“Walking on the Wall” – Biculturalism and Interculturality in Blake Morrison’s Things My Mother Never Told Me and Hugo Hamilton’s The Speckled People

Abstract

This interdisciplinary article starts with a brief introduction to the concepts of biculturalism and acculturation, and continues with an attempt to apply these concepts to some of the main characters in Hamilton’s and Morrison’s books. Some significant commonalities and differences in relation to acculturation, biculturalism and interculturality can be found within the two books. The article deals in particular with the following questions: Can the mothers and sons be classified as biculturals? If so, what effect does their biculturalism have on themselves and on their social environment? It also investigates the strategies of acculturation which the mothers in particular applied and the level of success of their acculturation. In conclusion, the article attempts to assess if and how the bicultural characters in the two books have the potential to act as intercultural mediators.