The Buddha of Suburbia

Period music is the soundtrack of this novel. Beginning with Bob Dylan’s “Positively Fourth Street” (1965), Karim’s adventures are narrated thematically by the music he chooses to listen to and the music that others listen to. Karim’s choices in music mark the passage of time, as Karim does not always give the reader exact dates for events.

Furthermore, the music of the novel’s suburban section, mostly mainstream rock and folk music, contrasts sharply with the music of the London section. This shift mirrors social change.

Specifically, Kureishi exposes the disappointments of late 1960s and early 1970s social movements, particularly the workers’ class struggle, whose failures gave rise in England to the punk rock movement. Punk rock’s aims as political and social rebellion are meant to outrage and offend in a direct reflection of the alienation and rage experienced by jobless, hopeless youth. Youthful nihilism is a direct response to their perceptions of their future economic and political opportunities. In a similar form of social protest, Jamila listens to French and American jazz and blues to mark rebellion from white culture.

When punk rock is co-opted by Charlie Hero as a way to fame and fortune, Kureishi is ironically commenting on the ways in which rebellion is controlled and diffused by the dominant culture.