Relire La Lézarde: Victoire et mélancolie de la départementalisation
Item
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Titre
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Relire La Lézarde: Victoire et mélancolie de la départementalisation
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International Journal of Francophone Studies
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Titre du volume
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3
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Volume
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11
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Date
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2008
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Langue(s)
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English
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Issn
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1368-2679
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Résumé
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This article examines the discourse surrounding departmentalization in Antillian literature through an analysis of Edouard Glissant's 1958 La lâezarde (The Ripening). It argues that the final melancholy of the hero (and mouthpiece of the author), though ignored by Glissant's numerous critics, serves to nuance the positive representation of the victorious local elections in Martinique. Far from a minor detail, the postcolonial hero's melancholy, which stands in contrast to the collective elation following the election of the local representative (inspired by the real-life candidacy of Aimâe Câesaire), proves upon closer examination to be an indispensable element of Glissant's commentary on the electoral period of 1945-6 in Martinique. La lâezarde, the first novel by Glissant, who would become the greatest thinker of antillanitâe in the francophone context, when read in this light, thus becomes a unique reflection on the limits and paradoxes of the transition in 1946 from a colonial status to that of a department assimilated to France.
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Creator
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Lydie Moudileno
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pages
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387-400
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short title
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Relire La lézarde