Zadie Smith tells Dua Lipa inequality has made culture clashes feel existential
In a Southbank Centre interview, the novelist linked rising inequality and the decline of Britain's welfare state to deeper social divisions since the era of White Teeth.
At a glance
- Zadie Smith said inequality has made culture clashes feel existential, citing the decline of Britain's welfare system.
- She discussed her novel White Teeth at the Southbank Centre's London literature festival with Dua Lipa.
- Smith called for a 'nostalgia for the left' and praised the value of functioning public services and social democracy.
Novelist Zadie Smith told singer Dua Lipa that growing inequality has made cultural clashes feel "existential", arguing that the erosion of Britain's post-war welfare system has deepened social divisions.
Speaking at the Southbank Centre's London literature festival, Smith reflected on her 2000 debut novel White Teeth, which explores multicultural life in north-west London. She said that when public services were stronger, differences between communities felt "interesting, sometimes annoying, but not existential".
"Now, they're existential," Smith said. "When you can't get a job, when there's no housing, when your schools are falling apart, when the hospitals are falling apart – now it feels existential."
Smith, who grew up in Kilburn and Willesden, praised her state education and noted that the same neighbourhood now faces greater hardship. "Everybody is poorer, everybody is struggling more," she said, adding that this makes it "very natural to look to your left and think 'who the fuck are you?' That is an economic and structural question."
She called for "a nostalgia for the left", urging people to remember the value of functioning healthcare, schools and social democracy. "What was of value to me was a social democracy that basically functioned, and might function again if people cared about it, wanted it, believed it could happen again."
Smith also discussed the writing of White Teeth, which she began at 21 and finished on Valentine's Day 1999, describing the process as chaotic. She has since published five novels and several collections of essays and short stories.
The London literature festival runs until 1 November, with Lipa curating speakers including Patti Smith, Malorie Blackman and Hisham Matar.
Source: The Guardian World
Questions and answers
- What did Zadie Smith say about inequality and culture clashes?
- Smith told Dua Lipa that rising inequality has made cultural clashes feel existential, saying it is now natural to look at others and think 'who the fuck are you?' due to economic and structural pressures.
- Where did the interview between Zadie Smith and Dua Lipa take place?
- The conversation happened at the Southbank Centre's London literature festival, where they discussed Smith's novel White Teeth and changing attitudes toward multiculturalism.
- What did Smith mean by 'a nostalgia for the left'?
- She meant remembering the value of past social democratic systems, including healthcare, schools and welfare, which she believes could function again if people supported them.
