Maibrit Kristensen

Constructing a Nation: the Creation of a West Indian National Community in George Lamming's of Age and Innocence Maibrit Kristensen

This book investigates George Lamming's Of Age and Innocence in which he portrays the development of the island of San Cristobal in a period of social and cultural unrest in a pre-independence society. The novel portrays the different people, races, classes etc. on the island and this book investigates the connection between the created island and the region of the West Indies as well as placing it in a West Indian context. Additionally, a discussion on the degree of nationalism and even if one can speak of a national identity in the West Indies is included since the novel takes place in a colonial setting and deals with the political aspirations of the nationalist movement. The theoretical aspects of the construction of a national community are performed by Benedict Anderson and Eric Hobsbawm since they have different viewpoints on the importance and continuation of nationalism. Frantz Fanon and Aijaz Ahmad are included to explain the condition of being colonised in order to fully comprehend the basis of the novel. Walcott, Dabydeen and Naipaul are used in relation to Lamming in order to show the versatility of such a unique region.