Critical reflection upon culture shock in Monica Ali’s novel Brick Lane

Metin Çameli, Muhammed (author)

The notions of culture and identity are intertwined with one another by occupying a leading role in shaping a certain perception of the world for every single individual. They constitute so meaningful whole that the culture into which a person is born gives that person a more distinct identity from that of a person belonging to another culture. More definitely stated, the concept of cultural identity in question here can be identified as a means of differentiating oneself from the other people who possess varied identities in line with conventions of their own cultures. When viewed from this aspect, for instance, the window from which a Muslim looks at the world cannot be considered the same as that of a Westerner since they have disparate cultural identities. At this point, it must be underlined that Monica Ali’s Brick Lane pivots around experiences of a Bangladeshi Muslim young woman, Nazneen, who struggles to hold on to life in London because of her arranged marriage. Pertinently, this study will elaborate on the characteristics of the incongruities between Nazneen’s own culture and the Western culture in terms of the concepts of religion and gender that result in the Muslim woman’s serious culture shock.

• Language: English
• Keywords: cultural identity, culture shock, Brick Lane, religion, gender
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 53-66
• Numbering: [Letn.] 58, [št.] 2
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181277
• UDC: 821.111.09-31Ali M.
• ISSN on article: 0567-784X
• DOI: 10.4312/an.58.1.53-66
• COBISS.SI-ID: 271856387
• Publication date in RUL: 30.03.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Acta neophilologica
• Shortened title: Acta neophilol.
• Publisher: Filozofska fakulteta, Filozofska fakulteta, Znanstveni inštitut Filozofske fakultete, Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze, Založba Univerze v Ljubljani, = University of Ljubljana Press
• ISSN: 0567-784X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 16130818

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Kritični razmislek o kulturnem šoku priseljenke Nazneen v romanu Brick Lane Monice Ali

Abstract

Pojma kultura in identiteta sta med seboj prepletena, saj imata vodilno vlogo pri oblikova-nju določenega dojemanja sveta pri vsakem posamezniku. Predstavljata tako pomembno celoto, da kultura, v katero se oseba rodi, daje tej osebi izrazitejšo identiteto od identitete osebe, ki pripada drugi kulturi. Natančneje, koncept kulturne identitete, o katerem go-vorimo, lahko opredelimo kot sredstvo za razlikovanje od drugih ljudi, ki imajo različne identitete v skladu s konvencijami svojih kultur. S tega vidika na primer okna, s katerega na svet gleda musliman, ni mogoče obravnavati enako kot okno zahodnjaka, saj imata različni kulturni identiteti. Roman Brick Lane Monice Ali vrti okoli izkušenj mlade ban-gladeške muslimanke Nazneen, ki se zaradi dogovorjene poroke trudi obdržati življenje v Londonu. V tej študiji bodo podrobneje predstavljene značilnosti neskladij med Naznee-nino lastno kulturo in zahodno kulturo v smislu konceptov religije in spola, zaradi katerih doživi močan kulturni šok.

• Keywords: Brick Lane, religija, spol