Poétiques mémorielles et imaginaire collectif : canne à sucre et émancipation en Caraïbe

Abstract

By means of the recurring theme of sugar cane which appears in all contemporary literature from the Caribbean islands, this article will emphasise upon the emergence of a memorial poetics turned towards the past instead of looking forward towards the 21st century, as a way of recovering their identity through colonial history (slavery) and post-colonial one (independences, cultural and political revolutions) up to the present century. The sugar plantation (economy, society, identity) tends to disappear from current landscapes but still represents a symbol of historical resistance as well as the common expression of interregional Caribbean identity; besides, it remains a reconceptualized theme in the theoretical essays of many Caribbean authors from the beginning of the 21st century until today.

Keywords

• “Ingenios” (Sugar Mills)
• Identity tracks
• Slavery recollections
• Caribbean literatures
• Emancipation