identity and multiculturalism in zadie smith’s the autograph man

this article focuses on zadie smith’s the autograph manin anattempt to see whether smith is for the multiculturalist discourse orcriticizes it. to this end, two major themes of “identity” and “space” areexamined. it is argued that smith offers a counter-narrative to oppose ratherthan support multiculturalism. in fact, what is known as multiculturalistaspects of smith’s work is just a mere reflection of the hybrid, postmodernworld. by foregrounding the role of capital, race, religion, and gender, smithtries to unmask the very policy this discursive practice tries to hide. sheattempts to expose multiculturalism as a kind of “micro-colonialism” or a newversion of capitalist imperialism by casting light on contradictions inherentin it. however, this is complicated by the fact that smith herself is by andlarge under the impact of liberal humanism which has affected multiculturalismin different ways.