Abstract
In this study, we are restricting our analysis to twelve novels of Joseph Zobel’s Diab’là and La Rue Cases-Nègres, Jacques Roumain’s Gouverneurs de la Rosée and La Montagne Ensorcelée, Simone Schwarz-Bart’s Pluie et vent sur Télumée Miracle and Ti Jean L’horizon, Patrick Chamoiseau’s Texaco and Solibo Magnifique, Maryse Condé’s Traversée de la Mangrove and Hérémakhonon, Edouard Glissant’s Le Quatrième Siècle and La Lézarde. The choice of these novels was not pertinent. Each society has its own culture and a past. Historically, concerning the Antillean Society, it is about a painful and shameful past where the novelists made attempt to reveal in their works the different facets of the Antillean reality and the cultural abundance of their island world. The theoretical framework of this thesis is to analyse culture as a demonstration of the Antillean identity using the postcolonial theory. The theme identity constitutes a problem in itself. The identity of a people, of an individual or that of a community, constitute a major problem in the Antillean society. Therefore, the writers depict a society undergoing transformation through their literary works to demand for their existence and their identity. After the colonial era, there came neo-colonialism where a lot of people and countries were left to manage their own affairs, hence, the quest to rebuild their own identity, with the hope of wiping with illusion the scars inflicted by the slave masters, during the colonial era. Most of the selected writers made accurate representation of the culture and the Antillean way of life to safeguard their cultural heritage. It is important to present the old and the new literary currents such as: Orality, Antillianity, Creolity and Word Literature in order to be able to situate the Antillean identity quest. Our study reveals the role of each writer using culture to demonstrate the genuine Antillean identity. Six authors will be examined in the course of our study where Zobel, Chamoiseau and Glissant are from Martinique while Jacques Roumain is from Haiti. The two other female writers; Maryse Condé and Simone Schwarz-Bart are from Guadeloupe. All the literary works of these authors present in a striking manner the cultural reality of the Antilleans. The expansion of the Antillean literature dated back to beyond during the time of Aimé Césaire. Due to the consciousness created by him, Antillean literature was now being written by Antilleans themselves instead of the French people as it was the case. Their literature is embedded in Orality whereby some historical novels will be examined to serve as an important tool for dressing historical wounds in order to restore the pride of a people who were slave descendants through the creation of national hero, a typical example of maroonage. From the literary works of our study, our focus will be based on the twinning of the French language and the oral creole to showcase the real image of the linguistic beauty of the Antilleans. The use of culture as an expression of identity amongst writers is related to the development of oral tradition and creole language. They throw more light on the originality of their culture. During the course of our study, majority of our novelists made us to have a feel of oral culture showing this through a lively and permanent manner, all thanks to the emergence of written works. The predominant roles of writers cannot be overemphasised and many others who helped in the recovery of creole language after decolonisation. Our study revealed also the term Antillanity, as a literary and ideological movement which was launched in the mid twentieth century. This literary current favoured the rehabilitation of the Antillean which gives him a full-fledged identity, an identity which has no relationship with Africa or Europe. Next is creolity, a literary current amplified by Jean Bernabé, Patrick Chamoiseau and Raphael Confiant having the burning desire to strengthen the Antilleans through Creole language. Then the World Literature which helps in bringing xi together 44 authors to put an end to francophone literature to encourage the diversity of works written in French Language. In conclusion, we established that the Antillean suffered a lot of oppression, linguistic suppression, prejudices either based on class, culture or colour and so many others. Antillean writers use literature to reclaim their cultural identity, challenge stereotypes, and rebuild their image, striving for authentic representation and self-definition.
