Identity Construction in Andrea Levy's "Fruit of the Lemon" (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Rostock (Anglistik/ Amerikanistik), language: English, abstract: Andrea Levy's novel "Fruit of the Lemon" confronts issues of migration, racism, belonging, and identification in Britain by following the coming-of-age of a young British woman with Afro-Caribbean roots. Issues concerning identity formation are at the centre of the term paper. The backgrounds of individual and cultural identity formation are reviewed critically focusing on theories by Stuart Hall and others. Identity is understood to be a construct that is changeable and situational thus becoming fluent in response to varying social situations. Conflicts of identity arise within individual identity through the friction between self-understanding and public representation.

The paper proposes that the main character and narrator of the story experiences processes of identity formation which enable her to find her place in British society and confront racism. This identity formation is triggered by conflicts created by racist confrontations that lead to the destabilization of the character. The protagonist's (re)discovery of her ancestral cultural heritage provide her with a base for forming a multi-facetted identity which enhances her self-understanding and self-esteem.