Volume III Special Issue V May 2023

Name of Author : G Elamathi

Title of the paper : Reading Cultural Hybridity in Meera Syals Anita and Me

Abstract: In the novel Anita and Me, Meera Syal depicts the cultural indifference through pre-adolescent Meena, a half white and half Asian. Her self-indulgence evokes humour and a sense of awareness to modern parents about how the modern children are evolving sensibly. Meena’s friendship with Anita lead her to experience thrill and the spirit of adolescence, which formulate Meena to be familiar with the terms virginity and chastity at the age of 11. The life of non-white is quite dangerous in an adopted country. The mining village employs the immigrants just for their political and economic stability. She portrays the cultural conflict and the mixture of two races i.e white and non-white. The novel is structured by the past dynamics of British colonization and its impact in the present world. Syal symbolizes the cultural differences through the friendship of the title characters Anita and Meena. Both are quite different in economically, socially and culturally.

Keywords : Culture, Cultural Hybridity, Culture Shock, Alienation, Assimilation

DOI :

Page Number : 160-162