Levi's basic anxiety, conflict and the search for glory in Zadie Smith's On Beauty
Literary scholars of Zadie Smith's novel 'On Beauty' (2005) have examined Levi, the youngest male character of the novel, based on his environment, a multicultural society, and have viewed him as a representation of a multicultural family. However, this paper analyses Smith's por...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
2016
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29388/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29388/1/06%20JSSH-1167-2014.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848846386270830592 |
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| author | Shokri, Shima Bahar, Ida Baizura Noor, Rohimmi |
| author_facet | Shokri, Shima Bahar, Ida Baizura Noor, Rohimmi |
| author_sort | Shokri, Shima |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Literary scholars of Zadie Smith's novel 'On Beauty' (2005) have examined Levi, the youngest male character of the novel, based on his environment, a multicultural society, and have viewed him as a representation of a multicultural family. However, this paper analyses Smith's portrayal of Levi as an ordinary child who grew up in unfavourable conditions. For this purpose, Levi's character is analysed as a representation of neuroticism and his basic anxiety, need for detachment, self-idealisation and search for glory are explored using a conceptual framework based on Karen Horney's psychoanalytic social theory. Through textual analysis, this study attempts to explore the root of psychological anxiety in Levi to discover the role of basic conflict in his behavioural and emotional responses, and to examine how Levi copes with his anxiety through self-idealisation. The outcomes indicate that, as the root of his basic anxiety, Levi's relationship with his father, transforms him into a detached person attempting to prove himself. This paper clarifies that Levi's conflict is rooted in the manner of his nurturing, with some impact from other factors such as society, culture and racial issues. In order to justify that the difficulties faced by multicultural families are not only related to their cultural and racial identity, future research could apply Horney's theory for literary works categorised under multiculturalism and immigration. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T09:01:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-29388 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T09:01:53Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Universiti Putra Malaysia Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-293882016-08-03T02:18:01Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29388/ Levi's basic anxiety, conflict and the search for glory in Zadie Smith's On Beauty Shokri, Shima Bahar, Ida Baizura Noor, Rohimmi Literary scholars of Zadie Smith's novel 'On Beauty' (2005) have examined Levi, the youngest male character of the novel, based on his environment, a multicultural society, and have viewed him as a representation of a multicultural family. However, this paper analyses Smith's portrayal of Levi as an ordinary child who grew up in unfavourable conditions. For this purpose, Levi's character is analysed as a representation of neuroticism and his basic anxiety, need for detachment, self-idealisation and search for glory are explored using a conceptual framework based on Karen Horney's psychoanalytic social theory. Through textual analysis, this study attempts to explore the root of psychological anxiety in Levi to discover the role of basic conflict in his behavioural and emotional responses, and to examine how Levi copes with his anxiety through self-idealisation. The outcomes indicate that, as the root of his basic anxiety, Levi's relationship with his father, transforms him into a detached person attempting to prove himself. This paper clarifies that Levi's conflict is rooted in the manner of his nurturing, with some impact from other factors such as society, culture and racial issues. In order to justify that the difficulties faced by multicultural families are not only related to their cultural and racial identity, future research could apply Horney's theory for literary works categorised under multiculturalism and immigration. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29388/1/06%20JSSH-1167-2014.pdf Shokri, Shima and Bahar, Ida Baizura and Noor, Rohimmi (2016) Levi's basic anxiety, conflict and the search for glory in Zadie Smith's On Beauty. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 24 (1). pp. 115-130. ISSN 0128-7702; ESSN: 2231-8534 http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2024%20(1)%20Mar.%202016/06%20JSSH-1167-2014.pdf |
| spellingShingle | Shokri, Shima Bahar, Ida Baizura Noor, Rohimmi Levi's basic anxiety, conflict and the search for glory in Zadie Smith's On Beauty |
| title | Levi's basic anxiety, conflict and the search for glory in Zadie Smith's On Beauty |
| title_full | Levi's basic anxiety, conflict and the search for glory in Zadie Smith's On Beauty |
| title_fullStr | Levi's basic anxiety, conflict and the search for glory in Zadie Smith's On Beauty |
| title_full_unstemmed | Levi's basic anxiety, conflict and the search for glory in Zadie Smith's On Beauty |
| title_short | Levi's basic anxiety, conflict and the search for glory in Zadie Smith's On Beauty |
| title_sort | levi's basic anxiety, conflict and the search for glory in zadie smith's on beauty |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29388/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29388/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/29388/1/06%20JSSH-1167-2014.pdf |