Reflections of Thatcherite Britain on My Beautiful Laundrette

Margaret Thatcher/Iron Lady is one of the most remarkable politicians/Prime Ministers in Britain and accordingly gives her name to a decade in Britain known as Thatcherite Britain. Her politics (especially her policies about privatization) is discussed a lot, yet it is inarguable that she makes her mark not only in British history, but also in British literature. Hanif Kureishi is one of the writers, who reflects the problems of Thatcherite Britain into his works of art. Hence, in this paper, reflections of Thatcherite Britain on Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette will closely be studied. Furthermore, the influence of Thatcherite policies on the protagonist/Omar and other immigrants will also be scrutinised with regard to My Beautiful Laundrette. In this work, the Thatcherite attitude towards racism, capitalism and immigration is illustrated and evaluated from different perspectives.