cultural Flashcards
attitudes and beliefs
Brick Lane has a theme of love that runs through the whole street, this could be from parent-child love to the love that can develop through arranged marriages to love at first sight, each type of love comes with its high and low points. However, Brick Lane is said to dramatise the process of transformation that necessarily attends mutual engagement across cultural and religious frontiers through a process of transformation in culture, belief or sense of selfhood “we become people able to understand one another” (Calhoun 2011).
There is a mosque a short walk from Whitechapel station to Brick Lane, omne of the many that serve the large Bangladeshi population who live in the East End. Originally called the Great London Mosque it is now named the Brick Lane Mosque, following the building of much larger Islamic centres around London e.g., Whitechapel Road.
Literature, music and art
Brick lane is a centre of Bangladeshi culture, their identity is so synonymous with this part of London that lamp posts have also been painted in the colours of the Bangladeshi flag in celebration. Additionally the borough changed the name of the electoral ward of ‘Spitalfields’ to ‘Spitalfields and Banglatown’ in 2001. Brick Lane is the epicenter of the UK’s street art and graffiti scene and one of the street art capitals of Europe. It features artists such as Banksy, D*Face and Ben Eine.
Brick lane in Tower Hamlets is the location for Monica Ali’s book Brick Lane, published in 2003, and the 2007 film. More notable books about Brick lane include ‘Salaam Brick Lane’ by Tarquin Hall, ‘On Brick Lane’ by Rachel Lichtenstein and ‘An Acre of Barren Ground’ by Jeremy Gavron..
Poems and songs
Brick Lane has been used in many music videos such as “Glory Days” by Just Jack and “All These Things That I’ve Done” by The Killers. Bangla noise on brick lane, That’s the sound of my home’ Joy Crookes - London Mine. Joy Crookes song is a celebration of city life and melting pot of cultures and complexity that is Brick Lane.
Brick Lane has served as inspiration for many artists, including poet Stephen Watts. Watts moved to Whitechapel in 1974, aged 12. He describes Brick Lane as a ‘seamless cloth’ that is a ‘darkening tunnel of history’ .
travel writing
There are many attractions that can be found in Tower Hamlets, these include; Tower of London, Brick Lane, Whitechapel gallery, Victoria Park, Old Spitalfields Market and Museum of London Docklands. These attractions have attracted more than 3.5 million visitors each year and contribute £818 million to the local economy.
On Trip Advisor it has a rating of 4.5 out of 5. There are 1815 reviews on TripAdvisor, almost half the reviews say Brick Lane is excellent and less than 2% of the reviews deem Brick Lane terrible. The majority of the reviews compliment all of the street art and the quirky shops, they also compliment the vibrant atmosphere. Many people who have visited the area liked how diverse and independent the area was. However many of the bad reviews stem from how tourism has taken over the area and has ruined its original atmosphere, people aso say it has become a lot more commercialised.
changes 1
Brick lane is a living reminder of the history of immigration and the way in which it allowed the area to blossom. It began as a safe haven for French Protestants fleeing religious persecution .Although these communities have now gone, their influence exists to this day as their fine houses can still be seen in nearby streets. Later it saw large amounts of Jewish immigration. In the 1950s and 1960s, Bangladeshi men first came to the biggest cities in England in search of employment and this reached an all-time high in the 1970s due to ongoing conflict with West Pakistan.
Soon Brick lane became a pocket of Bangladeshi culture as a rise in unemployment in the area led many Bangladeshis to open their own restaurants. This transformed one of the poorest areas of London, into an economic flourishing area, with a tight knit community.
changes 2
Brick Lane provided a safe space where they were free to actively participate in their culture and celebrate their identity. A strong sense of community is one of Brick Lanes most important characteristics. Many of these immigrants suffered from relentless racism whilst some found difficulty in communicating in English
In 1976, the synagogue on the corner of Brick Lane became a mosque. This building is now a symbol of the migratory history of the area due to the fact that before the synagogue, it was also a Protestant chapel for the French refugees.
Today it is home to a diverse mix of fashion, art, entertainment, retail and start-up businesses. The richness and complexity of the area’s character is due to many influences, but not least the overlapping cultural legacy of the successive groups of immigrants, each of which have made a unique contribution to the area.
