Metaphors of Migration in the East End Imaginary

This article focuses on the metaphors at play in the construction of Brick Lane and its surrounding locale. Drawing from a range of literary and non-fiction texts, the article deconstructs the metaphors and mythologies which form an East End imaginary in order to explore points of friction. In this way, rather than reading Brick Lane as a location that exemplifies a seamless and inevitable vertical sequence, in which each group of successive immigrants arrives, adapts and then moves on, the article explores the more horizontal interactions that take place between past and present and the sometimes jagged and lumpy interfaces that occur between Jews and other racial, ethnic and cultural groups.