Imagined nation in A Brighter Sun by Samuel Selvon and The Dragon Can't Dance by Earl Lovelace

Nationalism is an ideology that elevates a nation and emphasizes its unique identity, history, and culture. Thus, developing a literary tradition, national in orientation, is an integral part of nation-building projects. This dissertation aims to analyze Samuel Selvon's A Brighter Sun and Earl Lovelace's The Dragon Can't Dance as national narratives and discuss their contribution to the development of national literature that is one of the key elements to legitimize a nation. A Brighter Sun and The Dragon Can't Dance deal with nation in terms of identity, culture, ethnicity, and class. Both novels explore the possibility of constructing a collective identity and a common culture as a foundation for national unity. The obstacles to national unity such ethnic division and class discrimination that persist into the independence era are deeply investigated in the novels. They also propose possible solutions to the chronic problems of the nation of Trinidad. As novelists with a political consciousness shaped by the tumultuous times under colonial rule, both Selvon and Lovelace make a considerable contribution to national literary tradition with their respective novels.