A Question of Black or White: Returning to Hanif Kureishi's The Black Album

Abstract

Hanif Kureishi's The Black Album is frequently compared negatively to Kureishi's previous novel, The Buddha of Suburbia. Such judgments frequently rest upon the supposed didacticism of the novel, which contrasts with the comic tone of Kureishi's earlier work.

Revisiting The Black Album in the light of recent world events, most notably the 7/7 Tube bombings in London, allows a reconsideration of the moral function of Kureishi's novel. Kureishi's didacticism can be seen as an ironic intervention into the world of hybrid postcolonial identities, given that it is precisely such hybridity that he is so absolute about. Whilst this may be problematic in terms of Kureishi's engagement with Muslim identity, nevertheless it offers a powerful warning about cultural tensions in Britain, which has been largely overlooked in a climate in which literature is no longer read primarily for its message.