Racismo e resistência : a memória em Fruit of the Lemon (1999), de Andrea Levy

Abstract

The binomial inclusion/exclusion has marked the relationship between black and white people in the United Kingdom since the first immigrants arrived from the former colonies. In spite of being a multicultural society, the U.K. is so rooted in racism that the latter is still a barrier for the conquest of agency for the black immigrants and their descendents. This fact is represented in the novel Fruit of the Lemon (1999), by Andrea Levy, analyzed here under the perspective of the post-colonial theory. Focusing on theories of racism, resistance and memory, the aim of this research is to analyze the representation of racism in the context of England in the 1980s, as well as the influence of the recovery of the collective memory of Caribbean people in the identity of the black protagonist, Faith Jackson. The methodology of this research is based on studies by Fanon (2008), Halbwachs (2006), Hall (2006), Hofbauer (2006), Malik (2008) and Schwarcz (1993), among others. Results show that the idea of belonging to British society is still ruled by the black/white binary scheme. Moreover, the recovery of memory is essential for the recognition of the hybrid identity and the recovery of agency in the diasporic subject.