Batouala de René Maran, prix Goncourt 1921 : l’accueil de l’Île Maurice

Abstract

The award of the 1921 Goncourt prize to a black –namely, René Maran– was received as a shock wave by the Mauritian intelligentsia. Indeed, Mauritian literature was then totally focussed on European values and, apart from the writer and columnist Léoville L’Homme (alias Léon Lauret), local press critics have been all but agreeable to this dark Goncourt and its laureate.

Keywords

• René Maran
• Batouala
• Mauritius
• critical review
• Mauritian press