Order, Disorder, Freedom, and the West Indian Writer

Author(s): Maryse Cond

Source: Yale French Studies, No. 83, Post/Colonial Conditions: Exiles, Migrations, and
Nomadisms, Volume 2 (1993), pp. 121-135
Published by: Yale University Press
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MARYSE CONDE

Order,Disorder,Freedom,and the
WestIndianWriter

In a recentinterview,
theMartinicanwriterEdouardGlissantdeclared:
"I don'tbelievethatWestIndianliteratureexistsyetsince literature
supposesan actionand a reactionbetweena publicand an audience.I
repeatthatwe WestIndianwriters,
we arewriting
forewords
to tomorrow'sliterature."'LastyearwhenElogede la Creolitewas published,
twoofhis disciples,RaphaelConfiantand PatrickChamoiseau,and a
linguistJeanBernaberepeated:"WestIndianliteraturedoesn'texist
Ours is a writtenproduction
yet.We are in a stateofpre-literature.
withoutan audience at home, deprivedof the interactionbetween
to exist."2
writers/readers
whichis necessaryforanyliterature
to stateseriouslythatWestIndianliterAlthoughit seemsdifficult
aturedoesn'texist,we easilyagreethatthereis a crisis,a malaise.But
and
we don'tblameit on thecausespointedoutbyGlissant,Confiant,
Chamoiseau. We attributeit to the verycommandsenumerated
thehistoryofWestIndianliterature
throughout
bythevariousgenerationsofwriters.
Forexample,inElogede la Cre6olite,
theauthorsstate:
"Wemustgivea name to everything
and trueto creolitesaythatit is
beautiful.Therefore
we mustsee thehumandignity
ofthe "djobeurs,"
understand
thelifeoftheMornePichevinorofthevegetablemarkets
ofFort-de-France,
studyhow ourstorytellers
operate. .. (Elogede la
Creolite,40). Glissant,Chamoiseau,and Confiantare not the first
onestogivecommandstothefuture
writersofourislands.WestIndian
1. Interviewgivento PriskaDegras and BernardMagniezin NotreLibrarie74
(Caraibes2).
2. JeanBernab6,PatrickChamoiseau,Raphael Confiant,Eloge de la Crdolitg
(Paris:Gallimard,1989),14.
YFS 83, Post/ColonialConditions,ed. Lionnet& Scharfman,
C 1993 by Yale

University.

121

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Yale FrenchStudies

literaturebornor not yet bornhas always been an object of deep

concern.
Weshall tryto analyzethevariouscommandsdecreedaboutWest
Indianliterature,
all ofthemcontributing
to theedification
ofan order
to introducedisorder.In
veryfewwritershave daredto transgress
conclusion,we shalltryto see whetherit is possibletohopeforan era
offreedomin WestIndianwriting.
ORDER
In 1927, in a journalcalled "La Trouee,"a groupof youngHaitian
is thecryofa peoplewho wantto
intellectualsdeclared:"Literature
saywhatboilswithinthem."1927:theAmericanMarineshadinvaded
Haiti twelveyearsearlierbecauseofpoliticalupheavals.The Haitian
werediscovering
racpeople,who alreadyknewpoliticaloppression,
ism. Historyrepeatsitself.
A fewyearslater,withtheMarinesstillpresentin Haiti,themulatto and upperbourgeoiswriterJacquesRoumaindeclaredin "La
mustbe blackand proletarian."3
Revueindigene":"Literature
In 1932,themanifesto
called"LegitimeDefense,"signedbya group
ofMartinicanandGuadeloupeanintellectuals,
was publishedin Paris.
Theyhad justdiscoveredMarxismandin itsnamesentencedto death
the bourgeoissocietyto whichtheybelonged.Theyalso condemned
to death,stating"A foreigner
wouldlook in vainforany
its literature
or depth,forthe sensual and colorfulimaginationof the
originality
BlackMan, ortheecho oftheaspirationsofan oppressedpeople."On
the eve ofWorldWarII, SuzanneCesaire,in thejournal"Tropiques,"
utteredher famous command: "Martinicanpoetryshall be cannibalisticor shall not be."4 As forCesaire himself,in Cahier d'un
tomyNativeLand]speakingoftheroleof
retourau paysnatal [Return
thepoet,he summedup all theseideas saying"Mymouthwill be the
mouthofthosewho haveno mouth,myvoicethevoiceofthosewho
oforderwerelaid. Even
despair."5Fromthattimeon thefoundations
thosewhoarenotveryfamiliarwithWestIndianliterature
knowsome
3. JacquesRoumainin "La Revueindigene."
Place,
4. SuzanneCdsaire,Misered'unePo6sie,Tropiques(repr.Paris:Jean-Miche]
1978).
5. AimdCesaire,ReturntomyNativeLand,trans.EmileSnyder(Paris:Presence
withintroduction
andnotesby
translation
Africaine,
1968),61. The CollectedPoetry,
ofCaliforniaPress,1982).
University
ClaytonEshelmanandAnnetteSmith(Berkeley:

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MARYSE

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123

ofthebasic rules,andwe don'tintendto repeatthemagain.One may

simplysay that theywere inspiredby the theoryof social realism
whichwas favoredin some quarters,
sincethevictoriousSovietRevolutionhad heraldedwhatseemedto be thedawnofa new eraforthe
oppressedall overtheworld.Theywerealso influenced
bySartrewho,
in 1948,wrotetheforeword
to thefirstanthologyofFrench-speaking
blackpoetry.
1. Individualism
waschastised.
to
Onlythecollectivity
hadtheright
itself.
express
2. Themasseswerethesoleproducers
ofBeauty,
andthepoethadto
takeinspiration
from
them.
ofwriting
wastodenounce
3. Themain,ifnotthesole,purpose
one's
andin so doing,to bringaboutone's
politicalandsocialconditions,
liberation.
4. Poeticandpoliticalambition
wereoneandthesame.
Therefore,
picturesofindividualloveandpsychologicalturmoilwere
banished.Anydescription
ofnaturewas forbidden.
Lyricaloutbursts
aboutthemountainsor thesea and theskywereleftto theso-called
"exoticpoets"writingat thebeginning
ofthecentury,
who had been
ridiculedand sentencedto literarydeath.The hills werethe refuge
wherethe Maroonshad escapedthe sufferings
of theplantation,the
treesthesilentwitnessesofan eternalexploitation.
In thecelebrated
openinglines ofReturntomyNativeLand,Cesairegivesan example
ofthisideologicaldescriptionofnature.Lookingat the magnificent
he exclaims:"Attheendofthedawn,flowered
bayofFort-de-France,
withfrailcreeks,thehungry
WestIndies,pittedwithsmallpox,dynamitedwithalcohol,strandedin themudofthisbay,in thedirtofthis
citysinisterly
stranded"(Cesaire,ReturntomyNativeLand,40).Is it
not timeto somehowrehabilitate
theso-calledexoticpoets?
VictorSegalenhas shownthatexoticismcanbe consideredthefirst
"The knowledgethatsomethingis notyourperceptionofdifference:
self."6In thecase oftheexoticpoetsoftheWestIndies,one could say
thatto celebratetheirland was thefirst,timidappropriation
oftheir
own world.Theywerecelebrating
theirland beforecelebrating
their
peoples.Not insteadofdoingso. Theirpoeticabilitieswereridiculed.
"Not art,"said Cesaire contemptuously,
"not poetry.Only the ugly
6. VictorSegalen,Essai sur 1'exotisme:une esthetiquedu divers(Montpellier:
FataMorgana,1978).

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Yale FrenchStudies

leprosyofimitation."7
He was forgetting
thatin thosedays,to imitate
to perfection
The blackman was not enwas alreadya transgression.
titledtohaveanytalent,andduringslaverytobe caughtreadinga book
meantdeath.
The new orderdidn'taffectonlypoetry.It also affectedhistory,
WestIndiansocietywas notstudiedperse,
sociology,and philosophy.
as an autonomousobject.It was alwaysseen as a resultofthe slaveandcolonialoppression.
trade,slavery,
Thispastwas thecause ofevery
social and culturalfeatureand thus explainedeverything:
the relaand
tionshipsbetweenmen
women,thefamilysystem,as well as oral
traditionsor popularmusic. It is impossibleto denythatthe West
Indianpast weighsheavilyon the present.Nevertheless,
the plantation systemin which this societyevolved,the promiscuityof the
whitemaster,thearrivalofnewethnicgroupssuchas theIndians,are
foritscharacteristics
as well.Not everything
factors
can be
responsible
explainedthroughslavery.WestIndiansocietycame to be considered
as a Paradiseperverted
byEurope.Everything
priorto colonizationwas
fromthe image of Africa,the motherland,
idealized.Consequently,
werecarefullyeradicatedanyblemishessuch as domesticslavery,
or
and thesubjugationofwomen.
tribalwarfare,
In The Wretched
oftheEarth,FrantzFanonwas thefirstto realize
thedangersofsuch idealization.Butin turn,he blamesit on Europe,
stating: "Colonialism . . . neverceased to assert that the Negro was a

savageand byNegrowas meantnottheAngolanortheNigerian,but

the Negro....

Thereforethe effortsof the colonized to rehabilitate

himselfandescapetheattacksofcolonialismaretobe logicallyunderstoodon thesame level."8

At the end of the Second WorldWar,communicationswere resumed.The intellectualsfromtheWestIndiesandAfricawereable to
meetagainand plan forthefuture.The SocieteAfricainede Culture
Whatwas the
was createdin Paris,a fewyearsafterPresenceAfricaine.
purposeofthisSociete?Once again,let'sconsultFrantzFanon:"This
society . . . will limit its activity to a few exhibitions: it will tryto

proveto EuropethatAfricanculturedoes exist"(The Wretched

ofthe
Earth,148).
duno. 1dela revueTropiques(repr.
Fort-de-France,
7. Aim6CUsaire,"Presentation"
1941).
Sartre(Paris:Mas8. FrantzFanon,Les Damnes de la terre,prefacede Jean-Paul
Sartre,trans.
oftheEarth,prefacebyJean-Paul
pero,1961 [1967]),145; The Wretched
ConstanceFarrington
(New York:GrovePress,1963 [1977]).

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125

Amongtheseexhibitions:
In 1956in Paris,theFirstCongressofWriters
andArtistsoftheBlack
World.
In 1959in Rome,theSecondCongress.

Itwas duringthisSecondCongressthatSekouToure,thelatepresident
ofGuinea,deliveredhis speechon "The politicalleaderas therepresentativeofa Culture"anddeclared:"Thereis no placefortheartistor
fortheintellectualwhois nottotallymobilizedwiththepeoplein the
greatstruggleofAfricaand suffering
mankind."9Such sentencesbecome veryironicalwhenone knowsofToure'sulterioractiveimpositionofsuffering
on theGuineanpeople.However,despitethesereservationstherewas a wonderful,
generousdreamin those days.The
dreamof a black worldwhichwould not be brokenup into distinct
nationsbythecoloniallanguages,and thevariouscolonialsystemsof
A black worldwhichwould speak throughone voice,
governments.
throughthe univocalvoice of its poets and writers.A black world
whichwouldrecoverits dignityand pride.
All thatwas soon to disappear.The endofWorldWarII markedthe
ofdecolonizationin Africa.Yearafteryear,through
a series
beginnings
ofreforms
andconflicts,
theAfricancountriesarrivedatpoliticalindependence.The Africanpoets and writerswho had been close to the
SocieteAfricainede Cultureand to PresenceAfricainebecameheads
of state,primeministers,ministers,thus completingthe collusion
betweenpoliticsand literature.
The islandsofthe WestIndies,however,became and remained"FrenchOverseas Departments."The
blackAmericanswentto fightracismat home. Thus the dreamofa
unitedblackworldwas shattered.
JustbeforetheendofthewartheposthumousnoveloftheHaitian
writerJacquesRoumain,Gouverneurs
dela rosee[MastersoftheDew],
was published.10 If one comparesthisnovelto Returnto my Native
Land by Cesaire,one cannothelpbeingstruckbythestructural
similarities.In bothcases, we have two messianicmale heroes(Manuel
and the Poet)whose ambitionis to changetheirsocietiesand thus
rehabilitate
theexploitedBlackMan. On theliterary
scene,thesetwo
9. SekouTour6,ThePoliticalLeaderas theRepresentative
ofa Culture,2d Congress of Black Writersand Artists(Rome: 1959); The PoliticalLeader Considered
(Newark,N.J.:JihadProductions,
1975).
10. JacquesRoumain,Gouverneursde la rosee (Paris:Editeursfranqaisrdunis,
1946); Masters of the Dew, trans.LangstonHughes and MercerCook (London:
Heinemann,1982).

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Yale FrenchStudies

workswereto have the same effect:obliterateforyearsto come any

literaryproductionpriorto themselves.Like Returnto my Native
text.
Land, MastersoftheDew becamea sacredtext,a fundamental
toa Guadeloupeancritic,everyWestIndiannovelis nothing
According
buttherewriting
ofMastersoftheDew andReturntomyNativeLand.
The reasonforthe criticalacclaim ofMastersoftheDew cannotbe
putsit: "Thereareno masterpurelyaesthetic.As AlainRobbe-Grillet
merelyworksmarkedbytheirtime."11
pieces foreternity;
and incandescencethanCesaire,witha lesser
Withless obscurity
concernfortheblackworld,nowlimitedto theislands,Mastersofthe
Dew providestheWestIndianswitha perfect
imageofthemselvesand
ofartis toreconcilethepeople
theirislands.Freudsaidthatthefinality
witha realitywhichtheydon'tlike.Ifthisis true,in thisextraordinary
theycan dreamof.MaspoeticnoveltheWestIndianshaveeverything
teroftheDew establisheda modelwhichis stilllargelyundisputedto
this day.
1. Theframework
shouldbethenativeland.
2. Theheroshouldbemale,ofpeasantorigin.

3. The braveand hardworking

womanshouldbe the auxiliaryin his
forhis community.
struggle
shouldbemadetosex.
no reference
4. Althoughtheyproducechildren,
Ifany,it will be to male sexuality.
I cannot resist the pleasure ofquoting the passage in Masters ofthe

Dew whereAnnaiseand Manuel make love forthefirsttime:

"Yes,"she says,"I shallbe themistressofyourhouse.I shallserveyou

at tableand I shallstaystandingwhileyoueat and youwill tellme 'I
thankyou,mywoman'andI shalltellyou 'As youlikeit,mymaster.'
buttoyour
Atnight,I shalllie byyourside.Youwillnotsayanything,
silence,to thetouchofyourhand,I shallreply'Yes,myman,'becauseI
shallbe theservantofyourdesire."[131]
is theabsoluterule.
5. Ofcourse,heterosexuality
All itserrorsshouldbe
6. Societyshouldbe pitiedbutnevercriticized.
redeemedbythemale hero.In MastersoftheDew, Manuel has been
of
comparedto a blackChristgivinghis lifeforthesmallcommunity
"FondsRouges."
It is the privilegeof Edouard Glissant to have united all these ten-

dreamandthedesirefora national
dencies:theendofthePan-African
Pour un nouveau roman(Paris:Gallimard,1946),131.
11. Alain Robbe-Grillet,

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literature
to builda theorywhichslightlyimprovedupontheexisting
order.Itseemstome thatthedifferences
betweenCesaireandGlissant
Itis a factthatGlissantneverreallyadoptedthe
havebeenexaggerated.
Pan-African
ideal.However,
his close connectionswithPresenceAfricaineandtheSocieteAfricaine
de Cultureillustratea definiteconcern
forthefutureoftheblackworld.He shareswithCesairetheconfusion
betweenpoliticaland poetic ambitionsand the beliefin the importanceofthecommunity.
(In Le Discoursantillaishe says: "The questionanyMartinicanshouldask himselfis not: 'Whoam I?' whichis
meaningless;but 'Who are we?' U).12
contribution
toWestIndianliterature
is
Glissant'smostimportant
theintroduction
ofa newdimension,theone oflanguage.Languageis
the cordwhichlinks the WestIndianto his land,to his past,to his
history.
The cordwhichlinkstheWestIndiantotheWestIndian."The
he explainsin Le Discoursantillais,"aims at
TheoryofAntillanite&"
exploringall aspectsof the Africanelement,whichis modifiedbut
alwayspresentin our societies,and the rootof language,which is
theEnglish
reinforced
DerekWalcottperverts
through
multiplication.
languagein thesamewaythatNicolas Guillenperverts
Spanish,in the
samewaythatV. S. Naipaul assertshis originwhiledenyingit.Maybe
we don't all speak Creole. However,we speak variantsof the same
language"(Glissant,182).
Glissantwas certainlythe firstWestIndianintellectualto stress
thelinguisticdimensionofcolonialismandtheproblemofdiglossiain
the islands.But moreimportantthanthisanalyticalcontribution
is
his stresson therelationship
his people,and lanbetweenthewriter,
andabstruseness
guage.The reproachofobscurity
whichis constantly
hurledat himis buttheconsequenceofhis essentialbelief:language
fortheWestIndianwriteris theonlywayofshapingthefuture.Glissant is also responsibleforthe reintroduction
of natureand the environment
in theWestIndiannovel.Butnotnatureperse. The description of natureremainssymbolicif not ideological,symbolic.In his
ownwords,he associatesthehillswiththehabitationwherethewhite
masterused to live,and theplainwiththedailylifeoftheblackman.
Politicalconsciousnessis thusa symbolicjourneythroughtheisland.
That is the reasonwhy riversplay such a majorrole in Glissant's
works.Theyflowacrossflatlandsandhighlands.Like language,they
unitemen to men,thenultimatelymergewiththe sea whichis the
12. EdouardGlissant,Le Discoursantillais(Paris:Seuil, 1981).

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Yale French Studies

symbolof freedom,reconciliationwith oneself,and political consciousness.

As I said earlier,Glissanttriesto providefuturewriterswithwhat

he thinkswill be a moreelaboratemodelforfiction:
1. Characters
shouldnotbeindividuals,
butthecollective
expression
oftheWestIndiansoul.Ina recent
discussion
inanundergraduate
class
atBerkeley,
heexplained
whyinMalemortthecharacters
aregrouped
bythree(Dlan-Medellus-Silacier)
andspeakcollectively.
2. Natureshouldbepartofthestory
justlikeanother
character.
Thisis

particularly
obviousin Le Quatrikmesicle.

3. However,
it is language
itselfwhichcan be regarded
as themain
objectofthenovel.The cohabitation
ofCreoleandFrenchcreatesa
newlanguage,
theadventures
ofwhicharetherealsubject
ofthenovel.
ForGlissant,thequestionis notCreoleor French,
butCreoleand
French.
Howeverelaborateand attractive
thismodelmaybe, it has not been
ofWestIndianwriters,
adoptedbythemajority
whoremainattachedto
such thingsas characters,
plots,realisticdescriptionsofpeople and
places, and who, above all, rejectthe verycomplexityof Glissant's
formanyyears,although"antillanite"has been
language.Therefore,
a
suitedto therealitiesoftheislands,the
acceptedas theoryperfectly
literary
modelit implieshas notbeenable to imposeitself.
Then came Raphael Confiantand PatrickChamoiseau,the two
withthelinguistJeanBernabe,call themselves
writerswho,together
"Le Groupede la Creolite."Like theireldersin "LegitimeDefense,"
worldwiththepublicatheysignaledtheirentranceintotheliterary
tionofa manifestocalledElogede la Creolite.Like Cesairein Return
tomyNativeLand,theopeninglinespossesstheviolenceofa declaranorAsians,we proclaim
tionofwar:"NeitherEuropeans,norAfricans,
ourselvesto be Creoles.This will be a mentalattitude.More,a watchfulness,a sortofmentalenvelopewhichwill sustainourownworldin
theconfrontation
withotherworlds"(Elogedela Creolite,13).In these
firstpagestoo,althoughtheystatewhattheyregardto be thelimitationsof"antillanite,"
theypayhomagetoGlissant,whomtheyconsidtheirmodeland master.Theyinheritfrom
er to be theirinspiration,
oftheirWestIndiansociety,
Glissantthedesireto maketheinventory
perceivedas autonomousand complex,and,above all, a concernfor
language.However,whereas Glissant paid respectto Creole and
Frenchas thetwolanguagestheWestIndianpossesses,thenewwriters
lay a heavy emphasison Creole,consideredto be the sole mother

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tongue. "Whenevera motherdid everythingshe could to get her child

to learn French and in doing so repressedhis Creole tongue,what she
did was to strike a mortal blow to his imagination and to exile his
creativityforever"(ibid., 14).
However, it would be simplistic to believe that "creolite" is the
mere rehabilitationof the Creole language. It is the reappropriationof
oneself, of that "formidablemigan" which created the West Indian
personality.It is an aesthetic. Moreover,it is the futureof the world.
"The world is moving towards a state of creolite" (ibid., 52). In their
novels, Raphael Confiantand PatrickChamoiseau give an illustration
of theirtheory.There is no doubt that both writersproduce verygood
fiction. But apart from the sumptuous invention of a language (especially in the case of Chamoiseau), we see only minor changes in the
prevailingWestIndian model, minorchanges in the order.Here are the
most strikinginnovations:
1. The charactersare not confinedto theusual trilogy:bek6,(white
man/mulatto.(Forinstance,RaphaelConfiantintroplanter)/black
ducesan EastIndian,up tonowtheforgotten
soulofGuadeloupeanand
Martinicanliterature.)
2. Sexuality(especiallyin Confiant's
novel)'3is nolongerabsent,butis
exclusivelymale sexuality.
3. The male characters(womenremainconfinedto stereotypical
or
negativeroles) don't have the messianicambitionto modifytheir
in Chroniquedes sept
world,likeManuelforinstance.On thecontrary,
satireofthe"revolumiseres,PatrickChamoiseaupresentsa deliberate
tionarybehavior"ofa femalestudent:
It is aroundthistimethata revolutionary
studentarrivedwhogoaded
us withherideal as ifit werea whip.Hervoicecoveredthecriesofthe
marketwomencallingto customersand worrying
abouttheirbreadfruits
ortheir"caimites"openingup in theheat.... Sheused
ripening
to shoutalso: "Youmustorganizeyourselves,
rationalizeyourproduction,gatheryourenergiesintoa cooperative. . ."'14
Maybe it is too earlyto ask these writersto illustratetheirtheoryfully.
As a rule, theorycomes beforepractice. Therefore,we have to refer
ourselves to their manifestoEloge de la Creolite in orderto imagine
fullythe themes of the literatureto come. In this respect,Eloge de la
13. RaphaelConfiant,
Le NMgre
et1amiral(Paris:Grasset,1988).
14. PatrickChamoiseau,Chroniquedes septmiseres(Paris:Gallimard,1986),118.

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Creolitegivesan impressionof deja vu or deja entendu.Moreover,

readingit, one seems to witnessthe emergenceofa new order,even
thantheexistingone.
morerestrictive
oftheelementsofpopularculturewhich
The tediousenumeration
is madein thefirstpagesofthemanifesto
leavesverylittlefreedom
for
creativity.
Arewe condemnedad vitamaeternamtospeakofvegetable
markets,storytellers,"dorlis,""koutem". . . ? Arewe condemnedto
exploreto saturationtheresourcesofournarrowislands?Welive in a
worldwhere,already,frontiers
have ceased to exist.Guadeloupeand
Martinique,forbetteror forworse,have enteredthe EuropeanCommonMarketandwelcomeon theirsoil thousandsofmenand women
fromall sortsofcountries.Halfofthepopulationofeach islandlives
abroad.Partofit no longerspeakstheCreolelanguage,althoughthey
remainCreoles,since a damagingsimplification,
albeit made by a
withlanguage.In newenvironschoolofsociologists,equatesidentity
mentsone facesnew experienceswhichreshapetheWestIndianpersonality.Forthose who stayon the islands,changesoccur also. As
Glissanthimselfputsit,the CaribbeanSea, whichhe opposesto the
is nota closedarea.On thecontrary,
it opensontothe
Mediterranean,
worldand its variedenergeticinfluences.
WestIndiansshould be as changingand evolvingas the islands
is a complexprocesswhichobeysno
themselves.Aboveall, creativity
rules.A writerconfinedto a small and isolatedvillage of the West
Land"andmakeofit thesubjectof
Indiesis freeto dreamof"Another
his/herfiction.Creativeimaginationgoesbeyondthelimitsofreality
andsoarsto areasofitsownchoice.In fact,dreamis a factorwhichhas
alwaysbeen neglectedin WestIndian literature.It constitutesthe
objectofsome ofthemostmagnificent
writingsoftheworld.
theWestIndianwriter?
Does its powerfrighten
DISORDER
In a Bambaramythoforigin,afterthe creationofthe earth,and the
ofeverything
on itssurface,disorderwas introduced
organization
bya
woman.Disordermeantthepowerto createnewobjectsandtomodify
theexistingones. In a word,disordermeantcreativity.
Apartfromone ortwonames,thefemalewritersoftheWestIndies
out of print,misunare little known.Their worksare forgotten,
remainsthecriticism
derstood.The bestexampleofincomprehension

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ofMayotteCapecia'sJesuismartiniquaise'5byFrantzFanon.In Black
Skin,WhiteMasks,16 he singledheroutto illustratewhathe calls "le
complexede la lactification,"
thedesireto be whiteand therebyto go
downinhistory.
Firstofall,FrantzFanontakesa verydangerousstand.
He deliberately
confusesthe authorand theobjectofherfiction.AlthoughMayottesays Je,nothingprovesthatshe was writingabout
herself.Andevenifshewere!Letus recallthatthisnovelwas written
in 1948. At thattime,all the societieswhichhad suffered
fromthe
wrongsofslaveryand colonialexploitation
werealienatedin thesame
way.In Masters and Slaves, GilbertoFreyreexplainsthe desireto
"washone'sblood"whichaffected
theblacksas wellas themulattoes
in multiracialBrazil.17MayotteCapecia was simplyno exceptionto
therule.This unjustcriticismhas forever
cast a sluron thebook and
overshadowed
its otherinteresting
aspects.Forinstance,it containsa
deep and penetrating
pictureof Mayotte'sfather,whose irresponof her mothermightwell be partiallyresibilityand mistreatment
sponsibleforMayotte'shatredof the black man. Contraryto what
FrantzFanonthinksandsays,Jesuis martiniquaiseis a preciouswrittentestimony,
theonlyone thatwe possess,ofthementality
ofa West
Indiangirlin those days,of the impossibility
forher to build up an
aestheticswhichwouldenableherto cometo termswiththecolorof
herskin.
At the beginningof the century,
long beforeCesaire desperately
triedto redeemtheblackman'simage,SuzanneLacascadein heronly
a theoryofthe clinovel,Claire-Solange,almeafricaine,constructed
matesin orderto provethesuperiority
ofthecoloredwomanoverthe
whiteone.18 It is obviousthatneitherSuzanneLacascadenorMayotte
buttheoblivionin whichthey
Capeciahada particular
giftforwriting,
have unfortunately
been relegatedis not due to theirlack ofliterary
skills.
Wheneverwomen speak out, theydisplease,shock, or disturb.
Their writingsimplythatbeforethinkingof a politicalrevolution,
WestIndiansocietyneedsa psychological
one.Whattheyhopeforand
15. MayotteCapecia,Jesuis martiniquaise(Paris:Comra, 1948).
16. FrantzFanon,Black Skin,WhiteMasks,trans.CharlesLam Harkmann(New
York:GrovePress,1982 [19671).
17. GilbertoFreyre,
Mastersand Slaves (Berkeley:
University
ofCaliforniaPress,
1986).

18. Suzanne Lacascade,Claire-Solange,ame africaine(Paris:E. Figuiere,1924).

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desireconflicts
withmen'sambitionsanddreams.Why,theyask,fight
againstracismin theworldwhenit existsat home,amongourselves?
Thereis nothingWestIndiansocietyhatesmorethanfacingthereality
ofcolorprejudicewhichremindsit ofthedaysofslavery,
ofthe time
whentobe blackwas a curseandtopossessa fairskinwas regarded
as a
blessing.Colorprejudiceis preciselythe exclusivethemeofMichele
Lacrosil'snovels.Herfirstnovel,Sapotilleetle serind'argile,portrays
a girl'sinternalization
oftheinferiority
complexduringherchildhood.
Her secondone, Cajou,19readslike thediaryofa mentalpatientwho
cannotcome to termswithlifeand takesrefugein death.It wouldbe
too easyto dismissMicheleLacrosil,as it is oftendone,bysayingthat
she portrays
a timegoneby.WestIndiansocietyis notsureit is cured
fromthealienationMicheleLacrosilportrays
so vividly.Therefore
itis
fromyesterday?
forcedto questionitself.Is todayreallydifferent
Have
we reallychanged?Aren'twe at heartstillthesame people?
At the conclusionofLa Vie scelerate,20the youngnarratorCoco
expressestheliterary
viewpointoftheauthorwhenshe states:
MaybeI shallhavetowritethisstory?
MaybeI shallhavetopaymydebt
and so doingdispleaseand shockeverybody?
Mine will be thestoryof
veryordinary
peoplewho in theirveryordinary
wayshad nevertheless
shedthebloodofothers.I mustwritemyownstoryandthiswillbe my
ownpersonalhomageto thosewhoareno more.My bookwill be very
fromtheambitiousones thatmymotherhad dreamtof: 'Esdifferent
Movementsof the Black World'and the
say on the Revolutionary

eithergreattorturers
ordignified
like.... It willbe a bookwithout
beloadedwithfleshandblood.Thestory
Butitwill,however,
martyrs.
ofmypeople.[La Vie scdlrate,340]

Mental breakdown, madness, and eventually suicide, are common

themes among women writers.As I indicated earlier,Cajou commits

oftheirsentimental
suicide.Becauseofthedifficulties
lives,T6lumee
Miracle by Simone Schwarz-Bart,21as
in Pluie et ventsur TMlum&e
lose theirminds.The
well as Thecla in La Viescelerate, temporarily
heroinesof Le Quimboiseurlavait dit and Juletaneby Myriam
are bothmentallydisturbed.22
Warner-Vieyra
1960); Cajou
19. MicheleLacrosil,Sapotilleet le serind'argile(Paris:Gallimrard,
(Paris:Gallimard,1961).
20. MaryseCond6,La Vie scelerate,(Paris:Le Livrede Poche,1987).
Miracle(Paris:Editionsdu
Pluie et ventsur TMlum&e
21. SimoneSchwarz-Bart,
Seuil, 1972).
Le Quimboiseurlavait dit (Paris:Presenceafricaine,
22. MyriamWarner-Vieyra,
1980);Juletane(Paris:Presenceafricaine,1982).

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MARYSE

CONDE

133

andwhenreferSexualityis anothertabooinWestIndianliterature,
ence is made to sexuality,it is to male sexuality.We have already
discussedthe portrayal
ofAnnaise,the servantofManuel's desirein
MastersoftheDew The uproaraboutmynovelHeremakhonon23
was
herownsexuality.
largelycausedbyVeronica,theheroine,expressing
Forthefirsttimea womanhad therightto enjoysex and to sayit.But
of the orderimposedby the male
the most strikingtransgressions
writersare relatedto theimageofmenand to theimageofAfrica.
The familysystemoftheWestIndieshas beentheobjectofintensive studies.In 1928,the Jamaicanresearcher
EdithClarkewrotean
unsurpassedclassic, My Motherwho FatheredMe,24echoed a few
yearsago bySe koutosal, an essaybaseduponoverseventyinterviews
of Guadeloupeanwomen conductedby FranceAlibarand Perrette
Lambeye-Boye.25
Althoughwidelysetapartin time,bothbooksregisteredthe same complaints.Due to the absenteeismand irresponsibilityof the fathers,the victimizedmothersare forcedto be the
in
breadwinners
andtoassumetheeducationofthechildren.However,
spiteof this sociologicalreality,we have been fedupon triumphant
portrayalsof messianicheroes comingback home to revolutionize
theirsocieties....
In Pluie etventsurT6lumeeMiracle,SimoneSchwarz-Bart
was the
firstto dareto shatterthismythand placeWestIndianwomenwhere
ofthedailybattleforsurvival.Thisnovel
theybelong-at theforefront
is toowellknownandtheLougandordynasty
ofwomentoofamousto
be presentedagain.We must,however,
saythatfewcriticshave done
Miracle.
justiceto thedisturbing
qualityofPluie et ventsur TMlum&e
in the novel,we findthe porApartfroma rejectionof motherhood
trayalofa "bad mother,"
Victoire,and ofa "bad woman,""a witch,"
personified
byLaetitia.WhileT6lumeeis comparedto a heliconiaof
themountains,Laetitiais comparedtoa waterlily.Thus,Schwarz-Bart
associatesherwiththe greatgoddessesoftheWestIndianpantheon
who derive their powersfromwater: Maman dlo, Yemanya....
TUlumee,creatureofthe air,"negresseplaneuse,""flechede cannea
sucre" fightsin vain againsther.Beforebeinghailed by the critics
a Novel,trans.RichardPhilcox(Washington,
23. MaryseCond6,Heremakhonon:
D.C.: ThreeContinentsPress,1982).
24. EdithClarke,My MotherWhoFatheredMe, prefaceby SirHughFoot,introductionbyM. G. Smith(London:Allen & Unwin,1979 [19661).
25. Se koutose1(Paris:EditionsCaribeennes:Agencede CooperationCulturelleet
Technique,c. 1981).

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abroad,Pluie et ventsur Mlum&eMiraclereceiveda greatmanyadversecommentsat home.It was thoughtto be pessimistic,negative,

andfatalisticsinceit containedno elementsoftheconventionalrevolutionary
brica brac.The onlyallusionto socialturmoilendsabruptly
withAmboise'sdeath.EventuallyPluie et ventsur Mlum&eMiracle
was recuperated
criticswho turnedit
bysomeWestIndianuniversity
into a femaleversionof Gouverneursde la rosee.By so doing,they
and could therefore
celebrateit as a
deprivedit of all its irreverence
femininemasterpiece.
theimageofthemale is nothingcompared
However,transgressing
thetraditional
withtransgressing
imageofAfrica.Weshall notrecall
thequarreloverHeremakhonon,
Segou,andothernovelsaboutAfrica
Those whowanttoveil
writtenbymyselfandMyriamWamer-Vieyra.
theirfacesbeforetheharshrealitiesofAfricacannotacceptourtruth.
Letus quoteJulioCortazar,a ThirdWorldnovelistwho has foughtall
"It is thedestinyofliterature
his lifeforthefreedomofcreativity:
to
provideforbeauty.It is its dutyto providefortruthin thisbeauty."26
FREEDOM
As we can see,we arefarfromthispermanent
questioningoftextand
contextwhich characterizesliteraturetoday.In Le Livre a' venir,
MauriceBlanchotdeclared:
is toescapeanyfundamental
determination,
Theessenceofliterature
itorevenfixit.Itis neveralready
whichcouldstabilize
anyassertion
itis alwaystobefoundorinvented
again.27
there,
seemsto existtoprovide
in theWestIndies,literature
On thecontrary,
the readerwitha fewreassuringimagesofhimselfand his land. Aland to be
thoughWestIndianliterature
proclaimsto be revolutionary
writerand readerimplicitly
able to changetheworld,on thecontrary,
ofthemselvesandtheir
a stereotypical
agreeaboutrespecting
portrayal
does thewriterwishto protectthereaderand himsociety.In reality,
selfagainsttheuglinessofthepast,thehardshipsofthepresent,and
Can we expecttheliberationoftheWest
theuncertainty
ofthefuture?
to
in
come?
Indianwriter theyears
Elogede la Creolitegivesa negativeanswer.However,otherforces
ofCalifornia,
Berkeley(1977).
26. JulioCortazar,Lecturegivenat theUniversity
293.
1971 [19591),
27. MauriceBlanchot,Le Livrea venir(Paris:Gallimard,IdWes,

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MARYSE

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135

areat work,suchas thenewmentalityofouryouthand ourincreased

contactswiththerestoftheworld,especiallytheAmericas.Among
thewritersthemselves,
a fewdissenting
voices,notjustfemalevoices,
althoughstillcoveredbythoseofthemajority,
makethemselvesheard
and givecause forhope.

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