Figuring Abjection
The Slave Mother in the Early Creole Novel
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5692182 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Maeve Mccusker (0009-0008-6690-7592, Queen's University Belfast, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 67 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 61-75 |
| Publication date | 2013-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | French Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-1128 • E-ISSN: 1468-2931 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/fs/kns232 |
| OpenAlex | W2038449207 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 6 |
While twentieth-century Caribbean literature in French has generated a substantial body of criticism, earlier writings have largely been neglected. This article begins by contextualizing the Creole novel of the 1830s in cultural and historical terms, then proceeds to analyse two novels published by Martinican authors in 1835: Outre-mer by Louis de Maynard de Queilhe and Les Créoles by Jules Levilloux. The few studies that exist of these texts tend to contrast their portrayal of the (male) mulatto; Levilloux has generally been considered the more progressive writer in this regard. However, both writers are in striking harmony in their depiction of the black mother, a figure (in both senses, as her physiognomy is central in her portrayal) who has until now been overlooked. In Outre-mer , as in Les Créoles , the elderly black mother is an abject and wretched creature, a source of phobic disgust. She has necessarily to be shown to be repulsive, filthy, and morally hideous in old age in order to counteract the fascination she provokes, and to embody a phantasized repellent to the desires of the white male
Adventure · Art · Art history · Creole language · Figuring · Linguistics · Queen (butterfly) · African history and culture studies · Caribbean and African Literature and Culture · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · History · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,23 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2024 (12) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |