ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes that, in the context of the Bangladeshi community in London, Englishness is neither desired nor perceived as readily accessible. It focuses on a people who, with the prospect of peace looming, ‘are searching for a new way to express their identity’. The book explores the recognition by some of the need for an apolitical, secular ‘Northern Irish’ identity. It uses the term creolisation to describe the process which ‘forces the dominant culture into negotiation, or compromise, or the process of subversion of the dominant culture, through a “bottom up” process.’ The book explains language to be a major force in the process of self identification undertaken by British Bangladeshis in Britain.
