Cultural Hybrid Identity and The Second-Generation Immigrants in East is East (1999)

Abstract

Immigration is one of the factors that affected the Western socio-cultural environment by creating a multicultural society. The impacts of migration have created a new form in the cinema industry, namely the diasporic cinema. Diasporic cinema reflects the dislocation problem of screenwriters as they encounter cultural hybrid identity. This cultural hybridisation and the alienation process have been experienced by the second-generation immigrants who were born in Britain. East is East (1999), the semi-autobiographical play and film of Ayub Khan-Din, is one of the examples of the diasporic artwork that focuses on hybridity. Ayub Khan-Din, as a second-generation Pakistani immigrant, portrays his familial life in England during the Pakistan-Indian war. The film depicts the relations between the family members and focuses on the experiences of Khan-Din and his siblings against their authoritative father. In this article, how dissimilarities between the familial environment and the multicultural British society create adjustment problems for the children is examined. The consequent in-betweenness experience of these children is analysed with Homi Bhaba’s theory regarding third space. Moreover, the differences and conflicts between two different generations of immigrants are exemplified. The westernisation process of the children, which is imposed by the mainstream media, and the resulting gap in the personal, social, and cultural points of view between the two generations are studied with the illustrations from the film.