Jarrett, Keith (2021) Led by the spirit: exploring the migration of cultural identity through Oneness Pentecostalism, from the Caribbean to London. PhD thesis, Birkbeck, University of London.
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Abstract
Post-war migration from the Caribbean to the UK has not been lacking for academic, literary and media analysis, but the shifting boundaries of British and Caribbean identity in the twenty-first century have not been extensively investigated, nor the varying cultural and religious ideas within heterogeneous migrant communities. By examining the changing nature of Oneness Pentecostalism among Londoners of Caribbean heritage, I hypothesise that increased global connectivity combined with community dispersal, assimilation into ‘Britishness’, and the forging of new compound cultural identities all contest the ‘single narrative’, or essentialist ideas of belonging. This is a practice-led, interdisciplinary thesis in two parts, underpinned by an emphasis on narrative, and the exploration of conflict within identity. The first section is my novel, This Is Not Us, following two protagonists from different generations, and spanning six decades, from the pivotal years of Caribbean mass migration to the UK, to the beginning of the new millennium, and their changing attitudes to sexuality, belief and family. The second section explores the evolution of Oneness Pentecostalism among Londoners of Caribbean heritage through interviews and discourse analysis, in order to construct a non-fictional narrative around identity formation. Key findings show vast generational differences, both among current and former adherents to the Oneness doctrine, including attitudes towards dress, worship, and gender roles, as well as convergence around the ‘hardship’ stereotype and its persistence throughout Caribbean migrant narratives. In my conclusion, I argue that fiction allows for a greater breadth of analysis, and that exploring cultural subgroups has wider implications for how we discuss culture and belonging more generally.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Thesis |
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| Copyright Holders: | The copyright of this thesis rests with the author, who asserts his/her right to be known as such according to the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. No dealing with the thesis contrary to the copyright or moral rights of the author is permitted. |
| Depositing User: | Acquisitions And Metadata |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Nov 2021 15:57 |
| Last Modified: | 01 Nov 2023 15:07 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/46833 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.18743/PUB.00046833 |
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