JAMBÉ DLO… ET APRÈS? PARTICIPATION DE LA DIASPORA ANTILLAISE À L’ÉCRITURE DE LA NATION FRANÇAISE. A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR of PHILOSOPHY in the department of Romance Languages and Literatures of the College of Arts and Sciences by ÉTIENNE ACHILLE M.A University of Cincinnati June 2009 Committee Chair: Patricia Valladares-Ruiz, Ph.D. Abstract This study is composed of a two-part literary analysis of five Francophone Caribbean (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti) writers’ novels and is articulated around a postcolonial theoretical framework based primarily on the works of Édouard Glissant on the imaginary and intercultural relations, and on the Haitian thought, particularly its attempt to transcend the limitations of the French conception of universalism and republicanism. The first part of this dissertation is dedicated to the study of the Francophone Caribbean diaspora’s contribution to the writing of the French nation through its performative acts and discursive counter-practices. Based on a textual analysis of L’Exil selon Julia (1996) and Fleur de barbarie (2005) by Gisèle Pineau (Guadeloupe), Paris, il faut que tu saches… (2007) and Négropolitains et Euro-Blacks (2000) by Tony Delsham (Martinique) and Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis (2005) by Louis-Philippe Dalembert (Haiti), the main focus is put on localizing and analyzing the interstices of cultural hybridity represented by these writers and more specifically how they contribute to constructing an enunciative present within the hegemonic and pedagogical discourse. The developed argument affirms that the Caribbean diaspora’s members creatively redefine traditional French notions of nation, identity, and belonging and attempt to have their cultural heritage and specificities recognized as active and significant elements contributing to the construction of a nation searching for its identity in the contemporary postcolonial context. The goal is to re-include the Antilles in the past and present development of the French nation and French thought as well as to rethink the foundations on which are articulated the personal and collective identity building processes. While doing so, the difficulties encountered par these diasporic individuals in the establishment of an ideological and cultural dialogue based on a mutual recognition with metropolitan France are highlighted. The second part of this dissertation is based on the acknowledgment that the fast globalization that our world is experiencing is progressively leading towards the irrelevance of the notions of borders and citizenships —the principles on which relies the sovereignty of the Nation-state. Subsequently, the proposed reflection revolves around a potential form that the idea of nation might achieve in the near future, knowing that the current definition posing the homogeneity and cultural anonymity of the people as unquestionable tenets is no longer pertinent in the contemporary context of diversity and intense intercultural relations. The goal is to interrogate how the concept of nation can, as a plural and heterogeneous abstract entity, organize itself without falling into an essentialism irreconcilable with the diversity of its constituting members. The argument formulated claims that Maryse Condé (Guadeloupe) in Les Belles ténébreuses (2008) and Dany Laferrière (Haiti) in Je suis un écrivain japonais (2008) suggest that one will be able, through a nomadic imaginary adopting various traditions of thought and ways of living the world, to renegotiate his/her actual situation regarding national belonging and to constitute transnational and chosen communities based on hybrid cultural affinities, or “meta- nations”, without discarding the importance of the inherited culture(s) as a relational platform. Acknowledgements I would like to thank first and foremost my family for their unconditional support: my wife Patricia, my parents André and Élisabeth, my sister Lucie and my grand-mother Renée. I dedicate this work to the memory of my grand-parents Charles, Bernard and Raymonde who left us during my tenure at the University of Cincinnati and could not see the end of this project. I am grateful to the department of Romance Languages and Literatures for its financial support and collegiality. I express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Michèle Vialet and Dr. Sanford Ames whose dedication, kindness and competence have made my years as a graduate student a unique and life-changing experience, to Dr. Thérèse Migraine-George whose seminars, advice and support have played an important role throughout my graduate studies and to Dr. Anne- Marie Jézéquel whose friendship and generosity have been much appreciated. I also want to thank Dr. Myriam Chancy whose seminar on postcolonial theory and help during the preparation of my proposal proved to be indispensable. I am obliged to the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center for its financial support which allowed me to complete my dissertation in a timely fashion and for the intellectual stimulation it provides through its numerous guest-speakers and lectures series. Finally, I am glad and lucky to have had the opportunity to work under the supervision of Dr. Patricia Valladares-Ruiz who, through our multiple productive discussions and exchanges, has contributed in many ways to my intellectual and professional growth and who managed to make the whole process an enjoyable moment. Table of Contents Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………….7 I. Remarques générales et contextualisation ……………………………………………………...7 II. Description des chapitres ……………………………………………………………………...9 Chapitre 1: Description du projet et cadre théorique général …………………………………...18 I. Description du projet …………………….……………………………………………………18 II. Cadre théorique général ……………………………………………………………………...23 Chapitre 2: Actes performatifs et reconfiguration de l’imaginaire postcolonial français dans L’Exil selon Julia et Fleur de Barbarie de Gisèle Pineau ………………………………………31 I. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………...31 II. Actes performatifs de créolisation et réintroduction de la thématique du racisme populaire dans le débat postcolonial français ……………………………………………………………...34 III. Ni assimilation, ni intégration: l’hybridité culturelle des imaginaires et des pratiques quotidiennes ……………………………………………………………………………………..48 IV. Fleur de Barbarie ou l’optimisme (mesuré) ………………………………………………...62 Chapitre 3: Paris, il faut que tu saches… et Négropolitains et Euro-Blacks de Tony Delsham: Reconfigurer les imaginaires ……………………………………………………………………80 I. Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………80 II. Réarticuler l’imaginaire français par le didactisme ………………………………………….82 III. Solidarité, francité et antillanité: reconfigurer l’imaginaire des Antillais …………………111 Chapitre 4: Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis (2005) de Louis-Philippe Dalembert: de Romain Gary à Haïti ou l’introduction de la pensée haïtienne dans le débat postcolonial français ………….128 I. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………128 II. Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis comme variation de La vie devant soi d’Émile Ajar: le choix de l’humanisme comme intertextualité ……………………………………………………………129 III. Introduction de la pensée haïtienne dans le débat postcolonial français …………………155 Chapitre 5: Nomadisme et “fémihumanisme” dans Les Belles ténébreuses de Maryse Condé .175 I. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………175 II. Nomadisme physique et de l’imaginaire: choix performatif des composantes de son identité culturelle …………………………………………………………………………………….....178 III. Reconfiguration fémihumaniste du processus de construction de la nation………………..200 Chapitre 6: Nomadisme de l’imaginaire et méta-nation dans Je suis un écrivain japonais de Dany Laferrière ……………………………………………………………………………………….222 I. Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………222 II. Postmodernisme de Je suis un écrivain japonais …………………………………………...229 III. Tradition haïtienne (l’origine) et postmodernisme ………………………………………...235 IV. Choisir son appartenance sur la base d’affinités culturelles transnationales et déterritorialisées (méta-nation): la tradition japonaise ………………………………………...250 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………..266 Bibliographie ………………………………………………………………………………… 271 7 Introduction I. Remarques générales et contextualisation. L’intérêt croissant porté au thème de “l’identité nationale”, aussi vague et ambigu soit-il, par le monde politique1 et médiatique a mené à son omniprésence dans l’espace public français contemporain. L’importance de ce débat théorique aux conséquences significatives dans la vie quotidienne de la population française le rend incontournable pour quiconque s’intéresse aux études postcoloniales francophones. À la suite des émeutes dites “des banlieues” de l’automne 2005, un nombre conséquent d’études portant sur les difficultés de cohésion sociale en France et la définition de l’identité individuelle et collective française a été publié. L’approche favorisée par les chercheurs en sciences humaines et sociales est généralement celle des minorités ethniques et culturelles issues de l’immigration de l’ancien Empire2. À ces études s’ajoutent les nombreux essais qui engagent une vaste discussion autour du concept même d’identité nationale3 et remettent d’ailleurs souvent en cause la légitimité de ce terme. Il n’empêche que son existence vivace dans l’esprit des Français(es) justifie sa place centrale dans le cadre d’un projet portant sur la construction de la nation française. De