Naipaul’s Critics and Postcolonialism

The basis of most criticism of Naipaul is epitomized by a disagreement early in the careers of Naipaul, Sam Selvon and George Lamming after they moved to England. The three were among the first of what was to be regarded as the start of a modern West Indian literature and their writing was thought an expression of the politics that had led to decolonization and the formation of newly independent nations. Lamming did write novels pondering racial identity and politics. While Selvon is now best remembered for his amusing novels of black immigrant life in London, most of his novels concern Trinidad where Selvon sees the need for the Indians to accommodate themselves to the creolized Afro-Caribbean society that he regards as the future.