Mapping Multicultural London: A Sociological Exploration of Urban Space as Character in White Teeth

Abstract

This study investigates the representation of multicultural London as an active narrative agent in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth (2000), contending that the city functions as a shaping force influencing character development, identity formation, Sociological and ideological conflict. Drawing on postcolonial and spatial theory, the research employs qualitative textual analysis to examine how neighbourhoods, schools, religious institutions, domestic spaces, and the Future Mouse laboratory serve as contact zones where migration, memory, tradition, science, and modernity intersect. The findings indicate that London structures coincidence and confrontation, compels intercultural interaction, and generates hybrid identities that challenge fixed ethnic and national categories. First-generation immigrants encounter the city as a site of displacement and cultural anxiety. At the same time, the second generation negotiates belonging within a dynamic urban environment characterized by diversity and historical layering. The study further demonstrates that London embodies postcolonial continuity, reflecting the enduring impact of empire alongside contemporary multicultural transformation. Ultimately, the research concludes that urban space in the novel operates as a socially constructed and ideologically contested character, directing narrative movement and thematic meaning, and contributing to broader debates on multiculturalism and spatial representation in contemporary British fiction.