Darkness on the edge of town: mapping ‘Asian’ London in popular culture

Th is chapter traces South Asian diaspora in post-colonial suburbia through popular culture. It focuses on this demographically young population, so eff ectively is about UK-based South Asian youth culture. Th e ‘town’ it takes for consideration is arguably not just a town but the super-diverse megacity of London, the United Kingdom’s capital. Th e word ‘Asian’ itself is fraught with complexity. In UK parlance, it normally means populations with origins in the subcontinent or ex-British India. Yet it connotes a plurality of communities. Describing west London and its overspill alone, Malkani ( 2006 :12) through the character Jas explains in slang style that ‘the Sikh boys . . . ran Southall . . . the Muslim boys ran Slough. Hounslow’s more a mix of Sikhs, Muslims an Hindus, so the brown-on-browns tended to be just one-on-ones stead a thirty desis fi ghting side by side’. Th e comment appears to be alluding to a divide and rule principle that had meant less unity within the old Asian-bloc category. Within these faith groups are Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Indians to name but three. Th e word ‘desi’ is oft en taken by these groups to refer to ‘of the homeland’ e.g. a second generation Asian might express a longing to return to their parents home ‘to eat some desi (home-cooked) food’.

• Tipo de recurso: Part of book
• Fecha de publicación: 2013
• Institución: Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano
• Repositorio: Expeditio: repositorio UTadeo
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:expeditiorepositorio.utadeo.edu.co:20.500.12010/16047
• Acceso en línea: https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/making-sense-of-suburbia-through-popular-culture/ch7-darkness-on-the-edge-of-town; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12010/16047; http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781472544759.ch-007
• Palabra clave: Popular culture; Sociedad de masas; Cultura popular; Política cultural
• License: Abierto (Texto Completo)