Les réécritures du passé en Martinique à travers le roman historique postmoderne : un défi identitaire

Abstract

Lying between literature and history, fiction and reality, and ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, the historical novel is highly criticized for its hybrid nature. It is even more so in the French Antilles where writers lay claim to a cultural identity which is different from that of the former colony. Mixing Oraliture, French, and Creole, West Indian texts have succeeded in forging a mold which is internationally recognized. They now have to adapt to contemporary styles of writing while preserving their authenticity.Our comparative study of Fabienne Kanor’s Humus and Patrick Chamoiseau’s L’esclave vieil homme et le molosse highlights some of the specificities that characterize the West Indian historical novel and exposes the narrative strategies the writers use when attempting to heal the wounds left by History and rehabilitate the truth of the defeated.

Keywords

• history
• cultural identity
• collective memory
• historical novel
• oraliture
• Caribbean literature