Spiralist Interconnection and Environmental Consciousness
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SPIRALIST INTERCONNECTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN CARIBBEAN LITERATURE by AARA BROOK ZWEIFEL A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Romance Languages and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2016 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Aara Brook Zweifel Title: Spiralist Interconnection and Environmental Consciousness in Caribbean Literature This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Romance Languages by: Karen McPherson Chairperson Lanie Millar Core Member Analisa Taylor Core Member Stephanie LeMenager Institutional Representative and Scott L. Pratt Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2016 ii © 2016 Aara Brook Zweifel iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Aara B. Zweifel Doctor of Philosophy Department of Romance Languages June 2016 Title: Spiralist Interconnection and Environmental Consciousness in Caribbean Literature This dissertation addresses the politics of interrelation between living beings and the natural world within Caribbean literature, and the underlying dangers inherent in modes of existence that deny such interrelation. Spiralism is a chaotic and pluralist literary movement emerging from Haiti in the 1960s, and this project features René Philoctète’s Spiralist novel Le Peuple des terres mêlées (1989) as its literary center, joined with two other Caribbean novels: Jacques Roumain’s Gouverneurs de la rosée (1944), and Mayra Montero’s Tú, la oscuridad (1995). In my comparative reading of these novels, I argue that their representations of environmental consciousness, social collaboration, and all-inclusive modes of interacting with the natural world provide models of co-existence in the context of the many socio-environmental injustices that threaten the continuation of many life forms on Earth, including humans. These novels evoke empathy and imagination, and add vital perspectives to the understudied field of environmentally conscious literature. Each of these three novels emotionally engages and reconnects humans as members of ecosystems – a move often lacking in the objective presentation of environmental studies. Given that the Earth is our only home, the continued ecological devastation caused by the human species increasingly deserves our full attention. I argue that the all-inclusive Spiralist imaginary iv and the related literatures are apt ideological tools to help address the cognitive dissonance currently preventing sufficient social change. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Aara B. Zweifel GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Boise State University, Boise, Idaho DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Romance Languages, 2016, University of Oregon Master of Arts, Romance Languages, 2010, University of Oregon Bachelor of Arts, English Literature, 2002, Boise State University Bachelor of Arts, French, 2000, Boise State University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Haitian Spiralism Environmental literature Ecocriticism Caribbean Literature PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of Romance Languages, University of Oregon, 2008-2016 Visiting Instructor of French, Department of World Languages, Boise State University, 2003-2004 Adjunct Instructor of French, Department of World Languages, Boise State University, 1998-2002 GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: Graduate Teaching Fellowship, Romance Languages, University of Oregon, 2008 to present Romance Languages Research Scholarship, University of Oregon, 2014 vi PUBLICATIONS: “Passes et impasses dans le comparatisme postcolonial caribéen. Cinq traverses (Compte rendu).” Nouvelles Études Francophones Volume 27, Numéro 1, Printemps, 27.1 (2012): 290-293. vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express immense appreciation and gratitude to my advisor and dissertation director, Professor Karen McPherson for her unending patience, profound support, and abundant assistance in the preparation of this dissertation. I also thank the members of my committee for their valuable input: to Professor Analisa Taylor for encouraging me to think about the politics behind each text and for inspiring me to pursue a doctoral degree; to Professor Lanie Milar for helping me to unearth my inconsistencies and to step outside of my assumptions; and to Professor Stephanie LeMenager for her kindness and support in lending her eco-conscious insights to my work. In addition, I would like to express special appreciation and thanks to Anny Zweifel and Sabina Carp for their ongoing, careful and extensive editing and profound moral support. You both not only helped my writing but also my will to keep going. Thank you to Ana-Maria M’Enesti for reading my work with a fresh pair of eyes and offering encouragement along with your helpful suggestions. To Sandra Mefoude – thank you for being a constant friend and sharing this journey with me. Thank you: to my parents, Craig and Anny Zweifel, and Lynn and Gary Hino for all you have done and the support you have given me; to Devon Moore – my lifelong friend; to Joy Lum for teaching me self-compassion; and to my constant companion and external heart, Zed Fenbendez. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION: THE INTERCONNECTING SPIRAL ..................................... 1 Physical Interrelation and Haitian Spiralism ......................................................... 2 René Philoctète’s Le Peuple des terres mêlées ...................................................... 8 The Spiral Form and the Golden Ratio .................................................................. 10 Environmental interconnection and “le langage des arbres et de la terre” ............ 15 Roumain’s Gouverneurs de la rosée ...................................................................... 16 Vodou, interrelation, marronage, and “le langage des arbres et de la terre” ......... 18 Mayra Montero’s Tú, la oscuridad ........................................................................ 20 Overview of the Chapters ...................................................................................... 20 II. INTERRELATION: A SPIRALIST ETHICS ......................................................... 23 Aimé Césaire’s Eco-politics .................................................................................. 24 Interrelation in Terres mêlées ................................................................................ 26 Le Machin ................................................................................................... 30 The Eco-embedded Couple ......................................................................... 39 Le Langage des arbres et de la terre ......................................................... 51 Ecocentrism in Gouverneurs de la rosée .............................................................. 53 Environmental Consciousness in Tú, la oscuridad ............................................... 57 ix Chapter Page III. JUXTAPOSITION: AN ANTI-DIVISIVE LITERARY DEVICE ...................... 63 Juxtaposition: An Overview .................................................................................. 64 Juxtaposition in the Caribbean .............................................................................. 69 Juxtaposition in Gouverneurs de la rosée ............................................................. 75 The Couple ................................................................................................ 80 Juxtaposition in Tú, la oscuridad ............................................................................ 89 Juxtaposition in Le Peuple de terres mêlées .......................................................... 95 Assemblage ...................................................................................... 97 Trujillo’s State-machine versus Pedro and The Environment ............. 102 Perceptions of Nature: Trujillo versus Pedro ...................................... 107 The Two Couples ................................................................................. 110 Linguistic Juxtapositions in Trujillo’s Media ..................................... 118 IV. IN-TERRE-LATE!: THE ETHICS OF INTERCONNECTION ........................... 124 Interrelation in Le Peuple des terres mêlées .......................................................... 127 The Young Friends .............................................................................. 128 The Old Friends ................................................................................... 130 “Perejil.” .............................................................................................. 133 The Holistic Chaos of Chicha Calma ................................................... 138 Gouverneurs de la rosée’s Interrelation ................................................................ 152 Tú, la oscuridad’s Interrelation .............................................................................. 158 x V. CONCLUSION: FROM LITERATURE TO LIFE ................................................ 168 REFERENCES CITED ................................................................................................ 189 APPENDIX A: Historical Examples of Interrelation .................................................. 198 APPENDIX B: Translations ......................................................................................