Home Literary Studies 13. Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners (1956)
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

13. Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners (1956)

  • Lars Eckstein
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Explore this Subject How to publish with us
Handbook of the English Novel of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
This chapter is in the book Handbook of the English Novel of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

Abstract

This essay reads Sam Selvon’s novel The Lonely Londoners (1956) as a milestone in the decolonisation of British fiction. After an introduction to Selvon and the core composition of the novel, it discusses the ways in which the narrative takes on issues of race and racism, how it in the tradition of the Trinidadian carnival confronts audiences with sexual profanation and black masculine swagger, and not least how the novel, especially through its elaborate use of creole Englishes, reimagines London as a West Indian metropolis. The essay then turns more systematically to the ways in which Selvon translates Western literary models and their isolated subject positions into collective modes of narrative performance taken from Caribbean orature and the calypsonian tradition. The Lonely Londoners breathes entirely new life into the ossified conventions of the English novel, and imbues it with unforeseen aesthetic, ethical, political and epistemological possibilities.

Abstract

This essay reads Sam Selvon’s novel The Lonely Londoners (1956) as a milestone in the decolonisation of British fiction. After an introduction to Selvon and the core composition of the novel, it discusses the ways in which the narrative takes on issues of race and racism, how it in the tradition of the Trinidadian carnival confronts audiences with sexual profanation and black masculine swagger, and not least how the novel, especially through its elaborate use of creole Englishes, reimagines London as a West Indian metropolis. The essay then turns more systematically to the ways in which Selvon translates Western literary models and their isolated subject positions into collective modes of narrative performance taken from Caribbean orature and the calypsonian tradition. The Lonely Londoners breathes entirely new life into the ossified conventions of the English novel, and imbues it with unforeseen aesthetic, ethical, political and epistemological possibilities.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Systematic Questions
  6. 1. The English Novel as a Distinctly Modern Genre 23
  7. 2. The Novel in the Economy, 1900 to the Present 42
  8. 3. Genres: The Novel between Artistic Ambition and Popularity 64
  9. 4. Gender: Performing Politics in Prose? Performativity – Masculinity – Feminism – Queer 82
  10. 5. The Burden of Representation: Reflections on Class, Ethnicity and the Twentieth-Century British Novel 107
  11. Part II. Close Readings
  12. 6. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1899/1902) 133
  13. 7. James Joyce, Ulysses (1922) 152
  14. 8. E. M. Forster, A Passage to India (1924) 175
  15. 9. Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (1927) 195
  16. 10. Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (1932) 213
  17. 11. Henry Green, Party Going (1939) 232
  18. 12. Samuel Beckett, Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable (1951–1958) 252
  19. 13. Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners (1956) 268
  20. 14. Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook (1962) 288
  21. 15. John Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1969) 303
  22. 16. B. S. Johnson, The Unfortunates (1969) 323
  23. 17. J. G. Farrell, The Empire Trilogy (1970–1978) 344
  24. 18. William Golding, Darkness Visible (1979) 365
  25. 19. Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus (1984) 384
  26. 20. Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (1988) 403
  27. 21. Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry (1989) 424
  28. 22. A. S. Byatt, Possession (1990) 445
  29. 23. Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials (1995–2000) 461
  30. 24. Zadie Smith, White Teeth (2000) 481
  31. 25. David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas (2004) 498
  32. 26. China Miéville, Embassytown (2011) 518
  33. 27. Hilary Mantel, The Thomas Cromwell Trilogy (2009–) 536
  34. 28. Tom McCarthy, Satin Island (2015) 555
  35. Index of Subjects 575
  36. Index of Names 592
  37. List of Contributors 603
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110369489-014

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Editors’ Preface V
  3. Contents VII
  4. 0. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Systematic Questions
  6. 1. The English Novel as a Distinctly Modern Genre 23
  7. 2. The Novel in the Economy, 1900 to the Present 42
  8. 3. Genres: The Novel between Artistic Ambition and Popularity 64
  9. 4. Gender: Performing Politics in Prose? Performativity – Masculinity – Feminism – Queer 82
  10. 5. The Burden of Representation: Reflections on Class, Ethnicity and the Twentieth-Century British Novel 107
  11. Part II. Close Readings
  12. 6. Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1899/1902) 133
  13. 7. James Joyce, Ulysses (1922) 152
  14. 8. E. M. Forster, A Passage to India (1924) 175
  15. 9. Virginia Woolf, To the Lighthouse (1927) 195
  16. 10. Aldous Huxley, Brave New World (1932) 213
  17. 11. Henry Green, Party Going (1939) 232
  18. 12. Samuel Beckett, Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable (1951–1958) 252
  19. 13. Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners (1956) 268
  20. 14. Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook (1962) 288
  21. 15. John Fowles, The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1969) 303
  22. 16. B. S. Johnson, The Unfortunates (1969) 323
  23. 17. J. G. Farrell, The Empire Trilogy (1970–1978) 344
  24. 18. William Golding, Darkness Visible (1979) 365
  25. 19. Angela Carter, Nights at the Circus (1984) 384
  26. 20. Salman Rushdie, The Satanic Verses (1988) 403
  27. 21. Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry (1989) 424
  28. 22. A. S. Byatt, Possession (1990) 445
  29. 23. Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials (1995–2000) 461
  30. 24. Zadie Smith, White Teeth (2000) 481
  31. 25. David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas (2004) 498
  32. 26. China Miéville, Embassytown (2011) 518
  33. 27. Hilary Mantel, The Thomas Cromwell Trilogy (2009–) 536
  34. 28. Tom McCarthy, Satin Island (2015) 555
  35. Index of Subjects 575
  36. Index of Names 592
  37. List of Contributors 603
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 3.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110369489-014/html
Scroll to top button