about Muslims, not Arabs.
Sally Fields compelling, yet whining performance in NWMD dealt with an
American married to an Iranian doctor who deceitfully brought his wife and
daughter to his home in Iran. Sally did not want to go: &dquo;We cant go to Iran-its
much too violent.&dquo; Swearing on the Koran, &dquo;Moody&dquo; promises they will be safe.
After reaching Iran, greeted by a slain goat (in their honor), Sally is somewhat
horrified. Cultural analysis is attempted by Sally and her spouse: &dquo;It just seems
so primitive.&dquo; &dquo;Beliefs seem primitive when they arent your own.&dquo; Mother and
daughter became prisoners as the husband reverted to Ayotollah-generated
fundamentalism. &dquo;Islam is the greatest gift I can give,&dquo; assured Moody. Persian
women (in full black burqahs) were yammering, scheming, whispering, and
occasionally being beaten by their husbands or other available men-this was a
dark, frightening, and smothering world to the former Sister Bertrille. The film
was released shortly after Iranians kidnapped the American embassy employees. NWMD was based on a true story of one womans experience.
East Is East (Udwin et al., 1998) is British Broadcasting Corporation produced and deals with a lower-middle-class Pakistani man who marries a British
woman. He insists on being a traditional Muslim; his wife respects that-as
long as her husband doesnt catch the children carrying the statue of Jesus during the Easter parade. Not a bad looking man, Dad is devastated by his older
son bailing out of his own wedding. He tries to match-make the other boys:
&dquo;Im not marrying a fucking Paki.&dquo; As a father, he is overbearing in his desire to
see his children as happy Muslims-he adds insult to injury as he pushes his gift
of a watch with Arabic numerals on each child. They are angry when he insists
they go to a school to learn the Koran. After various defeats, he begins to beat
his wife and children. I noticed that the camera angles began to change, and as
the father got meaner, the character was being filmed from below the nostrils of
his huge, sweating, bulbous nose-he also had yellowed, crooked teeth. He
frustratingly bemoans that neighbors think he is a barbarian.
The rest of the films were about Arabs-those from Arabia (or countries
divided from Arabia). With the exception of LOA (Spiegel et al., 1962), all
films were filmed in the West. LOA is a dramatic (have I mentioned long?) saga
about a blond, blue-eyed Englishman who, caught up in the myth of Arabia
and the desert, convinces marauding rival Bedouin bands of &dquo;barbarians&dquo; to

Downloaded from csc.sagepub.com at Biblioteca Universitaria de Granada on March 7, 2011

208

unite in their fight against the equally &dquo;barbaric&dquo; Turks. Peter OTooles character is a prototype to Sean Connery and Mel Gibson and is accompanied by

Omar Sharif, once an enemy-now a converted sidekick. Angering the British,


&dquo;Has he gone native?&dquo; Lawrence eventually leaves Arabia-naturally in better
condition than he found it: &dquo;I did it.... Arabia is for the Arabs now.... Any
time spent in a bed would be a waste, they are a nation of sheepskins.... They
[the Arabs] are dirty savages.... Arabs are a barbarous people.&dquo;
Ironically, films that were Arabic in context and content had little to do with
Arabs. Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (Christie, Grant, & Lamont,
1955), Arabesque (1966), Casablanca (Wallis, Philip, Epstein, & Curtiz, 1943),
The Mummy (Daniel, Jacks, & Sommers, 1999), The Mummy Returns (Jacks,
Daniel, Sommers, & Underwood, 2001), Ishtar (May, 1987), and TheJewel of
the Nile (Douglas, Rosenthal, Konner, & Teague, 1985) contained plots
directly concerned with Arabic/Islamic themes, actors with dialogue were
Western, and depending on the film, extras appeared to be Arabic. Action shots
with Arabic peoples were almost exclusively shot in loud marketplaces. No
heads left uncovered, the fez is an accessory of choice for comical extras. The
militaristic extras (sword carrying) most often wore a kaffiyeh (couture Arafat)several Arabs sported turbans. What struck me about the extras was the
&dquo;clumping&dquo; in which they would always appear. Let me borrow from Joe
Kincheloe (1997) as he described the French Fry Guys of McDonaldland: &dquo;The
most compelling manifestation of conformity in McDonaldland involves the
portrayal of the French Fry Guys. As the only group of citizens depicted in the
Hamburger Patch, these faceless commoners are numerous but seldom seen&dquo;
&dquo;

(p. 259).

act, and think pretty much alike. Parent French Fry Guys
from
children, and visa versa. They are so much alike that,
indistinguishable
so far, no individual French Fry Guy has emerged as a personality identifiable
from the others. They resemble little mops with legs and eyes and speak in
squeaky, high-pitched voices, usually in unison. They always move quickly, scurrying around in fits and starts. (McDonalds Customer Relations Center hand-

They intend to look,


are

out,

1994, p. 260)

Kincheloe (1997) went on, &dquo;As inhabitants of a McDonaldized McWorld,


the French Fry Guys are content to remove themselves from the public space,
emerging only for brief and frenetic acts of standardized consumption-their
only act of personal assertion&dquo; (p. 260). In these films, Hollywoods French frying of Arabs leaves them to stand in clumps, to surround the action, to yell
loudly in the background, and to run the market. They are incompetent in
keeping their shop area organized as someone is always running through
it-knocking the wares down and leaving a fist-flinging kaffiyeh-clad merchant screaming from behind.
As with Sharif in LOA, many of the films introduce a sidekick character for
the White male lead. Loyal and faithful to death, the Tonto-ized friend is sim-

Downloaded from csc.sagepub.com at Biblioteca Universitaria de Granada on March 7, 2011

209

pler, devoutly Muslim, full of Islamic platitudes and premonitions, and frightened easily. In both Indiana Jones (Lucas, Kazanjian, Kasdan, & Spielberg,
1981; Lucas, Marshall, Boam, & Spielberg, 1989) films, Indy is accompanied
by his Egyptian pal who fears that Indys ideas are dangerous and will create
anger from Allah. He attempts to convince Indiana that he is not stupid: &dquo;Even
in this part of the world we are not entirely uncivilized.&dquo; Endangered at times,
this minstrelized sidekick puts his hands in the air, opens his eyes widely, and
shouts for safety. Tonto is a Spanish word for stupid or idiot.
A complete content/discourse analysis of these films introduced to me
archetypes that wove throughout the weft of the films. They included the
White, male leader, sent to save citizens or artifacts from the unscrupulous.
Lawrence and Indiana serve as perfect Arian messiahs to these dark, mysterious

Muslims. The word barbaric (or barbarous, barbarian) was used in each film.
Aladdin (Disney Studios, 1992) opens with an overture and opening song that
describes the mysterious, dark, barbaric East. Physical characteristics of the
Arabs generally show bad teeth, large hooked noses, and unclean tunics and
caftans and headgear that are just a tad too exaggerated. Once again, Aladdin
does not run more than 5 minutes without describing one of the Arabic characters as &dquo;pungent.&dquo; The films I viewed metaphorically included aromavision, as
one could vividly smell the camel-shit-smeared, dirt-ridden, sweat-clinging
clothing of Muslim characters.
The market scenes imply that Islamic countries center their cities and livelihoods on the marketplace. The Shylockization of these people is obvious in
their attempts to barter and cheat consumers. Indeed, once again, in Aladdin
(Disney Studios, 1992), the fat, toothless, dirty Arab &dquo;businessman&dquo; flings out
his tablecloth and for sale sign and indicates that anything can be bought for a
price. As I take in his hooked nose and sales pitch, the Semite in his character
reminds me vividly that both Jews and Arabs share many of the same stereotypes : They lie, cheat, and steal.
Islamic characters are not only compared to other Semites through an analysis but to other marginalized groups. There were many, many visible comparisons to Hollywood depictions and assumptions about African Americans.
Many times I was sure that the Negrofication of these characters served to show
that any hated group can be exchanged with another. Exemplifying this is the
language that served to incant slurs to African Americans: Sand nigger and
dune coon were among the nastiest I heard in the films.
Well then, back to my questions: Why is it so easy for many North Americans to hate Muslims? Why are they so easy to fear and blame? These questions
are so obviously complicated and unanswerable. However, I would maintain
my contention that, indeed, popular culture is a curriculum-an overt, influential curriculum that feeds our need to consume entertainment. This Hollywood diet is not innocent; it is constructed on obsession, Otherization, fear,
and most important, what sells. I hope we all are able to read the menu.

Downloaded from csc.sagepub.com at Biblioteca Universitaria de Granada on March 7, 2011

210

References

Arabesque. (1966). Burbank, CA: Warner Bros. Studios.


Christie, H. (Producer), Grant, J. (Writer), & Lamont, C. (Director). (1955). Abbott and
Costello meet the mummy [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Studios.
Daniel, S. (Producer), Jacks, J. (Producer), & Sommers, S. (Writer/Director). (1999). The
mummy [Motion picture]. United States: Universal Studios.
Disney Studios (Producer). (1992). Aladdin [Motion picture]. United States: Disney
Studios.
Douglas, M.

(Producer), Rosenthal, M. (Writer), Konner, L. (Writer), & Teague, L. (Direc-

tor). (1985). The jewel of the Nile [Motion picture]. United States: Twentieth Century
Fox.

Grossberg, L. (1992).

We gotta get out of

this place. New York: Routledge.

(Producer), Sommers, S. (Writer), & Underwood, R. (DirecJacks, J. (Producer),


The
returns
tor). (2001).
[Motion picture]. United States: Universal Studios.
mummy
Kincheloe, J. (1997). McDonalds, power, and children: Ronald McDonald (aka Ray Kroc)
does it all for you. In S. R. Steinberg & J. L. Kincheloe (Eds.), Kinderculture: The corporate
control of childhood (pp. 249-266). Boulder, CO: Westview.
Kincheloe, J., Steinberg, S. R., & Kharem, H. The miseducation of the west: Reexamining
Western-Muslim relations. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Lucas, G. (Producer), Kazanjian, H. (Producer), Kasdan, L. (Writer), & Spielberg, S. (Director). (1981). Indiana Jones and the raiders of the lost ark [Motion picture]. United States:
Daniel, S.

Paramount.

Lucas, G. (Producer), Marshall, F. (Producer), Boam, J. (Writer), & Spielberg, S. (Director).


(1989). Indiana Jones and the last crusade [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount.
May, E. (Director). (1987). Ishtar [Motion picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures.
Spiegel, S. (Producer), Lean, D. (Producer), Lawrence, T. E. (Writer), & Lean, D. (Director).

(1962). Lawrence of Arabia [Motion picture]. United States: Republic Pictures.


Udwin, L. (Producer), Khan-Din, A. (Writer), & ODonnell, D. (Director). (1998). East is
east [Motion picture]. United Kingdom: Miramax.
Ufland, H. (Producer), Ufland, M. (Producer), & Gilbert, B. (Director). (1990). Not without my daughter [Motion picture]. United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Wallis, H. (Producer), Philip, J. (Writer), Epstein, G. (Writer), & Curtiz, M. (Director).
(1943). Casablanca [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Bros.

Shirley R. Steinberg is an associate professor of literacy and educational media


at Montclair State University. She is the author and editor of books concerning
critical pedagogy, cultural studies, critical literacy, and film studies. Her latest
book is MultilIntercultural Conversations: A Reader (Peter Lang, 2001).

Downloaded from csc.sagepub.com at Biblioteca Universitaria de Granada on March 7, 2011

!"#$%&'(#)*+%,&$%-.,/*.&-+-%012%34/#5+'$#-&-%6'&/&-&7
8/2%9%:&')"%;<==
>))+$$%-+(&#*$2%>))+$$%?+(&#*$2%3$@0$)'#A(#./%/@B0+'%99CDDDDD;7
E@0*#$"+'%F.@(*+-G+
H/I.'B&%J(-%F+G#$(+'+-%#/%K/G*&/-%&/-%L&*+$%F+G#$(+'+-%M@B0+'2%=<9;NOD%F+G#$(+'+-%.II#)+2%:.'(#B+'%P.@$+Q%C9R
D=%:.'(#B+'%S('++(Q%J./-./%L=!%CTPQ%4U

E+-&G.G1Q%V@*(@'+%W%S.)#+(1

E@0*#)&(#./%-+(&#*$Q%#/)*@-#/G%#/$('@)(#./$%I.'%&@(".'$%&/-%$@0$)'#A(#./%#/I.'B&(#./2
"((A2XX,,,Y#/I.'B&,.'*-Y).BX$BAAX(#(*+Z)./(+/([(9=\=<<9=N

K&$(%#$%K&$(2%@$#/G%I#*B%(.%-#$'@A(%@/#5+'$#(1%)*&$$'..B%/&''&(#5+$%&'.@/)"#*-"..-%&/-%#-+/(#(1
F&)"+*%P.*B+$&
&
%:&/)"+$(+'%:+('.A.*#(&/%4/#5+'$#(1Q%4U

!.%)#(+%("#$%>'(#)*+%P.*B+$Q%F&)"+*];<<9^%_K&$(%#$%K&$(2%@$#/G%I#*B%(.%-#$'@A(%@/#5+'$#(1%)*&$$'..B%/&''&(#5+$%&'.@/)"#*-"..-%&/-%#-+/(#(1_Q%E+-&G.G1Q%V@*(@'+%W%S.)#+(1Q%=O2%CQ%C\9%`%CaD
!.%*#/b%(.%("#$%>'(#)*+2%?8H2%=<Y=<a<X=D\a=C\<9<=\<;;9C
4FJ2%"((A2XX-cY-.#Y.'GX=<Y=<a<X=D\a=C\<9<=\<;;9C

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE


Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.informaworld.com/terms-and-conditions-of-access.pdf
This article may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or
systematic reproduction, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or
distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents
will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae and drug doses
should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss,
actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly
or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Pedagogy, Culture & Society


Vol. 15, No. 3, October 2007, pp. 367384

East is East: using film to disrupt


university classroom narratives around
childhood and identity
Rachel Holmes*
Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

Pedagogy,
10.1080/14681360701602273
RPCS_A_260079.sgm
1468-1366
Original
Taylor
302007
15
R.Holmes@mmu.ac.uk
RachelHolmes
00000October
and
&
Article
Francis
Culture
(print)/1747-5104
Francis
2007
&
LtdSociety (online)

This paper considers how a university teacher uses reflexive writings to explore what might constitute becoming a better teacher within her classroom practices. The writings derive from an
encounter with students where they had opportunity to reflect upon notions of childhood as
portrayed within the film East is East. Specifically, the paper grapples with the question: Does [the
film] East is East seek to reassure white audiences of the practical adequacies of western culture and
society?. Reflexive writings that are based on the teaching session are used as a context for deconstructive readings. These prompt shifting reconceptualisations of the teaching self and the
students, as well as a sharper awareness of how visual and narrative spaces might be colonised by
particular interpretations of what it is to be British-white, British-Asian, South-Asian and BritishMuslim. The paper reflects upon ways responses to the films characterisations are read in particular
ways; and how they might be re-read in ways that allow for indeterminate moments within the
complexities of the films visual narratives.

Introduction
This paper will focus upon my teaching on the Early Childhood Studies degree, which
is a multidisciplinary undergraduate course that aims to give students underpinning
knowledge for a variety of work with children. The course calls upon students to
examine and analyse the sociocultural and international context of childhood and the
effectiveness of policy and practice in meeting the needs of children and families. The
programme is underpinned by the disciplines of sociology, social policy, psychology,
education and health, critically exploring notions of children and of childhood and of
the appropriateness of the provision that is made for children and their families.
Explorations is a trilogy of units that run throughout the degree programme.
Each unit provides conceptual spaces for students to examine the different ways in
*Manchester Metropolitan University, Institute of Education, 799 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury,
Manchester, M20 2RR, UK. Email: r.holmes@mmu.ac.uk
ISSN 1468-1366 (print)/ISSN 1747-5104 (online)/07/03036718
2007 Pedagogy, Culture & Society
DOI: 10.1080/14681360701602273

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

368 R. Holmes
which children and their families have been and continue to be understood. This
paper will take one particular Explorations session as its focus, to interrogate how
I use film to disrupt students underlying assumptions about what it is to be white, to
be Asian, British and Muslim. These are not conceptualised as distinct categories but
considered as complicated, shifting and interrelated performances of working
subjectivities (Butler, 1993) that find expression within the films characters, the
student group and myself as the teacher. The data taken from this classroom encounter will also be used to open up issues around what might constitute becoming a
better teacher as I seek to provoke students thought, nurture their reflexive practices and stimulate different discussions in the classroom. This has become an
increasingly important focus for me in two ways. Firstly it is a response to finding
myself in disarray because the teaching self who wants to become a better teacher
has come under pressure within the increasingly prevalent post-structuralist reconceptualisations of the self and the subject; of the language used to talk about the
self; and the whole notion of the unstable realities that the teaching self is embedded within. Secondly, the idea of self-interrogation itself has emerged as significant
when I acknowledge the complex challenges and potential risks lying within the
process of reflexivity that I ask of students in the classroom. The Early Childhood
Studies degree is constructed around attempts to develop a way of working that is
what Foucault refers to as a demanding, prudent, experimental attitude where at
every moment, step by step, one must confront what one is thinking and saying with
what one is doing, with what one is (Foucault, in Rabinow 1994, p. 374). I am
mindful of the ways I try to do this, and hope that by putting myself under ongoing
reflexive interrogation, I will be able to experience the challenges and disruptions
that students face.
East is East
I selected the British film East is East (Khan-Din, 1999a) as a vehicle to focus upon
visual representations of culture and race in Britain. In order to contextualise the
session, I will begin by telling a story of the film. The film is set in 1970s Salford in
North-West England, where George Khan has settled after leaving Pakistan. He has
been married to his wife Ella, a white British woman, for 25 years, and they have
seven children. Amid the terraced back streets, Georges family are noticeable in their
diverse racial heritage and differentiated cultural practices amongst a culturally
mixed, yet largely white, local community. This visibility is played out in the seemingly curious and voyeuristic tendencies of some neighbouring families. The
complexities begin when, at the very last moment, Nazir, their eldest son, refuses to
marry the Muslim woman his father has selected for him, leading to their bitter
estrangement. Sajid, the youngest son, is Khan-Dins semi-autographical representation of himself. George is introduced later to Mr Shah, who is looking for good
Muslim bridegrooms for his two daughters; he promises his sons, Tariq and Abdul,
to them. Sajid overhears his fathers plans, and informs his brothers, which creates
further layers of tension and unfolding family crises.

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

East is East 369


I found the film to be a comical portrayal of a deeply complex set of circumstances.
The entire film centres on complexities encountered in a bicultural family and raises
important issues concerning how two very different cultures can coexist. Khan-Din
recalls, I think in [East is East] I came as close as possible to understanding my
fathers motivation in the way he tried to bring us up (Khan-Din, 1999b). My interpretation of the characters led me to consider how the constructed awkwardness of
the childrens relationship with their father is positioned as a bicultural struggle,
where the dutiful expectations of their Asian-Muslim father are positioned in stark
contrast to their British-white non-Muslim mothers acknowledgement of her childrens struggles. George is a character constructed as both intransigent and violent;
he is portrayed as the root of the familys conflicts. I found the slippery interplay
between race, culture, religion and gender in terms of dominant voices, post-colonial
and feminist notions of othering to create interesting dynamics. For example, I read
George to be constructed as exerting his patriarchal prowess by trying to control and
subordinate Ella and their children, yet simultaneously being rendered disempowered by his minoritised racial status. Their only daughter is portrayed as having characteristics that could be read as assertive and rebellious; for example, when Meenah
is playing football, she is wearing a sari. Although this is presented as in conflict with
her fathers beliefs that a womans place is in the household, her sari offers a visual
juxtapositioning of cultural performances. Some of her brothers seem considerably
more reluctant; for example, Saleem is an art student who pretends to be studying
engineering to appease his father, and Sajid constantly wears his parka (perhaps his
shield from the harsh realities of his family, as well as the harsh realities of the world).
The film utilises humour, some of which comes from incongruities; and as a Britishwhite consumer, I found some of the humour difficult. For example, there were
moments where particular characters were portrayed as larger-than-life South-Asian
and British-Asian stereotypes, perhaps intended to be representative of Other in a
way that could be seen to humiliate, disempower and, in a subversive way, perpetuate
feelings of superiority or reassurance for the British-white or non-Muslim section of
the audience.
I intended to use this complex mainstream film as an opportunity to consider how
a British multiracial university classroom audience (including myself) could be
disturbed in the assumptions we make about race and culture and, furthermore, how
this might relate to the students growing awareness of their own shifting racialised
positions in preparation for becoming early-years practitioners. Although I realise
I have not got to grips with the complexities of how I think about myself as a Britishwhite teacher amongst all these intended deliberations as yet, this writing documents
my initial attempts at working with this material in the classroom. The paper is a
combination of classroom data, theoretical ideas and deconstructive writings that
enable me to move fluidly between classroom encounters, ideological positions and
reflexive readings and think through what this interweaving of ideas might tell me
about myself, and how I might consider doing things differently next time.
With this in mind, the following section will address why I consider it important for
myself and the students to explore race and culture, turning to critical studies of race

370 R. Holmes
to problematise myself as a British-white teacher, working with a diverse group of
students within the classroom context.

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

Genealogy of race
Definitions of what constitutes a racial group or a racial minority are subject to much
discussion (see Coleman & Salt, 1996; Bulmer, 1996 ; Ballard, 1996; Solomos &
Back, 1996). In British government research (National Statistics, 2003), minority
racial groups are differentiated based on a combination of categories including skin
colour, national and regional origins, and language, yet white as a majority racial
group seems hauntingly absented except for its tacit constitution against which all
other categories seem to be located. Within this paper, I discuss what it is be to be
white, to be British, to be Muslim and to be Asian; not as discrete physical anthropological concepts, but as complex, interrelated and unstable sociopolitical positions
and cultural constructions.
In Britain, the collective term Asian has come to refer to people who have immigrated to Britain from South Asia, including for example people from Pakistan, India,
Kashmir and Bangladesh. Lall (2006) suggests the terms Asian, and more latterly
British-Asian, should be continually contested, as they are somewhat vague given
the diversity of religious, cultural and national origins of different communities within
Britain. However, it could also be argued that these terms offer a certain degree of
sociopolitical unity in the South Asian diaspora. Given a long and complex history of
immigration, there have been considerable shifts in the racial make-up of British
communities. The predominantly white indigenous urban communities of the
1960s and 1970s have become enriched and diversified in their cultural manifestations, and renegotiated notions of twenty-first-century British identity are continually
emerging. I would suggest that terms such as white, Muslim and Asian within
Britain have become complex nodal points (Zizek, 1989) of sociopolitical histories
that shift and reconfigure with intergenerational and cross-cultural hybridity. New
generations seem to be finding different ways to interpret and perform their complex
and hybrid racial, religious and cultural identities that seem to challenge divisive
notions of being, or not being, indigenous, and part or not part of changing host
communities.
In order to explore the assumptions students make about race and culture within
the film East is East and how these filmic portrayals translate into racial and cultural
relationships amongst the students in the university classroom, it seems appropriate
to turn to the shifting notion of indigene. The term indigenous becomes complex,
as it is recognised that a working definition of indigenous peoples has criteria that
would seek to include cultural groups (and their descendants) who have an historical
continuity or association with a given region and who formerly or currently inhabit
the region. An indigenous people is also a group or culture who have a collective
and individual right to maintain and develop their distinct identities and characteristics, including the right to identify themselves as indigenous and to be recognized as
such (Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2004, p. 3). This concept seems

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

East is East 371


historically specific, so for example perhaps the indigenous 1970s Salford community constructed in East is East could more straightforwardly be identified in that it
was predominantly British-white, with people from South Asia and other countries
beginning to find a sense of community within this region. More latterly, and in relation to my teaching in the university classroom, we find students who are second- and
third-generation British-Asian; and the indigenous community has become intricately negotiable as students express their personal, cultural and political allegiances
to having a British-white, British-Asian and more discretely a British-Muslim
identity (Samad & Eade, 2004), which of course cuts across ethnicity, race and
culture. Although I would argue that the idea of the British indigene has become a
complicated idea, as it shifts to accommodate cultural groups (and their descendants)
from a global process of diaspora, I also propose that the assumptions made about
different races and cultures in twenty-first-century communities may manifest similarities, as well as differences to assumptions swirling around 1970s urban contexts in
Britain. It is for this reason that the film East is East was chosen as a vehicle to explore
the ways students locate and express the multiplicity of sociopolitical Asian-ness in
geographical and cultural relationship with the multiplicity of sociopolitical whiteness. My intention is to disturb the intersection of shifting cultural identities and
disrupt any fixities within notions of white and Asian as stagnated polarities.
In order to probe at assumptions underlying what it is to be white and British in
Britain, I recognise the need to conceptualise myself as a British-white teacher and
turn to discourses of whiteness within western educational contexts. Critical whiteness studies, according to Jay (2005), trace the economic and political history behind
the invention of whiteness. His use of the term invention brings me to LevineRasky (2000), who suggests that whiteness itself is understood as an abstract and
socially constructed process. Jay (2005) goes on to suggest that the studies associated
with whiteness challenge the privileges given to white people by analysing the cultural
practices that are understood to perpetuate whiteness as a fiction. I contemplate how
our interrogation of East is East in the classroom might be understood to expose and
explore this fiction, as well as the silences and invisibilities that surround Britishwhiteness. Ahmed (2004) emphasises that different genealogies of whiteness have
been constructed over time, but that peoples cultural starting-points have been
different. For example, if whiteness studies makes that which is invisible visible, for
non-whites, the project has to be described differently: it would be about making what
can already be seen, visible in a different way (p. 69). This holds further interest for
me within the context of a racially diverse British classroom. By engaging with East is
East, for example, what might be the students and my own cultural starting-points
in relation to making the assumptions of invisibility visible or of visibility visible in a
different way?
McIntyre (2002) suggests that the recent emergence of whiteness as a discourse
within multicultural education has prompted a number of educators to re-evaluate
their pedagogies and to question the ways whiteness informs and influences educational practices and policies (p. 57). I would suggest therefore, that my awareness of
my own shifting subjective positions could contribute to a more nuanced perspective

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

372 R. Holmes
on race, particularly whiteness in the classroom. McLaren (1997) offers a perspective
different from the feel-good-about-myself drive towards multiculturalism that he
suggests we usually encounter within western educational contexts, by asking himself,
How has the culture of imperialism been written on me, in me, through me? (p. 96).
Pearce also writes of the importance of the teachers own subjective position in relation
to whiteness, suggesting that an inability to recognise ones own culture leaves intact
the idea that whiteness is a neutral place from which to look at others white teachers
sometimes adversely affect the education of ethnic minority students as a result of the
practice of whiteness (Pearce, 2003, pp. 27576). Educators such as Cochran-Smith
(1995) and Nieto (1996) variously suggest that universities have begun to develop critical multiculturalism within western educational programmes that problematise the
challenges of being a western white teacher teaching about diversity.
In terms of why I consider it important for students to reflexively draw from their
own differentiated racial positions, I turn to McIntyre (2002), who draws on the work
of Lawrence and Tatum (1999), Roman (1993), Scheurich (1993) and Sleeter
(1996) to explore how critical whiteness studies play a part in disrupting dysconscious racism (King, 1991), something she claims that many white western students
bring to their academic work. Sleeter (1996) suggests that the importance of the
teachers role in whiteness studies is to recognise this and to challenge the borders of
students thinking about race,
given the racial and class organisation of (western) society there is only so much
people can see. The positions they occupy in these structures limit the range of their
thinking. The situation places borders on their imaginations and restricts the possibilities
of their vision. (Sleeter, 1996, p. 36)

Within the student group, there are some students who describe themselves as
British-Asian and others who prefer the term British-Muslim. By introducing this film
into the university classroom context, a further complexity is added as the diverse
constructions of the students own interlocking identities might find challenges within
the films characterisations. Godiwala (2003) suggests, British-Asians have hybrid
culture(s) that need to carve out an identity through an historical re-appropriation
from a pre-colonised past as well as a British present (p. 43). I am interested
to explore how British-Asian and British-Muslim students might relate in differentiated ways to the issues represented within East is East. I also believe the British-white
students need to be continually renegotiating their sense of identity through an ongoing process of their own racial acknowledgement rather than invisibility and deliberated sociocultural repositionings. I wondered how the films indigenous British-white
characters might enable them to sustain this process of self-interrogation. Dwyer and
Jones (2000) suggest that disclosing the geographically and historically contingent
construction of whiteness can certainly help to denaturalize White Identity (p. 210).
They go on to write about how identities are also differentiated, in that subjects never
occupy a single system of difference the discursive formations drawn upon in the
construction of identities are complex and interlocking (p. 211). Both these ideas
bring me to contemplate the importance of locating moments where British whiteness

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

East is East 373


becomes visible as read amongst South Asian and British Asianness. If whiteness has
been visible to non-white people (Ahmed, 2004), yet remains invisible to white
people (Jay, 2005; Hall, 1991; West, 1994), I am curious to explore how and when it
might become intensely visible amongst differentiated sociocultural formations and
visible in a different way to non-white students.
This may give rise to notions of geographical specificity, as different regions
around Britainand indeed throughout the worldbecome culturally disparate
and differentiated at different historical times as diaspora enables localities to
become more diversified. For example, Asianness in East is East is portrayed as a
complex intersection of first-generation Pakistani culture, being negotiated amongst
a long-established white indigenous community, which impacts upon the lives and
experiences of second-generation children of dual heritage. The British-white
community find themselves in cultural relationship with the dynamics of South
Asian immigration, bicultural marriages and differentiated customs, practices and
beliefs that perhaps bring their own racial and cultural performances as British and
as white into their frames of reference. Within the film these complex cultural
constructions seem to carve their way through other swirling discursive representations of class, gender, coloniality, masculinity and sexuality, which brings vibrant
narratives of disturbance and disruption to particular understandings of 1970s
Salfords established way of life.
I want to use the film with students as a strategy of negotiation with histories of self
and of others. I seek to reconceptualise students own understandings of the past,
which may allow for different voices and ways of understanding both the past and the
present. By disturbing the regimes of truth (Foucault, 1977) that feed into the plethora of undisclosed assumptions we make of one another as white, British, Asian and
Muslim, I want students to reconsider themselves as ongoing and working subjectivities. By turning to Khan-Dins semi-autobiographical text, I intend to explore what
Godiwala writes as a necessary strategy as the [autobiographical] voices indulge in a
necessary expression in order to find valorization in cross-cultural identification
(2003, p. 39). Khan Dins slice of 1970s Salford life perhaps begins to display what
Godiwala describes as counter-discursive histories that extend into the diasporic
audience imagination, and carry the living memory of displacement (ibid., pp. 39
40). Within a continually shifting context from 1970s Salford, where indigenous
white communities began to adjust to, and also resist, the influx of immigrant South
Asian peoples, to a contemporary university classroom context set amongst the aftermath of what Samad and Eade (2004) suggest were racially motivated disturbances
in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham and increasing discrimination based on what they
describe as cultural racism, this paper hopes to reignite different discussions around
students shifting understandings of British-whiteness and British-Asianness.
Classroom data: exploring representations of race and culture within film
I now intend to take the notion of working subjectivities into the classroom context
by turning to some data and beginning to grapple with students comments in

374 R. Holmes
response to the film. Watching and discussing extracts from the film, students were
encouraged to document their thoughts and questions in response to representations
of culture and race. The following are comments made by students:
That kind of identity crisis is natural when parents are from different cultures.
Its a message about how you cant expect teenagers who have been born in Britain, with
parents born somewhere else, to lead an old-fashioned lifestyle in British society.

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

Its showing that lifes always going to be hard for some children because theyve got
parents who are only concerned about their own religion instead of looking at where
theyre living and being more reasonable.

I tentatively suggest that the British-white, non-Muslim students comments here


interpret childrens vulnerability as emerging from multiple cultural, racial and religious allegiances. I spent some time in the session focussing on the students uses of
particular terms: identity crisis; natural; old-fashioned lifestyle; and only
concerned about their own religion. My response to the student who had documented
the child, storied as being naturally confronted with an identity crisis, was as follows:
When you talk about an identity crisis and how this is natural, are you referring to the
notion of the child as a blank slate, the child with little knowledge of herself, other than
what is mirrored back to her from her parent?

The student responded:


Well, young children and even teenagers to an extent are like sponges, theyre soaking up
everything thats around them and start to act out what they see sometimes that means
teenagers act in the opposite way and do the opposite of what theyre told to do because of
what they see

At this point I felt the student had assumed the films characterisations of the children
with dual Asian-white heritage to be a set of inevitable truths, as reflecting an aspect
of real life. She seemed to have brought her readings of the characters out of the
visual narratives and into her understandings of particular ideological stories of child
development. I wanted to reposition the discussion within the film in order to explore
how she might begin to attend to the assumptions underlying her understandings and
consider how visual imagery can operate as a sociocultural constructor of particular
representations of children:
Thats an interesting perspective I feel the parents manifest their own complexities as
theyre constructed as a fractured couple, represented as culturally, racially and religiously
diverse even at odds with each other. Are their children in the film represented as
sponges that soak up these divided marital experiences? Have they been constructed
and understood as in crisis in the struggle between mother and father, Muslim and nonMuslim, Asian and white identities? Have the children been positioned as natural
victims, as if somehow the realities for the children within this complex family create a
definitive truth?

Another British-white student responded to my questions:


I think some of the children in the film are mixed up and confused Well, all of them
really, even the one who wants to please his dad It even gets too much for him because

East is East 375

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

he feels loyalty to his mum too. Its as though they havent got any positive role models
theyre finding their way through as best they can. Even their parents cant decide how to
bring the children upshould they let them eat bacon sandwiches or not? Should they be
in the Christian parade or not?

Reading this data, I would suggest that some students are leaning to conceptualisations of the child as a blank slate or sponge who experiences culture and race as
being imposed on her, as a passive recipient. Perhaps other students are beginning to
explore the ways the film is constructing ideas of the child as an active negotiator in
the racial and cultural complexities she finds herself manoeuvring within. However,
there is also a sense of a them-and-us polarity that seems to demarcate students
own sense of their seemingly more stable and unproblematic British-white identity
juxtaposed against the finding their way through readings of the films British-Asian
characterisations. I would suggest that students do not seem to find themselves in
and amongst the films characterisations. They use language to keep themselves
distanced from the confusions they perceive in the film, and perhaps by doing so,
sustain a them-and-us dichotomy that refuses to be complicated or disturbed at this
stage.
Turning my attention to my role as the teacher, the data suggests that my responses
to the students comments seemed to restrict possibilities for further discussions when
I used closed questions such as Do you think your response, Are their children
read as and Have they been. I wonder how I could have opened up these ideas
with the students in a way that might allow them to engage in a more sustained
dialogue? I want reconsider the student who proposed the notion of an identity
crisis. The words identity crisis perhaps assume that some definitive truth lay awaiting any child who has diverse heritage. Perhaps it seems perfectly rational, as though
settling within the root tree metaphor (Deleuze & Guattari, 1987), to assume the
children in the film would experience identity crises, as it could be argued that the
mirrored images of both British-white mother and South Asian Muslim father were
complexly culturally and racially dichotomised. Might this suggest that potential for
strong growth is threatened given a dichotomous nurturing of the roots? This idea
also turns me to Ahmeds thoughts around the Other functioning as a mirror, a
device to reflect the white students gaze back to itself. Did the white gaze obscure
possibilities of a detour (Ahmed, 2004, p. 70) by conceptualising notions of dual
heritage amongst illusions of whiteness as an ideal (Dyer, 1997, p. 78)? If I had
taken a different approach with students, we might have considered their use of
language more closely and the ideological assumptions their language was expressing.
Perhaps we could have considered the rhizome, which works against the constraints
of regularity and an appreciation of haphazard and random growth (Lather, 1991,
cited in Jones et al., 2005, p. 278). We might have talked about the invisibility of their
white constructions of the children and considered how students responses might
be affected by their assumptions around being Asian or of dual heritage. How could
I have encouraged students to explore the implications of their own autobiographical
details within the constructions they make of themselves as subjects able to be reflexive in their positioning of others?

376 R. Holmes
Moving back into classroom data, the phrase old-fashioned lifestyle might suggest
that a comparative judgement has been made by the student as she interpreted representations of the South-Asian character (George Khan) within the film. My response
to this comment was as follows:
What do you mean by old-fashioned?

The student responded:

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

I mean their dad still thinks the children should listen to him and do as he says You
know, like maybe when he was a boy, but things have changed. Children have more say
now but his lifestyle thats dictated by his religion stops him seeing that or makes him
scared that if they have their say and make their own choices, theyll lose their religion

Here this students comments about lifestyle thats dictated by his religion, together
with previous comments by other students: only concerned about their own religion
and should they let them eat bacon sandwiches or not? Should they be in the Christian parade or not are perhaps suggestive of assumptions about what it is to be
Muslim. Does the harshness of the term dictated, the exclusiveness of their own
religion and the inferences around what Muslims are not able to do, expose
students assumptions attached to a belief in Islam that are about oppression and
possession? Are the students positioning their assumptions of what it is to be Muslim
against what could be described as the romanticism of white, non-Muslim lifestyles,
where the white, non-Muslim ideals of individualism, freedom, a secular outlook
and gender equality face the construction of the harsh stereotypes of Asian, and/or
Muslim collectivism, possession, religious commitment and gender role differentiation? These ideas together with the phrases old-fashioned lifestyle and things have
changed become interestingly enmeshed within Saids othering dialogue: western
power, especially the power to enter or examine other countries at will, enables the
production of a range of knowledges about other cultures (Said, 1993, p. 205). I find
Saids reference to particular beliefs about Other to be an interesting idea amongst
these encounters with students. Did this student have something to say about immigration, intergenerational tensions or about bicultural families? The knowledges
Said refers to could suggest a power-based claim to not only know Other, but deem
Other to be left behind or old-fashioned, characterised by the inherent inequalities manifested within the process of knowing. Although the 1970s film portrays
George as a traditional South-Asian male, grappling with fears of his children losing
of their Asian-Muslim identity in and amongst negotiating their emerging BritishAsian identities, but did it also play to twenty-first-century anxieties around culture
clashes in multiracial British communities or notions of British Asianness? Were the
students comments related to her own experiences, assumptions and understandings
of an untenable and divisive intercultural British landscape?
My response in the classroom to this comment was:
How do you know that your interpretation of what seems old-fashioned in the film in
terms of the fathers attitude and lifestyle choices is the only way to understand the dilemmas facing the family?

To which the student responded:

East is East 377

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

I dont think its the only interpretation, its just my opinion but I think a lot of people
would agree with what Im saying.

Her suggestion that a lot of people would agree with what Im saying may be a way
of seeking sociocultural and political unity in the classroom. Has she brought this
bicultural, cross-generational dilemma out of the film and into the classroom in
order to express an opinion about the film, but also in order to comment upon the
tensions she perceives in her own lived experiences as she grapples with diversity and
the coexistence (or otherwise) of different cultures? According to Young (1995), the
possibility of knowing other is a process of shifting positions by heightening awareness and developing critical analysis of discourses embedded within imagery.
Perhaps in order to challenge the fixed ways we see and listen to the films characterisations needs to be brought back to ways we have available to us given our own
racial performances (which includes seemingly absent [white] racial performances).
The students comment brings me to a persistent issue for me as a white teacher.
How can I begin to disturb British-white hegemony within educational contexts?
The problematisation of the films narratives might have enabled what Dyer
describes as the racing of whites (1997, p. 2) and how this dislodges us from the
position of power by undercutting the authority with which we speak and act in
and on the world (ibid., p. 2). I want to pursue here how such notions of dislodging
power could be conceptualised within the classroom. To turn to myself as a Britishwhite, non-Muslim teacher and how I might have responded to the student who
claimed her opinion was representative of a larger (white) group, Probyn (2004)
suggests that any white critic of whiteness studies attempts to give up power in an
effort to take part in a discourse of reconciliation, to partake in an ethical listening, to
bring on a shift in academic practice and cultural knowledge more broadly. Although
this film was not used in isolation, but amongst a range of other similarly challenging
visual stimuli, this pedagogical approach could be construed as a way for me to take
part in a discourse of reconciliation. However, it could also be conceptualised as
McLarens feel-good-about-myself drive towards raising students awareness of
pluralism and diversity. To pursue this further, Probyn expresses some concerns
around the notion of relinquishing power. Leaning to Derrida and Foucault, she
creates a discussion around the necessity and the impossibility of white critics of
whiteness giving up power. She suggests that giving and taking power emphasises
the movement and possessive reciprocity inherent in power the notion of giving
connotes the notion of taking (Probyn, 2004, p. 25), which she relates to Derridas
gift (1992), where a relationship of obligation and reciprocity is entered into. She
considers how the challenge to give up power,
resonates throughout critical whiteness studies becoming the ethical basis for the
white critic of whiteness who wants to give up privilege but who also recognises the irreducible problem of giving that is also always a taking. (Probyn, 2004, p. 26)

By using the film, my intentions were to partake in an ethical listening by disturbing


underlying assumptions we make of others in relation to race and culture. However,
by not explicitly declaring my understandings of myself as a British-white teacher, the

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

378 R. Holmes
reciprocal gesture may be understood as seeking public acknowledgement and
taking credit for being a teacher who engages in tokenistic multicultural practices.
Being mindful of ways my well-intended approach may be self-congratulatory might
enable me to attend to its superficial tendencies. I feel that in response to this
students comment, I needed to challenge the constraining consequence of any one
interpretation or particular way of understanding totalising the discussions.
Although I recognise that the students observation seems to seek white reassurance,
assumes a sense of solidarity and needs to be attended to by bringing whiteness as a
sociocultural construction into the discussions, I am also mindful of a further
complexity here with reference to white western educators. Ahmed writes of a politics of declaration, where by engaging with whiteness studies, educational institutions as well as individuals admit to forms of bad practice (Ahmed, 2004, p. 71).
She suggests that whiteness gets reproduced by being declared within academic
texts the admission itself becomes seen as good practice (ibid., p. 71). Therefore,
perhaps by declaring myself as a British-white teacher, the notion of whiteness
becomes reproduced and reinforced as powerful. Dyer, although proposing that
whiteness needs to be made strange (Dyer, 1997, p. 4), is also mindful of the risk of
me-too-ism (ibid., p. 10), whereby white critics critiquing whiteness can join the
multicultural world, even claim victimisation and guilt. Perhaps these challenges raise
awareness of celebratory approaches to complex studies.
Discussions up until this point in the session had enabled me to begin to probe
students language use and encourage them to think why they had chosen the particular phrases and terms they had. However, I am unsure whether this tentative
process of linguistic exploration had initiated any disturbances to students or my
own seemingly stagnated assumptions. I am also mindful that in the same way that
the students seemed to express a them-and-us dichotomy, I was quite absent as a
white teacher in the classroom discussions. Did I feel safer keeping a distance
between students conceptualisations of race and my own? Had I considered how
this racialised invisibility might impact upon what I can and cannot see and how
I might perceive what I do see and how I understand what I see in particular ways?
I was wanting students to recognise and challenge themselves in the visual narratives, but seemed quite content to absent my own sense of British whiteness as
performative in my engagement with the films indigenous white, South-Asian and
British-Asian characterisations. In an attempt to offer a further catalyst for discussion in the session, I went on to quote Godfrey, who reflects upon representations of
British-Asianness in contemporary British cinema: East is East seeks to reassure
white audiences of the practical adequacies of western culture and society
(Godfrey, 2004, p. 5).
Godfreys quotation seems to be claiming that British-white cultural practices are
forcefully sustained in a power-based relationship with British-Asian cultural practices in ways such as the production of films laden with white-affirming narratives.
Could it be argued that some of the students (and myself) were reassured of their
own adequate cultural performances by positioning Asian-ness as inadequate (oldfashioned lifestyle and parents who are only concerned about their own religion)?

East is East 379


I introduced the quotation in order to stimulate discussions around how aspects of
Asianness might be being assumed as inadequate in order to maintain the authority
of the British-white and non-Muslim audience and in order to maintain the assumption of the adequacy of western culture and society. I asked the students to consider
Godfreys quotation and then invited comments to the following question:
Are the non-white characters in this film portrayed as inadequate?

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

A student responded:
I dont think theyre made to look inadequate the films just trying to get you to think
about some of the difficulties that some children face when two cultures and different religious beliefs come together in one family. I think you could look at it in the same way with
whole families, like mine that move into a different host culture. There are bound to be
some disagreements on lots of levels like how younger generations want to dress in western clothes, how they want to go out with their friends in the evening, or family arguments
about what TV programmes arent appropriate to watch

My initial question is suggestive of alternative characterisations who could be


perceived as adequate, yet this British-Asian student opened up a range of interesting issues, as she seemed to refocus the discussion around her own familial experiences and reframed it as an example of broader family negotiations. Her
comments suggest the complexity of family dynamics, not only within families
living in Britain with parents from non-indigenous cultures or races, but where
younger generations negotiate the differentiated lived experiences of feeling
included or assimilated into, or segregated from, a host culture. Was she beginning
to talk about the geographical shifts made by her parents immigration to Britain
and into a host culture, whereupon second- and third-generation British-Asian children become integral to a more diversified indigenous culture? Was she placing
these shifts amongst intergenerational tensions that the white non-Muslim students
may be able to relate to? She makes reference to disagreements between parents
and younger generations, which seem to have implications that cut across all families. These latter points may allude to her desire for, or resistance to homogeneity,
whether that refers to a host culture clinging on to homogeneity by wanting other
cultures to be consistently assumed as outsiders or foreign, or older generations
resisting notions of change.
To return to Godfreys expression (2004), which seems to challenge the Britishwhite classroom audience, almost posing them the question, what does it take to be
white or to be homogeneous? Does being British and white necessitate the assumption that British Asianness is an anomaly, and being Muslim and/or Asian is inadequate and foreign? Does British whiteness as a performance assume complementary
non-British or non-white performances so that it can be sustained in particular ways
in order to preserve familiar and habitualised notions of British-ness? What might
happen if these assumptions are interrupted by considering indigenous non-white
British performances?
I asked the students a further question in relation to notions of adequacy and
inadequacy:

380 R. Holmes
Do you think the director is appealing to us as the audience to reconsider the new fashions represented within the film such as mixed marriages, gay Asian men and strong Asian
women?

A student expressed the following view:

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

I think the director is showing us what might happen if new fashions enter into traditional
families it can cause mayhem and can split the family up I also think that the filmmaker and some of the audience dont want to challenge the traditional stereotypes.
Maybe it would be too threatening because of the way they are comfortable seeing Asian
culture.

This returns me to Saids notion that the more knowable the object becomes, the
more Other it remains (1979). Is this British-Muslim student suggesting that the
stereotypes used in the film render Saids object more knowable and therefore more
Othered and that the audience is comfortable reading the South-Asian and BritishAsian characters in this way? I consider this a thoughtful and provocative comment,
which seemed a risk within a classroom where the British-Muslim student voice had
been largely silent, or perhaps was silenced. This student seemed to bring this challenging idea out of the film and into the classroom by suggesting the audience dont
want to challenge the stereotypes. Although this students comment interested me,
as it exposed a white comfort zone to public scrutiny, I am also mindful that I felt
uncomfortable and almost vulnerable. However, Ahmed suggests discomfort is
important within the complex process of exposure:
to hear the work of exposure requires that white subjects inhabit the critique the
desire to act in a non-racist or anti-racist way can function as a defense against hearing
how that racism implicates which subjects, in the sense that it shapes the spaces inhabited
by white subjects the desire for action does not necessarily involve the concealment
of racism such a question rushes too quickly past the exposure of racism and hence risks
such concealment in the very return of its address. (Ahmed, 2004, p. 81)

Ahmeds notion of being mindful of forms of white western racism that are not
undone, and which may even be intensified through declarations of whiteness, turns
me to emotionality. Goldstein suggests that white privilege can be painful because it
means giving up the myth of meritocracy (Goldstein, 2001, p. 9), which brings me
to Bolers pedagogy of discomfort (Boler, 1999, p. 176). What could be described
as the painful and lingering work of exposure where assumptions are outed, together
with the difficult notion of declaration as the admission, which itself becomes seen
as good practice (Ahmed, 2004, p. 71) seem to become complexities that I need to
address within this landscape of myself as a British-white, non-Muslim teacher
committed to the theory and practices of engaging with my whiteness as performance.
This student had raised an issue around the safety net of pedagogies that use
popular culture in the classroom. She had introduced the idea of the audiences
participation in, and even collusion with, the films performances, which perhaps
also renders some twenty-first-century perceptions of Asian-ness as comfortable
only when alienated and detached from the adequacy of Britishness. Hill and Every
suggest that postmodern film relies upon multivocal readings against the grain (cited

East is East 381


in Sim, 2001, p. 101), and the students response seems to recognise the complexity
of multivocal readings as we each engage in different ways with the challenges the film
appears to present. She begins to question how we might be using our composite and
shifting cultural and racial identities to articulate our ideological assumptions; and
I would suggest that at times, this may help us explore what Hill and Everys notion
of the grain might be in order for us to move into conceptual territory that allows for
readings against the grain on many different levels.

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

Footnotes
As I reflect upon this session, I return to my initial intentions, which were to use this
film as an opportunity to consider how a British multiracial classroom audience could
be disturbed in the assumptions we make about race and culture and furthermore,
how the students growing awareness of their own shifting racialised positions could
be reconsidered amid their readings of East is East. I think the discussions have begun
to open up assumptions underlying what it is to be white, Asian, British and Muslim,
albeit within the context of perceived inadequacy, old-fashioned lifestyle and identity
crisis, and we have begun to probe at language use. I would suggest that the BritishAsian and Muslim students in the group contributed in ways that swept themselves
reflexively into the discussions, whereas the white, non-Muslim students seemed to
read characters portrayed in the film as distanced from themselves, perhaps remaining self-protected and as purveyors and constructors of Asianness. In order to begin
to explore what could be described as an unreflexive invisibility, it seems appropriate
to examine my own sense of whiteness amongst these ideas of absence and distance.
Although I might espouse an anti-racist approach and try to resist Dyers metoo-ism (1997, p. 10) and McLarens feel-good-about-myself (1997, p. 96) drive
towards pluralism and diversity, I also contemplate whether the positions I did
adopt were borne from shame or guilt that shroud my observations of, and perhaps
contributions to, the hegemonised white society I am a part of. I selected this film
as I was eager to challenge stereotypical constructions of what it is to be Asian, to
be Muslim, to be British or to be white; but in some ways I became collusive in my
particular assumptions and knowledges of both myself as British-white and of
others as South- or British-Asian. It seems awkwardly straightforward for me to
identify particular dilemmas facing the students, but I contemplate how my own
whiteness amongst all of this seems to have been left quite absent. Looking to my
role within the session, I consider my own racial identity to have been a silent
participant, which could suggest that I maintained a deracialised perspective or
stance, perpetuating the film as a visual and cultural representation of assumed
Otherness to be viewed, consumed and critically explored from a dominant ideological position, rather than an unstable position where difficult questions were
being asked of my assumptions and as a member of the British-white viewing audience. Fine et al. (1997) also express these concerns: we worry that we may have
reified whiteness as a fixed category of experience; that we have allowed it to be
treated as a monolith, in the singular, as an essential something (p. xi).

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

382 R. Holmes
I feel that my inadequate use of myself as white within the session had contributed to the deracialised representation of the white student group. I felt that I had
remained a spectator, comfortably absent in my white performance, which might
contribute to this pedagogical approach being perceived as a self-congratulatory
gesture. If I consider why I had assumed such an absent position, I recognise a
personal/professional blur that seemed to have created an awkwardness around
being white. This interweaving of fictional constructs where I had unwittingly
rendered personal as distinct from professional seemed to make me cautious to
confront this racial re-presentation in the public space of the classroom. Perhaps the
uncomfortable feelings of wanting to get it right, not wanting to offend or be too
confrontational when I face a racially diverse group of students, left me struggling to
reconcile the tensions within my emotional whiteness. In an attempt to rescue
myself here (and also wondering why I feel the need to be rescued), I turn back to
Ahmed who suggests the desire for action does not necessarily involve the concealment of racism such a question rushes too quickly past the exposure (Ahmed,
2004, p. 81). I am mindful of a sense of exposure here where I feel a sense of restlessness and discomfort with the session in terms of how my racial invisibility
contributed to obscuring ways I was able to see and read the characterisations in
East is East. I seemed to leave the white characters almost unexplored, yet interrogated the South-Asian and British-Asian characters in particular ways, based on
particular assumptions. If I am to attend further to this notion of exposure, I am
mindful that my use of East is East, as a film that opens up discussions in the classroom around interrelated notions of being British, being Asian, being Muslim and
being white in shifting cultural and geographical contexts, needs to challenge
assumptions about whiteness that is understood as a invisible essence (Supriya,
1999, pp. 12930).
This returns me to my earlier contemplations around how and when whiteness
might become visible to white students and myself and visible in a different way to
non-white students. Reflecting upon this session has forced me to think about complex
notions of identity, being British and white. It has also led me to consider how
I contribute to the diverse experiences of students who describe themselves as BritishAsian and Muslim. Moments of engagement cannot afford to be left undisturbed or
unexplored when my own assumptions of South-Asianness or British-Asianness
impact upon assumptions about the comfort zone of my own British-whiteness.
As my footnotes draw to a reluctant close, I want to reflect upon how this paper has
offered a destabilising conceptual space to question my habitualised and wellrehearsed ways of understanding myself, and my behaviours in the classroom. As
such, in my writing I have become a fictional construct who has begun to interrogate
the positions I thought I occupied and how this positioning allowed me to anticipate
my aspirations to become a better teacher in an uncomplicated way. Although I feel
that I am at an early stage in what I hope will be an ongoing series of long and complicated classroom encounters where I can revisit many of the issues I have discussed
herein, this writing has allowed me opportunities to consider transient classroom
performances. I have begun to reconceptualise the ways in which, as a teacher, I am

East is East 383


woven into spaces that no longer juxtapose personal and professional, spectator and
performer, fiction and non-fiction, teacher and learner, speaker and listener, presence and absence. I seem to have become what Denzin (1984) describes as problematic to myself. Perhaps a renewed sense of betterment in relation to using film to
explore issues of race and culture with a diverse group of students, has become a
complicated to-ing and fro-ing of ideas, shifting awareness and differing perspectives
where, as a British-white teacher, I am able to take time to inhabit the difficult and
uncomfortable critique that Ahmed (2004) suggests is needed.

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

References
Ahmed, S. (2004) Declarations of whiteness: the non-performativity of anti-racism. Borderlands
ejournal, 3(2), 6984.
Ballard, R. (1996) Negotiating race and ethnicity: exploring the implications of the 1991 census,
Patterns of Prejudice, 30(3), 333.
Berthoud, R., et al. (1997) Ethnic minorities in Britain (London, Policy Studies Institute).
Boler, M. (1999) Feeling power (London, Routledge).
Bulmer, M. (1996) The ethnic group question in the 1991 Census of Population, in: D. Coleman
& J. Salt (Eds) Ethnicity in the 1991 Census of Population (London, HMSO), 3679.
Butler, J. (1993) Bodies that matter: on the discursive limits of sex (London, Routledge).
Cochran-Smith, M. (1995) Uncertain allies: understanding the boundaries of race and teaching,
Harvard Educational Review, 65(4), 54170.
Coleman, D. & Salt, J. (Eds) (1996) Ethnicity in the 1991 Census of Population (London, HMSO).
Deleuze, G. & Guattari, F. (1987) A thousand plateaus: capitalism and schizophrenia (Minneapolis,
MN, University of Minnesota Press).
Denzin, N. K. (1984) On Understanding Emotion (San Fransisco, JosseyBass).
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2004) The concept of indigenous peoples, paper
prepared for United Nations Workshop on Indigenous Issues (New York, UN Publications).
Derrida, J. (1982) Diffrance, in: J. Derrida (Ed), A. Bass (Trans) Margins of philosophy (Chicago,
University of Chicago Press), 327.
Derrida, J. (1992) Given time: 1. Counterfeit money (Chicago, University of Chicago Press).
Dwyer, O. J. & Jones, J. P. (2000). White socio-spatial epistemology, Social and Cultural Geography,
1(2), 20922.
Dyer, R. (1997) White (London, Routledge).
Fine, M., Weis, L., Powell, L. & Wong, M. (Eds) (1997) Off white: readings on race, power and
society (New York, Routledge).
Foucault, M. (1977) Preface to transgression, in: D. F. Bouchard (Ed). Language, counter-memory,
practice: selected essays and interviews by Michel Foucault (Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press),
2953.
Godfrey, W. (2004) Them and us and 9/11: representations of British Asians in contemporary
British cinema, paper presented at Bradford Film Festival, Bradford, UK, 1227 March.
Godiwala, D. (2003) Hybridised identity as counter-discursive strategy: a genealogy of BritishAsian culture and its postcolonial theatres, South Asian Popular Culture 1(1), 3344.
Goldstein, T. (2001) Im not white: anti-racist teacher education for white early childhood
educators, Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 2(1), 313.
Hall, S. (Ed) (2002) Representation: cultural representations and signifying practices (London, Sage
Publications).
Jay, G. (2005) Whiteness studies and the multicultural Literature Classroom, MELUS, 30(2),
99119.

Downloaded By: [Universidad Granada] At: 17:41 7 March 2011

384 R. Holmes
Jones, E., Holmes, R. & Powell, J. (2005) Early childhood studies: a multiprofessional perspective
(Buckingham, Open University Press).
Khan-Din, A. (1999a) East is East (New York, Hyperion).
Khan-Din, A. (1999b) A quick chat with Ayub Khan-Din. Available online at: www.kamera.co.uk/
interviews/ayubkhandin.html (accessed 3 August 2006).
King, J. E. (1991) Dysconscious racism: ideology, identity and the miseducation of teachers,
Journal of Education, 60(2), 13346.
Lall, R. R. (2006, September 4) UK Indian wants to shed Asian tag, The Times of India. Available
online at: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com (accessed 8 August 2007).
Lather, P. (1991) Getting smart (London, Routledge).
Lawrence, S. M. & Tatum, B. D. (1999) White racial identity and anti-racist education: a catalyst
for change, in: E. Lee, D. Menkart & M. Okazawa-Rey (Eds) Beyond heroes and holidays: a
practical guide to K-12 anti-racist, multicultural education and staff development (Washington DC,
Network of Educators on the Americas), 4551.
Levine-Rasky, C. (2000) Framing whiteness: working through the tensions in introducing whiteness to educators, Race, Ethnicity and Education 3(3), 27192.
McIntyre, A. (2002) Exploring whiteness and multicultural education with prospective teachers,
Curriculum Inquiry 32(1), 3149.
McLaren, P. (1997) Revolutionary multiculturalism: pedagogies of dissent for the new millenium
(Oxford, Westview Press).
National Statistics (2003) Ethnic group statistics: A guide for the collection and classification of ethnicity data (London, National Statistics Publications).
Nieto, S. (1996) Affirming diversity: the sociopolitical context of multicultural education (2nd edition)
(New York, Longman).
Pearce, S. (2003) Compiling the white inventory: the practice of whiteness in a British primary
school, Cambridge Journal of Education, 33(2), 27388.
Probyn, F. (2004) Playing chicken at the intersection: the white critic of whiteness, Borderlands
ejournal, 3(2), 1429.
Rabinow, P. (1994) Michel Foucault ethics: essential works of Foucault 19541984, vol. 1 (London,
Penguin).
Roman, L. (1993) On the ground with antiracist pedagogy, in: D. L. Dworkin & L. Roman (Eds)
Views beyond the border country: Raymond Briggs and cultural politics (New York, Routledge),
13458.
Said, E. (1979) Orientalism (London, Vintage Books).
Said, E. (1993) Culture and imperialism (London, Chatto & Windus).
Samad, Y. & Eade, J. (2004) Community perceptions of forced marriage, report for Community Liaison
Unit, University of Bradford and University of Surrey Roehampton.
Scheurich, J. (1993) Toward a white discourse on white racism, Educational Researcher, 2(2), 510.
Sim, S. (Ed.) (2001) Postmodernism (London, Routledge).
Sleeter, C. E. (1996) Multicultural education as social activism (Albany, SUNY Press).
Solomos, J. & Back, L. (1996) Racism and society (London, Macmillan).
Supriya, K. E. (1999) White Difference: Cultural Constructions of White Identity, in: T. K.
Nakayama & J. N. Martin (Eds) Whiteness: the Communication of Social Identity (London,
Sage), 129148.
West, C. (1994) Race matters (New York, Vintage Books).
Young, R. (1995) Colonial desire: hybridity in theory, culture and race (London, Routledge).
Zizek, S. (1989) The sublime object of ideology (London, Verso).

You might also like