Césaire à l'écoute de la voix Majolè

Abstract

Césaire’s poetic contribution to the Caribbean oral literature has been for longtime ignored by literary criticism. He was supposed to be contemptuous of the storyteller’s art. On the contrary, it appears that a real poetic of the voice is the one which conveys the spirit of the text inspired by the art of the majolè (Caribbean storyteller). Césaire has enriched his work by depicting the storyteller’s breath, language and tales. He transforms oral tales into poems, with unexpected reference to Lafcadio Hearn’s transcriptions, published in a storybook: Trois fois bel conte (1932). His transcriptions substituted spoken words for written words which become poetry. The poet's voice does not imitate the storyteller's voice. Césaire steals his words to turn them into a song for liberty. With the tale entitled “Nanie Rozette”, we can study Césaire’s work on Caribbean orality.

Keywords

• Césaire (Aimé)
• Hearn (Lafcadio)
• Carribean tales
• rewriting
• intertextuality