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Re-Reading Race, Identity and Color from the Nineteenth-Century Naturalists to Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Migrant Narrative

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Re-Reading Race, Identity and Color from the Nineteenth-Century Naturalists to Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Migrant Narrative Re-reading Race, Identity and Color from the Nineteenth-Century Naturalists to Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Migrant Narrative Holly L. Collins A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures (French). Chapel Hill 2011 Approved by, Dominique Fisher Martine Antle Hassan Melehy Donald Reid Ellen Welch © 2011 Holly L. Collins ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii Abstract Holly L. Collins Re-reading Race, Identity and Color from the Nineteenth-Century Naturalists to Twentieth- and Twenty-First Century Migrant Narrative (Under the direction of Dominique Fisher) This dissertation traces the emergence and evolution of ideas on race in nineteenth-century French literature, especially in naturalism, and in twentieth- and twenty-first century Francophone postcolonial literature. My study centers around the functions of memory, myth and the gaze as they play an important role in the development of one’s sense of identity and also contribute to essentialist views on race. The internalization of racial myths continues to affect racial dynamics in the Francophone world due to the persistence of nineteenth-century views on “race” and color. In my dissertation I focus on the still very important biological roots of modern racial constructions that associated the color difference of the indigenous peoples in the colonies with inherent difference. Key nineteenth-century authors such as Emile Zola, Guy de Maupassant and Claire de Duras played an important role in shaping the racialized gaze that constructed the otherness of the indigenous subject. These perceptions developed into various racial and racist myths, so often repeated that they began to seem natural. Through the study of the use of race and color in the postcolonial writings of Maryse Condé and Dany Laferrière I examine the influence of these nineteenth-century constructions of the idea of race in contemporary post-colonial identity. The way in which these authors take on and subsequently disassemble latent iii mythology on race and color is key in the adoption and devotion to a creolized notion of identity as suggested by Edouard Glissant. This way of looking at identity dismisses the idea of pure origins and races as they were conceived in the nineteenth-century Western imaginary and privileges a hybridized, transcultural identity, a certain métissage , where of central importance is the idea that none of the components holds more valor than the others. By re-reading race as a problematic construction in important works where it has been ignored, I highlight many of the racial perceptions that continue to exert influence in the post-colonial French speaking world. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I heartily acknowledge Dominique Fisher, my dissertation director, for continuing to encourage me through the years of writing and rewriting these chapters. Her guidance and professional style will remain with me as I continue my career. I also thank my committee members Martine Antle, Hassan Melehy, Don Reid and Ellen Welch for their valuable recommendations pertaining to this study and assistance in my professional development. Finally, I would like to thank my friends who have been there for me through the long hours of researching, writing, rewriting, editing and formatting. And, of course, I wish to thank my family for their undying support and encouragement from day one. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................1 Emile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin and L’Argent ........................................................3 Guy de Maupassant’s Bel-Ami and Claire de Duras’ Ourika ..............................6 Maryse Condé’s Moi, Tituba sorcière... ..............................................................8 Maryse Condé’s “Trois femmes à Manhattan” and Traversée de la mangrove and Dany Laferrière’s Pays sans chapeau and Comment faire l’amour avec un Nègre sans se fatiguer ......................................10 Memory, Myth and the Gaze ...............................................................................12 Historical perspective: Nineteenth-Century France as the “Center” of Change ..16 The Other and the Gaze .......................................................................................21 Naturalizing “Race” and Hierarchy .....................................................................24 The Mission civilisatrice ......................................................................................28 II. RE-READING RACE IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY NATURALISM: EMILE ZOLA’S THÉRÈSE RAQUIN AND L’ARGENT ...................................31 Defining the nebulous concept of “race” .............................................................32 Construction of Myth ...........................................................................................35 Race and Myth .....................................................................................................36 Myth and Stereotype ............................................................................................41 Naturalism and the “slices of life” representation/exaggeration..........................44 Thérèse Raquin and Biological Essentialism & Racism......................................48 vi The Capitalist, Colonial Enterprise and Otherizing the Indigène ........................65 On the Jewish Question/ Sur La Question Juive/Zur Judenfrage .........................72 The Question of Genre .........................................................................................81 III. LEAVING BEHIND THE “WHITE-ON-BLACK” MODEL OF COLONIAL WRITING: FROM PUBLIC PERCEPTION AND SENSATIONALISM IN GUY DE MAUPASSANT’S BEL-AMI TO CLAIRE DE DURAS’ OURIKA ...................................................................86 Media, Public Perception and Sensationalism about the Other in Bel-Ami .........87 From “White-on-Black” to Privileging the Black Voice .....................................101 IV. MEMORY AND MYTH FROM AFRICA TO THE AMERICAS: COLOR AND RACISM IN MARYSE CONDÉ’S MOI, TITUBA SORCIÈRE… ....................................................................................................... 137 V. TOWARDS A TOUT-MONDE: DECONSTRUCTING THE MYTH IN THE WORKS OF CONDÉ AND IN DANY LAFERRIÈRE’S PAYS SANS CHAPEAU AND COMMENT FAIRE L’AMOUR AVEC UN NÈGRE SANS SE FATIGUER ......................................................................173 Redefining the traditional “nation” ......................................................................174 The tout-monde ....................................................................................................178 The works of Maryse Condé ................................................................................181 From Maryse Condé to Dany Laferrière ..............................................................191 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................227 WORKS CITED ..............................................................................................................234 vii – Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION The remnants of nineteenth-century essentialist perceptions of race remain ever present in the post-colonial world. In this study I trace the emergence and continued resurgence of ideas on race in French and Francophone literature since the nineteenth century, a time that in many ways was a perfect storm for modern racial constructions, by exploring the functions of memory, myth and the gaze as they relate to identity and perpetuate essentialist views on race. By tracing the nineteenth-century origins of racisms 1 that stem from the colonial exploits as they pass through various evolutions, and by listening to the voices of those who have lived these experiences, one can unveil the masks at work in racism. These masks have ranged from biologically based racisms in the evolutionary paradigm to socioeconomic factors in the wake of rural-urban migration to cultural elements in recent and current post-colonial Francophone societies. I will examine how biological roots, albeit pseudo-scientific cultural constructions, associate Blackness, ethnic and cultural identities with inherent difference. I discuss the roots of racism in the context of French and Francophone literatures; however, sociological, political, historical and cultural studies play an important role as they all exert significant 1 Balibar and Wallerstein explain that the relativity of racism and racist acts in history show that “il n’existe pas un racisme invariant, mais des racismes formant tout un spectre ouvert de situations, et à cette mise en garde qui peut être intellectuellement et politiquement indispensable : une configuration raciste déterminée n’a pas de frontières fixes” (58). influence in various ways on the author, either as observer or as autobiographer. By re- reading race as a problematic or ambiguous construction, I am able to bring to the forefront many of the often overlooked, but important, racial perceptions in not only current post-colonial literature and nineteenth century literature, but also in post-colonial francophone societies. This work re-examines racial discourse in literature especially where Blackness, ethnic and cultural identity are concerned. While many previous and current writers on race, such as Paul
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