This article aims to outline the response of the British Asian community
to the post-colonial situation of the former metropolitan centre.
A selection of recent work by writers such as Salman Rushdie, Farrukh
Dhondy and David Dabydeen, among others, is analyzed from a dual
perspective. On one hand, these writers reflect how Asians and blacks
in general have to cope with the racial prejudice of the host population.
On the other hand, they defy the accepted notion of Britishness and
redefine it to include non-white, non-Christian citizens. The paper will
conclude by affirming that British Asian writers are offering the white
British a valuable lesson about their own post-colonial identity.
