A Study of Postcolonial Consciousness in the Select Novels of Earl Lovelace

Abstract

The present research work is entitled as A Study of Postcolonial Consciousness in the Select Novels of Earl Lovelace. Earl Lovelace is a prolific Trinidadian postcolonial writer, his writing and themes range from racial and social issues related to Empire. The aim of this thesis is to analyze Lovelace s oeuvre by approaching his fiction from the perspective of the postcolonial consciousness revealed in his select novels. For this purpose, textual analysis is the lens through which the selected texts are assessed. The designed research framework for analysis takes into account salient features of the postcolonial theory to explore the concepts of colonization, identity, resistance, change reclamation and reconstruction. The findings of the research show that the postcolonial Trinidadian society is multicultural and the colonization affected the social fabric of the society by undermining the values and traditions of the natives. newlineThe thesis has been divided into five sections, each dealing with a major concepts or issues in postcolonial theory. It explores the effects of the significant social, economic and political changes that have had on the lives of individuals and communities as Lovelace has witnessed these changes first hand. The researcher attempts to elaborate the concepts identity, resistance, change, reclamation and reconstruction in the context of the select novels of Lovelace. newlineChapter I newlineThe first chapter Introduction takes the stock of the background information useful for the research topic. The postcolonial literature is the literature written in English in formerly colonized societies, which is concerned with the societies of the postcolonial world from the moment of colonization to the present day. The postcolonial field has given rise to a great range of theoretical ideas, concepts, problems and debates and it has become heterogeneous in all their rich diversity, newlineThere was the suppression of a vast wealth of indigenous cultures beneath the weight of imperial control. The imperial power began to di