32 - Through a Different Lens

Summary

Drama, film, new media, and television play key roles in the representation of black and Asian British experiences. Linking back to a history of drama, film, and media production in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, this chapter considers how leading writers and their productions have taken Britain’s diverse cultures centre stage. The widespread success of works by black and Asian British writers, actors, directors, and producers in the late 1990s and early twenty-first century led some commentators to conclude that the way Britain conceives of itself as a nation has effectively been transformed. Circumstances are, however, more complex and by tracing long-standing barriers around processes of representation this chapter focuses on how these assertions are increasingly challenged. In so doing, it highlights ongoing debates around citizenship and access to representation, and argues that black and Asian British drama, film, new media, and television productions have become central to contemporary debates around Britishness. Ultimately they constitute important cultural markers in the way Britain confronts its colonial heritage and conceives of itself as a nation.