The Postcolonial Symbolism in The Black Album: The Affinity of Deedee and Shahid

Abstract

Degabriele states “political sexual and cultural ambivalence” (p.1) are in The Black Album in which the sexual part is from the liberated relationship of Deedee and Shahid and the cultural ambivalence lies on his way in search of self-identity. They could have sex appeal because “they share the same musical and cultural taste” and thus they “seduce each other” (Degabriele, 1999, p.3). Although sometimes they have disagreements, when it comes to sex, these conflicts are settled down. Even their love transcends Shahid’s role in his friends’ national religious group. The reason might be when confronting between inside human nature and outside constituted world disciplines, human nature finally wins because to adjust personal behavior is more accessible than change the whole world. However, since the relationship is actually unfair as Shahid is an unmarried young immigrant male student and his rich native white teacher Deedee living in “nearly fashionable neighborhood” (Kureishi, 2009, pp.26-27) is married and fairly more mature. She has amassed intellectual than he has. Hence, as a woman with a strong independent will compare to a disoriented big boy she handles him like a wolf to a chicken. Therefore, this essay undertakes to decode the affinity of Deedee and Shahid as a symbolism of postcolonism in which they have imbalanced power of relation, conflicts between ideological strong culture and weak culture and the bilateral
compromises.