Lit 4188 the Lonely Londoners
LIT 4188
15 April 2010
Let’s Get Together: Gilroy’s Question of Solidarity within the Social Dynamic of Corregidora and The Lonely Londoners The concept of identity can be illustrated as a complex assembly, and more specifically as a group of collected observations. It can be derived from one’s view of self as a subject, to one’s view of self in relation to the other, and finally one’s identity in terms of relationships to others with shared sets of attributes, vernaculars, conditions, histories, etc. It is within the latter that the exploration of solidarity surfaces when looking at the post-colonial Black subject and their plight to finding their own sense of self in relation to others. In his text British Cultural Studies and the Pitfalls of Identity, Paul Gilroy introduces solidarity as an issue of identity and invites us to, “comprehend identity as an effect mediated by historical and economics structures, instantiated in the signifying practices through which they operate and arising in contingent institutional settings that both regulate and express the coming together of individuals in patterned social processes.”(230) The relationship between historical and economic structures, signifying practices, and conditional settings can be further explored by looking at postcolonial novels that tackle and embrace this question of solidarity, in specific Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners and Gayl Jones’ Corregidora; in addition, problems of community and belonging are dotted across the landscape of the novels and the formation of these institutions are problematic in terms of gender and sexuality. Gender is an important specificity in regards to belonging and community. With that said, taking a look at Selvon’s novel will enable us to explore a kinship between West Indian men who immigrated after a call for reconstruction to Britain during the 1950s for a better life and a new beginning. It is important to note, however, that race was a
15 April 2010
Let’s Get Together: Gilroy’s Question of Solidarity within the Social Dynamic of Corregidora and The Lonely Londoners The concept of identity can be illustrated as a complex assembly, and more specifically as a group of collected observations. It can be derived from one’s view of self as a subject, to one’s view of self in relation to the other, and finally one’s identity in terms of relationships to others with shared sets of attributes, vernaculars, conditions, histories, etc. It is within the latter that the exploration of solidarity surfaces when looking at the post-colonial Black subject and their plight to finding their own sense of self in relation to others. In his text British Cultural Studies and the Pitfalls of Identity, Paul Gilroy introduces solidarity as an issue of identity and invites us to, “comprehend identity as an effect mediated by historical and economics structures, instantiated in the signifying practices through which they operate and arising in contingent institutional settings that both regulate and express the coming together of individuals in patterned social processes.”(230) The relationship between historical and economic structures, signifying practices, and conditional settings can be further explored by looking at postcolonial novels that tackle and embrace this question of solidarity, in specific Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners and Gayl Jones’ Corregidora; in addition, problems of community and belonging are dotted across the landscape of the novels and the formation of these institutions are problematic in terms of gender and sexuality. Gender is an important specificity in regards to belonging and community. With that said, taking a look at Selvon’s novel will enable us to explore a kinship between West Indian men who immigrated after a call for reconstruction to Britain during the 1950s for a better life and a new beginning. It is important to note, however, that race was a
Bibliography: EBSCOhost (accessed April 18, 2010). Jones, Gayl. Corregidora. New York: Beacon Press, 1987. Print. Selvon, Sam. The Lonely Londoners. White Plains, NY: Longman Publishing Group, 1956. Print.