V45.0145The nature of Francophone Caribbean reality is significantly different from that of Europe where the idea of Realism originated. It should, therefore, not be surprising that the element of mimesis that is the founding principle of European Realism should be radically redefined by French Caribbean writers. While drawing on the element of social consciousness present in the Realist tradition and emphasized in Naturalism and Socialist Realism, Caribbean writers have attempted to combine the presentation of social and economic injustice with elements of the imaginative and the fantastic that steer clear of a depiction of their society as static and victimized. The course will examine elements of the ethnographic, the magical, the polyphonic and creole culture in novels from Haiti, Martinique and Guadeloupe. Readings Simone Schwarz-Bart, The Bridge of Beyond (trans. Barbara Bray). Heinemann Maryse Conde, Crossing the Mangrove (trans. Richard Philcox). Anchor Books Edouard Glissant, The Ripening (trans. Michael Dash). Heinemann Patrick Chamoiseau, Solibo Magnificent (trans. Rejouis and Vinokurov) pantheon Lyonel Trouillot, Street of Lost Footsteps (trans.
Linda Coverdale). Nebraska |
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