The Production of Space in Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners: A Lefebvrean Reading

Abstract

First published in 1956, Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners explores the experiences of West Indian immigrants in London, following the end of World War II. Written by a migrant novelist, who came to London in 1950, the story fictionalises the immigrants’ experiences and their struggles in the imperial centre of London. While the primary concern of the novel concentrates on the themes of identity, migration, and the politics of representation, it also deals with the production of space through the decisions made by the urban planners and designers, social movements and relations as well as the daily practices of the individual citizens. Sociologist Henri Lefebvre emphasises the significance of everyday life and the lived experiences of the individuals to analyse the process of how space is produced. Lefebvre’s reading of space as a social product challenges any reading of space as neutral and static. In other words, according to Lefebvre, space is not just a mere geographical or territorial notion, rather a living organism which goes through a production process and changes over time. Therefore, it is the aim of this paper to analyse how space is conceived, perceived, and lived in, and as a result, how it is produced and reproduced in Sam Selvon’s classic novel, The Lonely Londoners.