Oral histories of Ugandan Asians in Britain: gendered identities in the diaspora

Abstract

This article draws on life stories with first-generation Ugandan Asians to explore the construction of their collective identities and to highlight the primacy of gender in this process. The article seeks to unpack the meanings configured around salient images in their narratives including the heroic male pioneer, the South Asian housewife and the South Asian woman bereft of her jewellery. These capture important moments in the expression of their collective history; from their father's migration to East Africa, to their life in Uganda and their subsequent expulsion. It is argued that whilst the depiction of the male pioneer epitomised their sense of being successful migrants by surviving and transcending difficulties, the representations of women help to communicate the sudden and profound sense of loss Ugandan Asians felt as they were forced to flee Uganda and resettle in Britain. This sense of loss was multifaceted and was deeply felt by the male respondents. The images of women, particularly during the expulsion, served as a counterpoint to the men's narratives and are contested by the women's own personal stories, which reveal the range of experiences.

Cognitive and social forces in dialect shift: Gradual change in London Asian speech

“…Today, many public signs in Southall are in English and Punjabi (even at the local pub) and the town's lively Punjabi atmosphere-bhangra music, Indian restaurants, clothing and jewellery shops-has become something of an institution in London. Children born and raised during the 1980s and 1990s were now growing up in a climate in which wider British society accepted an increasingly visible, legitimated, even celebrated, middle class British Asian culture, with mainstream comedians, musicians, TV presenters, and politicians (Herbert, 2009;Sharma, 2011). In stark contrast to the older group, the younger Gen 2 participants in our data rarely offered any narratives of racial tension, but rather described experiences of being surrounded by an ethnically mixed, often Asian-dominant, peer group (quotes provided later in example (7)).…”

The British Ugandan Asian diaspora: multiple and contested belongings

“…In short, while Ugandan Asians share many experiences with other East African Asians, the expulsion served to consolidate their distinctive identity, which retelling this aspect of their lives reinforces (Herbert 2009). It often formed the main part of their life story as they detailed their feeling of extreme fear during the expulsion, saddled with their consequent sense of homelessness and, as they rebuilt their lives from scratch, their profound sense of loss.…”

Striking issues: from labour process to industrial dispute at Grunwick and Gate Gourmet

“…The women were very seldom required or encouraged to seek paid work outside the household. The women we interviewed all recorded that they and their female relatives worked within the home compound while they lived in Africa, though it was increasingly common for such women to do paid work at home—including teaching and tutoring, dressmaking (Herbert, 2009). By the 1960s the South Asian diaspora in the newly independent ex‐British colonies in East Africa—Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania had achieved a relatively privileged social and economic position (Twaddle, 1990).…”

“… 11 Oral histories do not propose to represent memory as an accurate portrayal of the past, and it is widely acknowledged that there are both subjective and objective elements to such narratives. As Herbert (2009) has argued, repetition of specific accounts of important events in the past also serve to assert positive aspects of individual and collective identities. …”