Paper Title
RECLAIMING THE IMPERIAL METROPOLIS: DIASPORA, RESISTANCE, AND IDENTITY IN SAM SELVON'S THE LONELY LONDONERS

Abstract
Sam Selvon's 1956 novel The Lonely Londoners is a seminal work of postcolonial literature that chronicles and theorizes the emergence of new diasporic subjectivities in the wake of empire. This essay argues that Selvon's novel presents a nuanced exploration of Caribbean migrant experience in postwar London, challenging narratives of alienation to reveal strategies of resistance, adaptation, and identity formation that shape diasporic life in the imperial metropolis.Through close textual analysis informed by postcolonial theory and cultural studies, the essay examines three key aspects of the novel: language, space, and memory. Selvon's use of Caribbean creole as the narrative voice represents a radical decolonization of English, reflecting and enacting the emergence of hybrid postcolonial identities. The novel's treatment of urban space presents a tactical remapping of London, transforming the city into a "thirdspace" where new forms of postcolonial identity and community can emerge. Finally, the role of memory and myth in the novel is explored, revealing how Selvon's characters draw on Caribbean oral traditions to assert their cultural identity and agency.Ultimately, The Lonely Londoners mounts a profound challenge to the logic of empire, bearing witness to the dislocations of colonial modernity while testifying to the resilience and creativity of diasporic communities. More than half a century after its publication, Selvon's novel continues to speak to urgent questions of migration, belonging, and cultural difference in our globalized world, offering a complex vision of postcolonial identity that resists easy romanticization while affirming the transformative power of diasporic solidarity and resistance. Keywords - Diaspora, Postcolonialism, Creolization, Thirdspace, Counter-discourse, Decolonization