Description
This book examines a major modern turn in Francophone Caribbean literature towards the recit d'enfance, or childhood memoir, and asks why this occurred post-1990, connecting texts to recent changes in public policy and education policy concerning the commemoration of slavery and colonialism both in France and at a global level (for example, the UNESCO project 'La Route de l'esclave', the 'loi Taubira' and the 'Comite pour la memoire de l'esclavage'). Combining approaches from Postcolonial Theory, Psychoanalysis, Trauma Theory and Gender Studies, and positing recognition as a central concept of postcolonial literature, it draws attention to a neglected body of recits d'enfance by contemporary bestselling, prize-winning Francophone Caribbean authors Patrick Chamoiseau, Maryse Conde, Gisele Pineau, Daniel Maximin, Raphael Confiant and Dany Laferriere, while also offering new readings of texts by Aime Cesaire, Frantz Fanon, Edouard Glissant, Joseph Zobel, Francoise Ega, Michele Lacrosil, Maurice Virassamy and Mayotte Capecia. The study proposes an innovative methodological paradigm with which to read postcolonial childhoods in a comparative framework from areas as diverse as the Caribbean, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and particularly the Haitian diaspora in North America.
Draws scholarly attention to a neglected body of recits d'enfance by contemporary best-selling, prize-winning Francophone Caribbean authors: Chamoiseau, Conde, Confiant, Laferriere (who are also available in English) Taps into debates around slavery and colonialism both in France and at a global level (the UNESCO project La Route de l'esclave, the Comite devoir de memoire, the loi Taubira and the Comite pour la memoire de l'esclavage) Provides a well-defined methodology with which to approach the recit d'enfance, with the potential to generate new readings of Francophone postcolonial literature focusing on childhood, from areas such as Algeria (Leila Sebbar), Sub-Saharan Africa (Camara Laye), Reunion (Jean-Jacques Martial) and extending to North African Francophone literature and the Haitian diaspora in North America, particularly Quebec (Emile Ollivier)
About the Author
Louise Hardwick is Reader in Francophone Postcolonial Studies at the University of Birmingham (UK), and Associate Fellow of Homerton College, University of Cambridge.
Reviews
Childhood, Autobiography and the Francophone Caribbean is the first book-length study of a remarkable literary phenomenon that emerged in the last decade of the twentieth century in the French Antilles and Haiti - the autobiographical narrative. Louise Hardwick expertly analyses this relatively understudied genre which uses childhood narrative in as much a politically as an aesthetically subversive manner. Her clear, meticulous and informed study reveals the ways in which these narratives of childhood, driven by a devoir de memoire, relate individual memory to collective identity. This is a welcome critical work that makes a major contribution to francophone as well as to postcolonial literary studies.
J. Michael Dash
... a study that is a pleasure to read ... Hardwick's meticulous research, balanced approach and lucid prose merit serious consideration from specialists of the region.
In an impressive series of close readings, Louise Hardwick analyses the genre of autobiographical childhood narratives ... These innovative readings constitute the volume's tour de force: in inaugurating the critical field of recits d'enfance studies, it renews our approaches to Francophone Caribbean literature in general.
Malik Noel-Ferdinand, The Arts Journal: Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Literature, History, Art and Culture of Guyana and the Caribbean
Louise Hardwick's excellent study is a most welcome contribution to the field ... With its beautiful style and pedagogical structure, it is a didactic masterpiece.
Hardwick's discussion of intertextuality-both among writers and self-referential-and her contextualization of the childhood memoirs within their authors' larger oeuvre are most illuminating...Hardwick's book constitutes a significant contribution to Francophone Caribbean literary criticism.
Odile Ferly, L'Espirit Createur
This well-researched and cogently written study makes a convincing argument for the significance of the recit d'enfance in discussions about Francophone Caribbean literature.
Book Information
ISBN 9781846318412
Author Louise Hardwick
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Liverpool University Press
Publisher Liverpool University Press
Draws scholarly attention to a neglected body of recits d'enfance by contemporary best-selling, prize-winning Francophone Caribbean authors: Chamoiseau, Conde, Confiant, Laferriere (who are also available in English) Taps into debates around slavery and colonialism both in France and at a global level (the UNESCO project La Route de l'esclave, the Comite devoir de memoire, the loi Taubira and the Comite pour la memoire de l'esclavage) Provides a well-defined methodology with which to approach the recit d'enfance, with the potential to generate new readings of Francophone postcolonial literature focusing on childhood, from areas such as Algeria (Leila Sebbar), Sub-Saharan Africa (Camara Laye), Reunion (Jean-Jacques Martial) and extending to North African Francophone literature and the Haitian diaspora in North America, particularly Quebec (Emile Ollivier)
About the Author
Louise Hardwick is Reader in Francophone Postcolonial Studies at the University of Birmingham (UK), and Associate Fellow of Homerton College, University of Cambridge.
Reviews
Childhood, Autobiography and the Francophone Caribbean is the first book-length study of a remarkable literary phenomenon that emerged in the last decade of the twentieth century in the French Antilles and Haiti - the autobiographical narrative. Louise Hardwick expertly analyses this relatively understudied genre which uses childhood narrative in as much a politically as an aesthetically subversive manner. Her clear, meticulous and informed study reveals the ways in which these narratives of childhood, driven by a devoir de memoire, relate individual memory to collective identity. This is a welcome critical work that makes a major contribution to francophone as well as to postcolonial literary studies.
J. Michael Dash
... a study that is a pleasure to read ... Hardwick's meticulous research, balanced approach and lucid prose merit serious consideration from specialists of the region.
Francoise Lionnet, Journal of Postcolonial Writing
* Journal of Postcolonial Writing *In an impressive series of close readings, Louise Hardwick analyses the genre of autobiographical childhood narratives ... These innovative readings constitute the volume's tour de force: in inaugurating the critical field of recits d'enfance studies, it renews our approaches to Francophone Caribbean literature in general.
Malik Noel-Ferdinand, The Arts Journal: Critical Perspectives on Contemporary Literature, History, Art and Culture of Guyana and the Caribbean
Louise Hardwick's excellent study is a most welcome contribution to the field ... With its beautiful style and pedagogical structure, it is a didactic masterpiece.
Christina Kullberg, Karib: Nordic Journal for Caribbean Studies
* Karib: Nordic Journal for Caribbean Studies *Hardwick's discussion of intertextuality-both among writers and self-referential-and her contextualization of the childhood memoirs within their authors' larger oeuvre are most illuminating...Hardwick's book constitutes a significant contribution to Francophone Caribbean literary criticism.
Odile Ferly, L'Espirit Createur
This well-researched and cogently written study makes a convincing argument for the significance of the recit d'enfance in discussions about Francophone Caribbean literature.
Sarah Barbour, New West Indian Guide
Book Information
ISBN 9781846318412
Author Louise Hardwick
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Liverpool University Press
Publisher Liverpool University Press
