(Dis)Placing Marginality Cultural Identity and Creole Resistance in Glissant and Maximin

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(Dis)Placing Marginality: Cultural Identity and Creole Resistance in Glissant and MaximinAuthor(s): H. Adlai Murdoch

Source: Research in African Literatures, Vol. 25, No. 2, Special Issue: Caribbean Literature(Summer, 1994), pp. 81-101Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4618265

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( D i s ) P l a c i n g

Marginality:Cultural

Identity a n d

C r e o l e

Resistance i n

Glissant a n d

Maximin

H. AdlaiMurdoch

I

The articulation f resistance oldsparticularesonance orthe lit-erature f thecolonized.The process f colonization tself--the subjectionto acolonialdiscourse-generatesalterityanddislocationon thepartofthe

subject.These discontinuities n turn informthe strategiesemployedbypostcolonialnarrative sitseekstoestablishadiscursivedentity iguredbythe experience of culturalfragmentationengenderedby the colonialencounter.The result s the

adoptionof narrativeorms n which

shiftingtemporalitiesfdoubleness end todisplaceandsubvert heveryhierarchies

imposedbythecolonizerupon he colonized.These divisionsandpluralitiesof apostcolonialpraxisare ranslatednto aplural ite thatcontinually on-testsits inherited iminalityandmarginalization.his contestationformsthe basisofadiscursiverameworkhat,evenasit elaborates poeticsofdif-ference,alsoinscribes he regionalresonancesof the postcolonial.In this

paper willattempt o tracethe patterns hroughwhich the constraintsofcolonialconfinementnthe Caribbeanommunityaresuperseded ya cre-ole textualityofresistance. n thiscontext,as the workof EdouardGlissantandDanielMaximinarticulateshe cultural

paradigmsf theirnative Mar-

tiniqueandGuadeloupe,heir discoursedefinesa postcolonialpracticeof

pluralismorthe Caribbeanegion.The doubledculturalandpolitical positionalityof the francophone

Caribbeanerritories fGuadeloupe ndMartiniquesdefinedbyand inte-

grallyiedtotheirhistorical elationshipo themetropole.Thephysicaland



82 1 ResearchnAfricanLiteratures

discursive orcesof Frenchcolonialism,tracinga trajectoryromdepen-denceto departmentalization,endedfrom he outset to differentiate hem

bothfrom the patternof Englishcolonialism,and from the revolutionaryparadigmf theirHaitiancounterparts,oreclosingheverypossibility f anenunciationwhichbegan n Haiti and the restof the Caribbeann the latenineteenthcentury.Even heearlyworkoftheNegritudemovement n the1930sand 1940s,whosepioneersAim6C6saireandRendMenil addressedtheproblems f colonialism ndculturalnationalismhroughC6saire'sem-inalwork,Cahier 'unretour upaysnatal,and theperiodicalTropiques,ro-duceddiscursive ormations oundedon a responseto the hierarchical

inequalities f the colonialencounter.Butby predicatingtsvalidityon the

polarities fthepast, hisdiscourseouldnot succeed nmappinghe neces-

sarynewterrainof theburgeoningnterstitial ommunity.Even the transi-tionof these coloniesto the statusofddpartements'outremern 1946,in the

periodimmediately ollowingthe Second WorldWar has, in BeverleyOrmerod's ords,"notgreatlyaltered he realitiesof politicaland culturalcolonialism"3). Patternsof discursiveand social hierarchizationwhich

preservedhe powerof the whiteminority endedto remain n place,withlittle substantivehange. t was he discursive ndcultural mbiguityntrin-sictodepartmentalizationhatwouldultimately ngenderaconsciousactofcontestation oundedon thecompellingculturalpluralities f the creole.

At the heartofthe articulative mbiguities fFrenchCaribbean olo-nialism ies a paradoxical roduction f culturalhegemony.The adventof

departmentalizationucceeded nly in translatingheseambiguities nto adifferent lane: hepoliticalcontrolandculturalmarginalizationhichhad

historicallybeen the bane and the definingsignof the regionwere effec-

tivelymaintained,whileat the sametime,the appearance f equalityand

parityprovideda palliative o colonialconcerns.This doubledisjuncture,functioning hroughcatachresis nderasure, reatesa patternof domina-tion and containment where the hierarchiesof languageand culturebecomethe instruments f an inimicalauthoritarianism. s FrantzFanon

states nBlackSkin,WhiteMasks: Everyolonizedpeople...everypeopleinwhosesoulan inferiority omplexhas beencreatedbythe death and burialof itslocalcultural riginality-findsitselfface to facewiththe languageofthe civilizingnation;thatis,with the cultureof the mothercountry"18).Thislinguisticand culturaldomination mposeson thecolonizedanalien-ationin the fieldof theOther,producing paradoxicalituationwherethecolonizedsubjectbecomesthe site of opposingand Imaginarydentifica-tions.' Here, the subjectworksthroughthe desire for recognition byaligninghim- or herselfwith the valuesandpractices f thecolonizer,while

simultaneously ttemptingo articulatea cultural dentityreflectiveof theantinomiesof historicalexperience.These arethe primary riticalpara-doxesof languageand culturewhich,I argue, mpact he discursive volu-tionfromNegritude o resistance.

The ambivalentdiscourse f this culturaldomination husproducesasubjective duality which encourages patterns of imitation, a long-standing



H. AdlaiMurdoch I 83

featureof the identity-formation rocesswithin a post-colonialcontext.2AlbertMemmi,n hisseminal tudyTheColonizernd heColonized,emon-

strates he scopeof this behavioralambiguity: There s a temptingmodelclose at hand- the colonizer....The firstambition of the colonized is tobecomeequalto that splendidmodel andto resemblehim to the point of

disappearingn him"(120). This imitationis meant to elicit recognitionfrom heOther, he colonizer.But,giventhe internalparadoxesntrinsic o

principles f culturalhegemony, eworkinguchstrategiesnto patternsofresistance osesultimately he mostcogentchallengeto the establishmentof anideologicallyntegrated ostcolonialistposition.

The taskofanysuchtheoreticalparadigms theconstruction f a criti-calideologyhatcounters he historicalabsorptionfthe cultures fthecol-

onizedasanegativere-presentationrdisplacement fa cultureofpositivistreason.Such aconstruction, sAshcroft uggests, ppropriatesifference sthe enablinggestureof its operation:"...all post-colonialsocietiesrealizetheiridentity n difference ather han in essence.They are constitutedbytheir difference romthe metropolitanand it is in this relationship hat

identityboth as adistancingrom hecentreand asameansofself-assertioncomesinto being" 167). This radicalre-sitingof metropolitanauthority,whosevitiationwasultimatelyproducedby the verycolonialist discoursethatproducedt,now seeks oground ubjectivityn afunctionaldifference

which will articulate dentityfrom the interstices,enacting a discursiverecuperationwhich,by avoidingcolonialism'setishizationof the margin,drawson the aporiaopened up by the ambiguities f colonialdiscourse oreinscribe reviouslyubaltern ocieties.

It is this ambiguity, he productof misplacedpatternsof colonial

authority,whichpermits he constructionof agencyandrepresentation ythepostcolonial ubject rom he spacesopenedup bythis textualslippage.The discursiveomplexities f the colonialencounterareof cardinalmpor-tanceinfashioninga frameworkorthearticulation f thesubject napost/colonialcontext.The shiftit proposesn ideologicalperspective nablesa

subversion f the boundaries f the dominantdiscourse,requiring con-comitantshiftin traditionalmodes of readingandwriting.Responding othe oppositions mbedded n the texts of colonialismon their own termsdoesnothingto dismantle hesehierarchies fsignification, s thepostcolo-nialcriticBenitaParry rgues: ...a reversediscourse eplicating ndthere-forereinstalling he linguisticpolaritiesdevisedby a dominant centre toexcludeandactagainst he categorized, oes not liberate he 'other' romacolonizedcondition... the foundingconceptsof the problematicmustberefused"28). Dislocating he focusof discursive rticulation romassump-tionsofcolonialist

sovereigntyo thedeliberate

dissymmetriesfpostcolo-nialdiscourseeveals hedisplacement ndrepressionwhich aretheground

of colonialauthority, nd,as HomiBhabha,a leadingvoice in postcolonialtheory, tates,generates newgroundrom he instabilityand ambivalenceof the colonial encounter which "enables a form of subversion.., that turns

the discursive conditions of dominance into the grounds of intervention"



84 I ResearchnAfricanLiteratures

("SignsTaken or Wonders" 73). Reinscribinghis historicalandliterarytrajectoryllowsus to conclude hatbysubvertinghe dominantdiscourse,

aswell as its auraof legitimacy,his ideologyof postcolonialismurnsthetermsof colonialistappropriationntonewpossibilitiesor the articulationof difference.This alternate conomyproducestsownauthority o differ-entiate,dismantlinghierarchical atternsof inscriptionbynegotiating he

hybridprinciplesof a discursive reolization.Figuresinked to the alien-ationanddislocation,repression nddispossession f the colonialexperi-ence are expandedand exploded in the largersignifyingnetwork of

postcolonialdentity.In thefrancophoneCaribbean,hisfoundational unctionof postco-

lonialagency

seeks to inscribe the discursivepractice

of the colonized.Given apatternofcolonialalienationenacted hrough hediscourses f his-

toryandculture,a postcolonialpraxisof resistance nacts itscontestation

discursivelyas well, grounding ts enunciation of culturaldifference onthosepatternsof division thatdisrupt he authorityof culturalrepresenta-tionitself,as Bhabhahassuggested:

...insignifyinghepresent,omethingomes o berepeated,elocated,and ranslatednthename fatradition,n theguise f apastnesshatis notnecessarilyfaithfulignofhistoricalmemoryutastrategyfrepresentinguthorityn terms ftheartificef thearchaic....uchan

interventionuiteproperlyhallengesur ense fthehistoricalden-tityof culture s ahomogenising,nifyingorce....("TheCommit-ment oTheory"28;130)

The translationof colonial ambivalence nto conditions of postcolonialpossibility ntailssubvertinghisartificialauthority hroughcomplex,dif-ferential trategies frepresentation.f,as AshisNandysuggests, ...the lib-erationultimatelyha[s] to begin from the colonizedand end with thecolonizers... he oppressoroo is caughtin the cultureof oppression"63),the latent culturalambiguity f the colonialencountermustbe translatedinto theenablinggestureofadiscursivitywhichrepudiateshesubject's is-

continuousdisplacement nd nstantiates newregister fpostcolonialplu-ralism as an agential site of collective identification. In this way, thecolonizedsucceedin inscribingheir own discourseas a text separateand

apartrom he tradition hroughwhichtheyhadbeenmarginalized;iguresof dislocationanddisplacementunction within the narrative tructureorewriteacolonialideologyof indeterminacyo signifyapostcolonialprob-lematization fthecanonicalconfinesof colonialism.

IIThese

problems ompriseomeof the issuesarticulatedn the workof

the MartinicanauthorEdouardGlissant.In L'Intentiono-tique,Glissantundertakeso traceatrajectoryorpoetic writing romPlato o Phedre, romVoltaire o Valkry.This meditationon the form andfunctionof discourse

already roundsts articulation fthecomplexitiesof culturalpoeticsin the

premeditated presence of the people of the region. To this end, Glissant




reproducesHegel'sdismissivemeditationon Africa as a means toward tsultimatesubversion: Cequenouscomprenons n sommesousle nom de

l'Afrique, 'est un mondeanhistoriquenon developpd,entierementpri-sonnierde l'espritnaturelet dontlaplacese trouveencore auseuil de l'his-toire universelle"(37) [What we really understandby Africa is an

undeveloped, historicalworld, ompletelygivenoverto thespiritof natureandwhichisyetto becomeapartof a universalhistory].Glissant's aloriza-tion of theregionalrolein the articulation f thepoeticactproduces dia-lecticalconcept suspendedbetweenthe worldof cultureand the objectsitseeks oembrace, ndultimately enerativeof thecontestatoryohesionofhis antillanite.

Ofprimary

mportances the roleascribedolanguage, nd ts creative

inflectionbythe complexitiesof culture,especially he creole transforma-tionsthatpluralizehepoeticsof theregion.In thedynamicdiscontinuitiesof poetic expression, t is the issueof the relationwhich is paramount:"La anguealorsne seraplus,dans l'expressionde l'etre,purobstacleet

puraccomplissement;lle comportera ussi,de manieretoujourscontra-

dictoire,detentionet relation...commedeja angaged'un angage..."L'In-tention

po.tique46) [Inthe expressionof being, languagewill no longerbe

pureobstacleandpureaccomplishment;t will also include,in the most

contradictoryway,principlesof possessionandconnection...as thoughit

werealreadyhe language f alanguage...].Thisdoubleness,rom tsbegin-ningsbetweenobstacleand accomplishment,between the word and its

work,mediates he hybridnotion of the cross-culturalhat will assumeamuch arger mportancen Glissant'saterwork.Indeed, n itscapacityasasortofmetalanguage,his discursive oeticsalreadyranslates topos f the

pluralismsntrinsic o thearticulation f thepostcolonialcondition.In his discussion f Leirisand the discursive esonances f the region,

Glissantexaminesthe relationshipbetween literatureand ethnography,between hepoeticsofcultureandthepoeticsofdifference:orhim,it is theissueof a"symbioseulturelle"culturalymbiosis]whichengendersa con-

text for a "veritable ivilisationcomposite" trulypluralist ociety](133).This complexityof the Caribbean xperienceestablishesa link between

experienceandexpression,drawing rom the region's ompoundambigu-ities thepossibility f discursive ontestation.Theseissuesareclarifiedand

compoundedn his discussionof the postcolonialpracticeof the Marti-

niquanpoetAim6C6saire; s therelationshipbetweenpoliticsandpoeticsis increasinglympactedbythedifferentialemporality f the postcolonial,we see thefirstnklingsof theprinciples f discursivereolizationhat wouldlaterbemore ullyelaboratedn hisdiscussions f the importance f the cul-tural

andscape.In"LaVoixdeterre,"Glissant xploresiterature'sole n the articula-tionofa nationalvoice,in a contextlimnedby questionsofcommunityandcontestation:"Nouscourons a chanced'unelittdrature uipredetermine,parsa fonction d'investigation d'une conscience commune, les oeuvres quil'illustreront" 186) [We are on the verge of a literature that predetermines




the works hat will define it through ts elaborationof a communalcon-

sciousness].Within suchacontext,anideologygroundednthecreolization

ofdifference angenerateasupplementaryarrativeyntax hatreflects henecessary utonomyofthepostcolonialparadigm.

In Le Discours ntillais,Glissantextendsand elaborates he two cor-nerstonesof identity in the Caribbeancontext:

antillanite.,or Caribbe-

anness,and apoe.tique

de la relation, r a crosscultural oetics.These twointerrelated ndinterdependent oncepts orm he basisofGlissant'surveyof the specificityof the Caribbean xperience; mphasis splacedon para-dox,on the ambiguities nddisjunctures hich,as a resultofsocialand his-torical interpolation,have become the principal signs of Caribbean

identity.ForGlissant,the historical ragmentationwhich grounds unda-mentallyregionalaffiliations, ombinedwith the culturalcreolizationand

subjectivepluralism roduced ythe colonialencounter, oalescetoforma

hybrid deologyofcreativeresistance.

Since, in its largest ense,the colonialexperience s the productof adiscourseof dominationanddisplacement, he reclamationof autonomywill seek to reiterate igures f alienationandexclusion,of racialdiversityand culturaldifferentiation,nto postcolonialism'semporaldisruptionofthe categoriesof colonialism.Such an inscription nvolves strategiesof

writing,and ultimatelyengenders he discursive tructureswhich seek tocontest the dualitiesof the subjectiveexperiencewithin the postcolonialcondition.Indeed,Glissantemphasizeshatsince theregion's ubjection o

slaverys theprimary asis or tsontology, tsvalorization ltimately ngen-dersa pluralityof elementswhichconvergeto definekey conceptsin the

hybrid errain fpostcolonialntersubjectivity.Creolization, hen, the primary roductof slaveryand its corollary,

colonialism, s the foundational rinciple nscribing iversityandpluralismasthe cardinalenetsofaregional dentity tructure. heforcedconcatena-tion of a pluralityof cultures rom the diaspora pawned he ethnic andculturaldiversityof theCaribbean egion rom he antithesesof itshistory.By translating hese antithesesof culturalpluralism nto a metaphoricalre-presentationf the fact of cultural

me.tissage,Glissantelaboratesa new

contextforsubjectivitywithintheregion.Drawingon regionalprinciples f differenceanddiversity,Glissant's

workseeksto defineapeopleby metamorphosingolonialism's isjunctivetemporalitiesnto adiscursiveesistance roundednconjunctionandcon-fluence.WhatGlissantaccomplisheshrough hisprocesss the inversionofcanonicalcomprehensions f colonialismand culture,the disruptionof

dominationanddisplacement, nd the reinscription f the culturallyanddiscursivelymarginalized. orhim,

antillanit",demandsan awarenessand

recuperationf theplurality,hediscontinuity, nd thedispersaln the his-

torical trajectory of regional development which together make up the

unique quality of the Caribbeanheritage.




Itisthediversity fthis cultural ubjectivity,hen, thesubjectionand

struggle f its self-definition,whichproduces he creolizationwhich is the

cruxofregionaldifference:Ilyaunediff6rencentre edeplacementpar xiloudispersion)'un

peuple uisecontinue illeurst le transbordla traite) 'unepopula-tionquiailleursechangen autre hose,n une nouvelledonn6edumonde.C'est ncechangementu'ilaut ssayeresurprendrendessecretsesmieux ardese aRelation.LeDiscoursntillais8)

[Theresa difference etweenhetransplantingbyexileordisper-sion)ofapeoplewhocontinueosurvive lsewhere nd he transfer

(by heslaverade) fapopulationo another lacewherehey hange

intosomethingifferent,ntoa new set of possibilities.t is in thismetamorphosishatwemustry o detect neofthebestkept ecretsfcreolization.Caribbeaniscourse4)]

Perhapsheprimary otentialof apastgroundednslaverys itscorollary fcreolization ndthe metamorphosisf cultural dentitywhich it concomi-

tantlyengenders.The coexistenceof a pluralityof cultures romthe dias-

pora, ignifiedbythe ethnic and culturaldiversityof the Caribbean egionproduces metaphor fdifference,n which the tensionsandteleologiesofthesocial maginaryreretranslatednd redefined.Within such acontext,

anideology roundednthe creolization f difference angenerateasupple-mentarynarrative yntax hat reflects he necessary utonomyof the post-colonial identity paradigm.n these terms,the formalconstituentsof itsnarration owfigure he intersectionof cultural ignificationwith the signofhistory.This recodificationfthedoublevisiongeneratedbythecolonialencounters thatwhichGlissant pecificallyeeks o turn ntohybridpossi-bilitiesofpresence.

Any shift toward he initiationof a transformationalemporality f

differencemustre-site heoriginal upturenorder odis-placeandre-place

thisalienation,creatinga discontinuousreolesubjectivitywhich draws ntheuncannydoubleness f this differential iscourseodevelopalternativemodesof authentication.The dislocationof the colonial encounterwhich,forGlissant, salwaysalready lural ntheCaribbean ontext,figures cul-

tural,geographical,ndpsychological henomenonwhichultimately eeksto inscribedivisionrather hanhybridity, isjunctionrather han creoliza-tion.Byaugmentinghe articulation f the pluralresonancesundergirdingslaveryandcolonialism, heircorollariesof culturalanddiscursivediffer-encewillgenerate hesubstitutiveources f thecreole.

Glissant'snsistenceon locatingthe essence of regionalsubjectivityin its cross-culturaloreleads to a re-visionof the historicaland culturalstructuresontextualizinghe roleof thesubject nCaribbeanociety.This

questioningtakes the multiplicityofantillanite,

as the enablinggestureof its operation:




L'antillanite,evieparesintellectuels,n meme emps uenospeu-ples avivaient e maniereouterraine,ousarracheel'intoldrable

propreuxnationalismes6cessairestnousntroduitlaRelation uiaujourd'huiestempereanses

aligner.Qu'est-ceue esAntilleseneffet?Unemulti-relation.LeDiscoursntillais49)

[Caribbeanness,n intellectualream,ivedat thesame ime n anunconsciousaybyourpeoples,ears s reeromhe ntolerablelter-nativeof the need fornationalismnd introducess to the cross-culturalrocesshatmodifiesutdoesnot underminehelatter.Whatisthe Caribbeannfact?A multipleeries frelationships.CaribbeanDiscourse39)]

In theseterms, he multipleresonances ndrepeatabilitiesf

antillanit",

are

anintegralpartofthehybrid onstruction f identity n theregion,definingthepeopleby re-presentinghediversity f theirexperience.By translatingthisexperience rom hesubliminal ealm o theperformative,he destruc-tivedivisionsofa recuperative ationalismareaverted,re-placedbylocat-

ingthecommunal ultureand theperformancef itsshiftingpolaritiesn a

varietyofsites.The contestationof a colonialistdiscourse,he constitutionof a dia-

lecticof doublenessn the Caribbean ontext must takeinto accountthedislocations and discontinuitieswhich subvertand rewrite traditional

notions of boundaries nd communities n the region.Bydisplacing inearpatterns f literary ndculturalpractice, he Caribbeanwriterprovides hebasis ora discursivee-presentationftheparadoxesndambiguitieswhichunderlie he figures f colonizerand colonized n discourse.The polaritiesand pluralisms f colonial authoritymust be exploded,exposed,turnedinsideout in order o re-sitethe temporalities ndteleologiesof a hybridheterogeneity.t isby relocating hediegetictracesof thecolonialencoun-ter in a new frameworkhat the inscriptionof a creole discourseof dou-blenesswillbeaccomplished.

III DanielMaximin'swork s asingular ttempt o articulate hemultiplemodernityof the postcolonialCaribbean hroughnarrative.By workingthroughthe re-presentation f key historicalevents, he attemptsin hisnovel L'Isol soleil o inscribesome of colonialism'sdiscursiveparadoxesresponsibleorthefragmentationndpluralism f theGuadeloupeanxpe-rience. While the bookostensibly racesthe trajectory f its protagonist,Marie-Gabriel'sttemptto writethe historyof her family'sexistence in

Guadeloupe,he author's laboration ndexploitationof theverynotion ofawritingprojectpermits he translation ndrelocationof various opoiof a

differential ostcolonialism.Throughadiscourse omprisingictionalnar-rative,letters,notebooks,proverbs,poems,and historicaldocuments,hesucceeds n displacing egionalmarginality, ewritinghe alreadywritten,andexploding he fragmentationnddifferencewhichmakeupthe tradi-

tional historical perspective.




It is not my intentionhereto suggest hat Maximin'sdiscursiveact

represents fictionalpraxisparallellingGlissant'sarticulation f theprob-

lematic of culturalidentity in the region. Yet at the same time, it isimportanto recognize hat Maximin's ontestationof priornarratives fcolonial authoritysimilarlyconstitutesa majorre-visionof these binaryboundaries f exclusionanddisjuncture.The multivalencies f the histori-calexperiencearetranslatednto thepatentpossibilities fnarrative, reat-

ingaworkwhosevery usionof theelements tseeks ore-iterate enders he

pluralismof the colonial encounter into a uniquely hybridexample of

diegesis. ndeed, hisisborneoutbytheprimaryoleascribed orepresenta-tionalrepetitionandstructural isplacementn the narrative, sthe differ-encesandaffinities,heparallels ndparadoxesntrinsic o theconstruction

of a creolehybridityrom he antinomiesof colonialismbeginto takeshape.Through hecarefulnscription fmultiplecharacters ndoverlapping er-spectives, he discontinuities ndcontradictionswhichhave been the baneof colonialhistoryemergeandare reinscribednto the discourse, iguringthis postcolonialsocietyas ultimately he productboth of its indigenousheritageand of the cultureof the colonizer. t is Maximin'shesisthat this

plurality s the essence of the Caribbeanexperience,and of the Guade-

loupeanexperience in particular.Any discourse,then, which seeks toencodeandreflect hisexperiencemust ncorporatehemesandfigures on-

structeduponthis interaction f axes.One of the most striking aspectsof Maximin's nsistenceon theineluctablepresenceof the Otheris hisextensiveuse of the secondpersonsingular.ndeed,"tu" sthe firstword n thebodyofthenovelproper, nd assuchconstitutesarecuperationfthe intertextualitynd ntervocalityromwhichthe novelderives hepowerandurgency fitsperspective.Maximin's

attemptto inscribea future or the regionthroughrecourse o its past isreflected n this ongoingconstructionof the protagonist,Marie-Gabriel's

writingproject,nwhich the collaborative onstitutionofherculturalden-

tityislinked o thiscontinualdiscursive ialoguebetweenpastandpresent,

addressinghe relational ensionbetween ext andform.The importance flanguagen thistextualstrugglesalsoseen ascriticalbyRonnieScharfman,asshe writes: Constitutingnidentity oroneself n languagemustnot rep-resent either a stagnant,repetitive,reverentialregression, or a substitu-

tive,identifying,nternalizedarentaluperego"237).The novel thereforebecomesa workproduced hroughprocessesof both readingandwriting,engendering n identity or Marie-Gabriel ut of the turbulence f textual

praxis.Tohelptrace these trajectoriesrom a historicaswell as a symbolic

perspective,Maximin createsas his

protagonistswo twins,

Georgesand

Jonathan, he offspring f an eighteenth-centurymulattowomanand thedirect ancestorsof Marie-Gabriel.Georges's mpairedvision, and Jona-than'sightskinandgreeneyes,function ogetherwiththem.tissageof theirheritage to symbolically represent the creole pluralities of the colonialencounter through a cultural and discursive ambiguity.Forexample, in the




sectionentitled"LeCahierdeJonathan"onathan'sNotebook],writing smademediatory f the translationo the postcolonial.The retellingof the

epic episodeof eighteenth-centuryGuadeloupean lave resistance ed byDelgrisinstantiatesaperformativeite of discursive ontestation,punctu-atedbya commentarymadeupof creoleproverbshatgeneratesa cultural

counterpointo theattemptatcolonialdominationanddispossessiontthehandsof the Other.From his perspective,Maximin'sdiscursiveact itself

compoundshe complexityof thenotion ofwritingasaautoreferentialiteofresistance ndrecuperation.

The systematicprogram f pillageand revoltwhichJonathancarriesoutagainst he slavesocietywhichsubjugates immaybereadas the sym-

bolicarticulation f afigurativeswell asa textualhybridity.As he seekstoinscribehisowntraceuponthe society through he institutionof violenceand terror, he

m.tissageof his background ymbolicallyrecuperateshe

goalsofDelgres'sesistanceromaculturalperspective, nd thisinscriptionsimultaneouslynstitutes he socialandculturalambivalence hathis eth-nic andpolitical

cre.olite,represent.While theseactivitiesaremeant to pro-

ducea valued enseoffreedom,orged hrough truggle ndself-affirmation,

theyalsogiverise oa certainambiguity fperspectivewhosepracticalpara-doxes indperhapsheirmostforceful xpressionn hisbrotherGeorges:

...nousnousaffichons ans es teintescontrenaturede nosdesirssecrets.. Nousavonsrop oifdemontreruenous avons ivre tquenous avonsmourir,t nousavangonsmasquesar esyeuxdesautresontbrisee miroire nos reres.L'Isoholei142-43)[We eveal urselvesntheunnaturalhadesfour ecret esires.... o

thirstyoshowhatweknowhow o liveandhow odie,wegoforward

wearingmask ecauseheeyesof others avesmashedhemirrorfourbrothers.Lone un37)]

Georges's rticulationof the ambiguityandmisapprehension ermeatingthestructures fthe socialimaginaryseffectivelygroundedn the spaceofthedoubledisplacement etween he maskandthemirror,ndactsasahar-

bingerof the binaryoppositionsbridging he rolesof colonizerand colo-nized.While thissmashingof the imageof the counterpart ythe defininggazeof the Otherhas its rootsin the desireandalienationof the colonial

encounter,Maximin'socation and contestationof these canonicalcon-

ceptsconfronts he ineluctability f a totalimplicationn thecolonialproj-ect,andestablishes frameworkortheintegration fhybrid itesof culturalandhistorical ignification.

Maximin's oal,then, is no less thanthe constitutionof an authenticcreole temporality hroughwriting.This recuperation f Guadeloupeanidentity sachievedbyre-presentinghepluralities f the cultural ontextofthe postcolonialand,perhapsmoreimportantly,hrough he transforma-

tion and expansion of its inherited dualities. It is through this principle of




transpositionnd translation hatthe novel enactsnewparadigmsf post-colonialpossibility.Byexploding heprinciplesofpatriarchalinearnarra-

tive,the novel connotesametaphoric esitingof the discourse f the Otherin order o write a new historyof the colonized.Hisrewriting f historicaleventsalreadywrittenreveals hefragmentationnd exclusionwhichhavemade hiscultureareflection f themyriadnfluencesunderpinningts for-mation.The implications f immigration ndconquest,of ethnic and cul-turaldiversity hiftfrom hemargino the centerastheybecomepartof the

process frefiguringcreole dentity.The fragmentationntrinsicto this subjective processdeliberately

inscribes plurality fdiscoursesnto the narrativeramework,manipulat-ingandexploiting he dislocation mposeduponthesubjectbythe colonial

experience o createa textualityand a poeticsof difference.Forexample,while the epistolary enremaybe typicallyreadas the disjuncture f pres-ence and absence,a mimeticre-presentation f discontinuousmomentsmadepresent, tsfunctionhere-in the letterspurportingo be writtenbyGeorges o his brotherJonathan-rather constitutesa retrospective on-structionof the asymmetryf creoleidentity throughan elaborationof itsdoubleperspective. ndeed,the interrogation f assumptions f historical

linearity, oth asevent andasdiscourse,srepresentedsbeing mmanent othe productionof identitythrough he integrationof historicalrecordsof

theperiod nto the narrative ramework.Itis,infact,theverybasisof the discursive ontextthroughwhich theCaribbean ashistorically eendefined hat Maximinquestions.Heuncov-ers he unwrittenhistoryof theregionbyinsertingnto thenarrative ntoldaccountsof the violence andbrutality erpetratedgainst ndigenousupris-ings,massacres hichwere he corollaries f colonialconquest,concentrat-

ing on the criticalperiodof the revolts led by Delgrisand Ignaceat the

beginning f the nineteenthcentury.By ocatingandrewritinghese sitesof

misprision,Maximin'se-inscriptionf theseeffortsatself-definitionigni-fies the creationof a postcolonialcounter-discoursewhere resistance is

groundedn the resonances f indeterminacy,mappinga spacewhichsup-plants he authority f the master's iscourse.AsJohnEricksonpointsout:"Marie-Gabriel's/Maximin'sewriting f history nvolvesnot only a breakfrom colonialisthistory...but frompatriarchalhistoryand the dominantmalenarrative swell" 127). The deliberatedisjuncturesf this discoursethusaccomplishhe instantiation f a double ime ofdifference.On the one

hand,Maximin'snstitutionof an alternative egional emporality emon-stratesnarratologicallyhat sincehistoricaldiscoursetselfispredicated nnarrativetructures,t is thussubject o the sameundecidabilities s otherformsof narration.As

HaydenWhite has

pointedout: "... this value

attached o narrativityn the representation f realevents arisesout of adesire o have realeventsdisplayhecoherence, ntegrity,ullness,and clo-sureof animageof life that is andcanonlybe imaginary"23). The resultofMaximin's eliberate onflationofhistoryandfiction isthus to underminethe imaginary authoritarian linearities promulgated by the colonizer, to




expose he misrepresentationsnherent nthemonopolyofdiscourse nd toofferan alternative o this formof discursivehegemony.Secondly,bycon-

fronting he discursive ssumptionsf colonialismwith therepressediguresof itsother,he succeedsn inscribinghepluralismsfapostcolonialalterityas analternativerameworkorthe authenticitiesof culturalautonomy.

Maximin'sncorporation f eleven Guadeloupeanproverbsnto the

alreadycomplexdiscursive ragmentcalledJonathan's otebookprovidesanother triking spectof narrative reolization. nscribedwithin aseparatesectionentitledOnzeproverbes,nclosed nparentheses,written ncapitals,and set off fromthe restof the text, theysymbolicallypunctuateand com-mentuponan accountof nineteenth-centuryGuadeloupean esistance oFrench

hegemonywhich isitselfenclosedwithin

quotationmarks:n

short,both text andproverbsssume he functionofanembeddednarrative, sep-aratediscourse ommentinguponthe structural nd thematicassumptionsunderlyinghe encounterwithmetropolitan olonialismandculture.The

strategic ositioningof theseproverbsnthe text functionsnotonlyasasignofcrdolite,n inscription f the oraltraceof an indigenous ollective mem-

ory,but also as ahybrid iteofnarrativeransformationnddifference.The

syncopatedtructurefthesealternativedeologies ngenders supplemen-tary pace,such thatin the intervalbetween heir iteration hereultimatelyappearshatthird emporality f creolepluralismwhich marks hispostco-

lonialpraxis.The additionofatwelfthproverb s aspecificcounterpoint oJonathan'snteractionwith the Guadeloupeannational leader,Delgres,duringhe 1802uprising nderlineshissupplementarity,ndfunctionsasaclarion all to theaffirmation f cultural ohesion:"Voyageers evillageoftu n'aspastamaison,maisvoyageavecton toit"(L'Isolgoleil56) [Goto the

villagewhereyoudon'thaveahouse,buttakeyourroofwithyou(LoneSun

52)].Theseanalepticandprolepticcultural eferencesdisturb he linearit-ies of colonialdiegesis; imultaneously,heir inscriptionof resistanceandcontestationenhancesthe significanceof the marginas a potentialsite of

disruption nddifference.An additional hortsectionentitledWriting otebookwhich mediatesbetweenbothhalvesofthenovel allows henarratorospeak nthefirstper-son ofdesiresandparadoxes nderlying ercultural nscription n Guade-

loupesincechildhood.InsubsectionsitledProject,Africa,ColonizedBody,andProjectoraNovel,she chroniclesasubjective rajectory:romromanti-cizedschoolgirlnotions of Africato racismat a Parisian ycee;froman

acknowledgementf alienationandof the divisionof colonial desire to adeterminationo subvert heirhegemony.The culturalanddiscursivebina-riesofthissectionmake t apointofconvergence or the tropesandfiguresofcreolitg,ndmakewriting hemediumwhichenactsthe double-voiced e-visionof the colonialencounter.For, norder o givevoiceto the pluralismwhichis theproduct f thisprocess, hesecondhalfof thenovel articulates

the problematic of resistance in postcolonial praxis from a decidedly alter-

native perspective.




Here,the narrativeundergoes stunningstructural eversal.To this

point, as Marie-Gabrieloncurrentlyaddresseshe readeras well as her

younger elf,usingthe deathof herfather,Louis-Gabriel,o contextualizediscursive ctsyettocome,the critical mportance fwritinghaseffectivelybridgedheautoreferentialconomyof thenarrative'soubled emporality:"Tunoirciras outes les pagesblanchiesde ses cendres avec les couleursnaturellesa taportee" L'Isol?oleil18) [Withnaturalcolorsclose at hand

you'llblackenall thepageswhitenedbyhis ashes(LoneSun10)].FollowingtheintermediaryectionentitledWriting otebook,he alternative rticula-tionsof Sections4 and5, Simea'sournal nd Mother'song,areset in early20th-centuryParis,and,workingnowfromaperceptiblyeminineperspec-tive whichsimultaneously ismantlespatriarchal recepts, et upa narra-

tive orderwhosediscursive ontestationfirmlyestablishes he deliberatehybridityof postcolonial dentityand culture.In Section 4, the firstandshortersection, the narratorassimilates he charactersof her mother's

name,Simea,to an assortment f artifactsdefinitiveof Francophone ul-

ture, ncludingRimbaud's neSaison nenfer,Breton'sClairdeterre,Eluard's

Capitale eladouleur,he Negritude ournalLIgitimeDifense,and C saire'sCahier 'un etour upaysnatal.Thediversity f theseotherdiscourses llowsthefirst-personemaleAntilleannarratorome self-definitionhrough he

me.tissage

of her culturalexposure,constitutingherown definingmoment

throughhiscontestation.The painof herpregnancy ya Frencharchitec-turestudentandthe subsequentorcedabortionbecome the engenderingeventsthatmakeherculturaldentity heproductof the creoleconcatena-tionsof the colonialrelationship, onstituting t in andthroughdiscourse,asRonnie Scharfman ointsout:"Sima's ournal s herattempt o decon-struct he holdthesepoeticvoiceshave overher at the sametime that sheconstructs erown text outof them.The verbalviolenceof this sectionis...an activeresponse f revoltagainst heviolence to whichshe has been sub-

jected" 239). Indeed,on a more iguralevel, the narrator oeson to tropeSim a herself,addressinghe aborted etusthrougha combinationof the

second-personingular nd the first-personluraland so inscribingherselfand,metonymically,erGuadeloupean omeland,as aproductof colonial

miscegenation. t is clearthat thisrecuperatedmiscegenation mphasizesthe

m".tissageandpluralismf creolization s theenablinggestures f apost-

colonial dentity irmlynscribed n thesymbolicandthe narrativeevels.Section5,"L'Aire lamere"Mother'song], unctionsas are-presen-

tationof the disjuncturesnd anomaliesunderscoringolonialalienation.

Writingn the secondperson,astrategywhichclearly eflects fundamental

displacement f identity,Marie-Gabriele-enactshermother's torywhile

simultaneouslyddressingerdirectly.This interweaving f the analeptic

andtheproleptic ulminatesn the accountof the (re)birthof the narratorherself,andof herliberation rompaternalparadigmsf colonialauthorityand textuality.The deliberateinstabilityof the narrativeperspectivereworks he fragmentation and alienation of the colonial experience which

form the basis of postcolonial subjectivity, and simultaneously traces the




multiplemodernitiesromwhichthispostcolonialism rawshepowerof its

persistence. t seeks,through he reinscription f a plethoraof discursive

figures lready tworkwithin thenarrative,o showthatwritingas aprojectof self-constitutionmayultimatelybe readassymbolicof the novel'sentirenarrativetrategy.n otherwords, hedislocationwhichisthedefining ignof the post-colonial dentity s also the groundof a culturalresistanceandcontestationintrinsicto the stricturesand structuresof this discursiverenewal.Byextending he themesofdisplacement--the wins, orexample,may also be read through the discontinuities of departmentalizationbetweenGuadeloupe ndMartinique-the eventualsurvivalofJonathan'sNotebookalongwith such icons of culturalaffirmation sC6saire'sTrop-

iquesand his Cahier

ventually ymbolizehe extent to whichresistance o

the discourse f thecolonialencountersineluctably oundupwithissuesoftransformationndhybridity.This exchangeandredoubling f subjectivepositionsreassertshe undeniableprimacyof culturaldiversityand differ-ence:"Observe quelpointtonportraita 'identique stsiexactement aux

parrapport l'imagede toi...cette imagequine sefixe... tesyeuxqu'aumi-roirdesyeuxde l'autre"L'Iso16oleil258) [Observe our denticalportraitand seehow it is soexactly alsecomparedo the image... hat image... hatcanonlycome toyoureyesfrom he mirror ftheeyesof theother(LoneSun

258-59)].Colonialism'sndlessregeneration nd recodification f the dis-

cursive ignperpetually isplaceshe referentialityf an imagewhich itselfis ultimatelymediatedbythe Other. It is the translationof thatdisplace-ment into a differential iscourse f contestationwhichultimately ormu-latesand ocatespost-colonial dentitywithin theregion.

Ultimately, t is theambiguity ndpluralismhat somehowundergirdthepostcolonialprocesshat Maximin eeks o underscorenthis narrative.The continuousalternationbetweenepistolary iscourse ndthird-personnarrationn"L'Exil'en vaainsi" ThusExileDeparts],henovel's inalsec-

tion,positionthispostcolonialpraxisundera signof proteanpossibilities.

The fragmentation f subjectivityproducedby colonial authoritysubse-quentlyshiftsto incorporateigures f creativediscontinuityanddispersal,supersedinghe liminalityof colonialdivisionthroughan endingwhich

simultaneouslyonstitutesanewbeginning igned, histime,bytheauthorhimself.Indeed, he text engagesboththe institutionandthe transforma-tion of the colonialcondition,generating gency romthe resonancesof a

preteritecolonial temporality;he creole is constructedby appropriatingandarticulatingheselffromwithin theparametersf the novel'sdisplace-ment of discourseand differentiation.Maximinre-presentsGuadeloupesubject o colonialdominationasaGuadeloupe ecomeobjectof aprofanedesire, tsstruggleoraffirmationonfrontinghe colonialist's esire orrec-ognition,andgeneratingn turn he alienationanddislocationwhich formthe crux of resistanceand affirmation.3 is foregroundingf writingas a

primaryconstituent of postcolonial praxis re-sites the resonances of a dis-

cursive colonial culture, and this rupturechallenges the continuity of the




colonial encounter in working throughthe ambiguitiesof postcolonialidentity.

Similarprinciplesare also at work in Maximin'ssecond novel,Soufrieres. stensiblya narrative entered on the threatenederuptionof

Guadeloupe'solcanoof the samename n 1976,Maximinaddressesimilarthemesofwriting,vocality,andcreativityn this workwhich all butconsti-tutesasequel oL'Isoljoleil.Yet,at the same ime,enough mportant iffer-ences emergebetweenboth worksthat even given the reappearance fseveralof the maincharacters,

Soufri.resremainsa narrativewhosetreat-

ment ofissues f identityandcultural esistance raws n asenseofsurvival,of a contextofcontestation emperedbyrecurringesonances ftribulationandtextuality.

Amongthose characterswho maketheirreappearance,erhaps hemostimportant reMarie-Gabrielnd herfriend,Adrien.Havingsurvivedthe complexdevices and desires temming romthe generationof identitybywritingboth itspastand tspresent, heyfind hisexistencethreatenedbythe imminenteruptionofthe Soufriere olcano andthe certaintyof its dis-

ruption venof the limitedcultural utonomy heyhavebeenableto writeintopractice.By putting heirphysicalandcultural ourage o the test,thevolcanoforces hem to come to termswith the fragilityof theirexistence,and to takestock of the resources hat inform heirresistance o itspower

oferasure.The interplaybetweendiscursiveormand culturalexpression akes

shapeearlyon inthenovel,asAntoine,Marie-Gabriel'susband,sstagingrehearsals or a play.A quickseries of intertextualreferences, ncludingSimoneSchwarz-Bart'saMulitresse olitude, im6C6saire'sUneSaison u

Congo,andWole Soyinka'sLa Dansedelaforet,servesboth to situate thenovelin acontext of discursiveesistance, nd,moreprecisely,oclarify he

symbolic esonance f the impending olcaniceruption.Antoine'splay,LaDansedelafemme-volcan,hich,we aretold, takes its title fromSoyinka'splay, races he teleologyof the volcanicvoice, thuseventuallymediatinga

remarkableepresentationalvent which is placedalmostexactlyat thenovel'scenter.The articulationof both identityand resistanceare thus

predicatedupon a discursive nunciationgrounded n the complexcon-toursofCaribbean ulture.

Infact,one mightreasonablylaimthat themes ofwritingpermeatethe novel.Early n, Antoine appropriateswritingmetaphor ttributedotheGuyanesepoetL6onDamas,andtranslatest toMarie-Gabrielodrawasurvivalmetaphorbasedon lines of life anddeath:"...lavie devant amort,c'estcommeungraffiti evantunmur.Si lavie setrace,on ne vitplus emur,on vit le

graffiti"23)

[...lifeagainstdeathis like

graffiti gainstawall. If life

survives, oudont see the wallanymore,yousee thegraffiti].This transla-tion serves o reinforce he narrative inkbetweenwritingandcultural ur-

vival, and is in turn reinforcedby the revelation that Marie-Gabrielsherself crucially engaged in the final stages of the creation of a novel.

Indeed, the SoufriZre itself is also made generative of writing, as shortly



96 I Researchn AfricanLiteratures

thereafterRosandoublesboth Marie-Gabriel'sovel and Antoine'splaywith thediscovery fhisownfragmented, isjointed esponse o the volca-

no's threat:a notebookentitled "Procesduvolcan.Notes pour addfense"[Notes Towarda Volcano Defense].The reproductionof this two-pageextractwithin the bodyof the text, its different ext andtypemakingupnotes,clippings,andcommentson avarietyofseismicandpoliticalevents,drawson the economyelaboratedby the imminenteruptionto constructthe contoursof a culturaldefensewhosestrategy s articulated rom thatwhich threatens t most. This redoubling ndrecuperation f the primarydiscursivepaceultimately onstitutesa differentialmeansof resistance othese sitesof exclusionanderasure.

It soonbecomesapparenthat thereareseveral ayers f doubleness o

thisrepresentationf resistance.The primarynscriptionofcharacters ndevents takesplaceunderthe symbolicrubricof a "D fileantillais" Carib-beanParade], nexpositionarye-sitingoftheplural esonances eft behind

bythe colonialencounter.However,SectionTwo,"La ungle"TheJungle],openswith a letterto Marie-GabrielromAdrienin Paris.Hismissiveandits postscript,underliningthe symbolic importanceof the work of theCubanartistWifredoLam,allowsa further ontextualization f the narra-

tive,such thatit appearsn factto be"l'intensedialogue ecretentrelessig-nes du tableau t lespages ur a table: a lettreaMarie-Gabriel,t lepoeme

qu'ilvenaitde composer..." 73) [theintensesecretdialoguebetween thesignsof thepaintingand thepageson the table:his letterto Marie-Gabriel,andthe poemhe hadjustwritten...].Indeed, he phraseswhichappearas

possibilitiesorhispoem's itlearequicklyrecognizablesbeing nlargepartthetitlesgivento the novel'svarious ections.If,then,the novelconstitutesthetotalityof Adrien'snscription f theplural ontoursof thecreole,boththreatandresistanceareultimatelyboundupin the differentialdiscursive

temporality rticulatedby the Soufriereandthe contestationthat it bothconstitutesandcommands.This sortof textual creolizationor discursivedoublenesscreatesa polyvocalitywhich simultaneouslydecenters and

determines hedirection akenbyresistancen the text.Indeed, hequestionof resistancesone thatMaximinbroachesboth

thematically ndtextuallynSoufrieres.yvirtueof thevolcano's mminent

eruption,he characters opulatinghisfigurativeGuadeloupe re orced ocome to termswith the possibilityof their impendingextinction, and tochoosebetweensubmission o a sortof colonial erasureof theircultural

identity,or a creolizationof perspectiveandperformancewhich seizesonthepluralism ndparadox f the cultural xperience o writeanew formulaforthe shiftingboundaries f the postcolonial.These sites of textualandhistoricalresistanceare

continually nterrogated yMaximin,ashis work

seeks o inscribe n alternative conomyofsurvivalhat draws n the subtle

aporia f the subaltern.The deliberatentervocality f Maximin's ext rein-forces he importance f thisnetworkof infinitemodification nd renewal.As his narrative losses tselfin continuouscyclesof regeneration ndre-

sit(e)ation, the strategiesundertaken by both character and text constitute




momentsof rebellionand contestationsuch that forMaximin,survival sthe ultimatechoice that keepsthe promiseof death at bay.This issueof

choice is whatundergirdshe temporality f survival orMaximin,asMi-reilleRosellowritesof a keymoment n L'Isoli oleil:"C'estpeut-&treanscette distinctionqueresident 'originalite t la subversionde son geste:ledon... est un don symboliquequir6introduit e conceptde choix et doncl'existencede la libertdau seind'un universde terreur"58) [It is perhapsthroughhis distinctionthat theorignalityandthe subversion f his move

maybe defined-the gift... s a symbolicone which introduces he conceptof choiceand,concomitantly,hepossibility f liberationnto a universeof

terror].Thus both characterand text arrive at a sense of self-liberationwhichis simultaneously isruptive f an authoritarian iscursivedomina-

tion, constitutingcontestationfrom a discontinuouscreole temporalitywhoseuncannydifferential oubleness f visionandvoicegeneratesa cre-ativecriticism venasit confrontshe riskof itsowndissolution.

Yet anotheraspectof the novel'spersistentregeneration f signsofdoubleness ndhybridity ccurs n thelinkingof thevolcano,andits role inthegeneration f aGuadeloupeandentity, o imagesofwomenand fecun-

dity.Early n, in anextract rom heplayentitled"Dansede lafemme-vol-

can,"the figureof the womanis yokedto that of the Soufri&re:Maisaumilieudelas r6nite,unejeunefemmeasurgi....C'est ejeunereinedel'ile-

Karukera,a Soufriere,en habit de terre, d'airet de feu. Le feuillageapplaudit.Lecorpsde la savanetressaille oussespas" 37-38) [Butin themidstof the calm,a youngwomanemerges....It is the youngqueenof theisleof Karukdra,he Soufriere,dressedn earth,air,andfire.The greeneryapplauds. he savannah's odyshudders eneathherfeet].At thispoint,asthe crisis srepresentedhrough his dramatic ext withina text, thisvocal

doubling llows hediscourse obroach he liminalityofthedualrole of the

Soufrikre, oisedbetween destructionand cultural dentity.Buteven this

problematizationf the narrative'sostcolonialpraxisgiveswayto deeperresonances f hybridity sAngela'sdaughterElisa allsill. As Angelasings

toher,thesongbecomesonewhich mediates inguisticandculturalplural-isms, ess than either one butsimultaneously ouble,"quitenait

'la fois

d'uneromance nfantineet d'unvieuxblues,ni en crdoleni en frangais..."(97) [whichwasdrawnrombotha childlikeromanceandan old blues une,neithercreolenorFrench...].This creolization f bothdiscourse-throughthesong-and character-throughthesinger-is groundednaneconomyof the feminine,so that its opennessand capacityfor regenerationrace

metonymicpatternsof postcolonialresonance.This economyof a female

fecundity ultimately contextualizes Maximin's polysemic textuality,

allowingthe

creativityof survivalto

emergefromthe

rupturingof the

Soufri"re.Butperhapshe mostremarkableectionofthenovel is "Rumeur e la

terre"[Murmuringof the Earth],significantly positioned almost exactly at

its center. Here, the narrative shiftsregistersto the firstperson, engenderinga discursivesite forthe Soufriareitself to be given voice: "Jesuis une bouche




dechairen feu,mais e ne maitriseaucune anguede devoilement.J'habiteunepeausi spacieusequej'aila vertude parlerpard'autres orps,et d'em-

brasser 'unseulregardous les recoinsde magrandecase. Et maparoleestterre"141 [Iama mouthoffiery lesh,but Ihaveno language fdisclosure.

Mydimensionsareso spacious hat I can speakthroughotherbodies,andwith asinglegazepeer nto all the recessesof myhugehouse].Thisstrategypermitshe inscription facreolepolyvocalitywhichencompassesmuchofthehybridpostcolonial ultureofGuadeloupe, culturecaught n the veryact of self-generation ven as it contests the liminality imposedby theauthoritarianierarchies f colonialism.

Indeed,in its double role as symboland threat, it allowsa certainironicrepresentationf the peoplein whosenameit hasappropriatedhistransformationalerspective:"D6cid6ment,a mort ne passionnepas cepeuplequicherchetoujoursasurvie"i outeslesperditions ansremords i

expiation.Ce n'estpasmoi qu'ils uient,c'est la mort" 150) [Deathdefi-

nitelyholdsno attraction orthesepeople; heyconsistently eeksurvival n

everyevil, withneither remorsenoratonement.They arenot fleeingme,theyarefleeingdeath].When Rosan'spregnantwife,Gerty,confidanteofMarie-Gabriel'sotherSimea n Paris, ivesbirth o adaughter fthe same

name,in the midstof an eruptionof rockandash,surrounded yMarie-GabrielandMan-Yaya,t becomes"ladouble inventiond'unemereet de

l'enfant" thedoubleinvention of a mother andchild] (159), a fecunditythatsignifies he ineluctable nscription f thepostcolonial uturewith thecolonialpast:

UneSimea ivante tneuve,needudesir eGerty 'avoirnjourunefillede cetteSim6a u ournaleSime'aeMarie-Gabriel...posdeansunberceaupros 'un itdepagesmanuscrites,critesllesaussiavecautantdesang,dechair,d'amour,t dedechiruresu'il aut...partiemotamot larechercheupourquoie sonprenom....160-61)

[Anewand ivingSim6a, orn romGerty'sesireo havea childoneday rom hat Sim6aof Marie-Gabriel'sournal...laced n a cradle

nextto a bedofmanuscriptages,hemselves rittenwithasmuchblood, lesh,oveandrippingpart s had o be... earching ordbywordor hereasonfhername....]

The symbolicrelationbetweenthe birthof the child and that of the text

positionwriting,birthanderuptionmetonymicallynasymbolicexplosionof creolizedfeminine plurality.At the same time, the search for the

name,for the sourcesof identitymakes his interconnectedness f history,discourse,and character ndicate a voyageof culturalsurvivaland self-

discovery.The issueof interconnectednesstself iscritical; n fact,therearetwo

novelssimultaneouslynprogressnSoufri'res,s well astheplay"Dansedela femme-volcan" nd intermittentsites of intervocalcommentary.ForSoufriNres s in fact a work in progress, an ongoing creation that Adrien

refashions even as we continue to read it. The repeated use of the second

person that occurs in the text-and which, indeed, opens it-is in fact




Adrienaddressing seriesof realizationsndconclusions ohimself.Theseextracts romhis notebookandlettersglosstheprimaryite ofwriting,ren-

dering ts postcolonialpraxisa signifyingnetworkof pluralism nd poly-vocality.As he catches the lastflightfromOrlyto Pointe-a-Pitre,he is infactfleeingtoward urvivalrather han stasis,life rather han death;andherehe articulates nauthenticityhatisinscribed nandthroughacultureincrisis:"Simplement, 'inversedesautrespeuples,noussommespartisdelamortpourallervers a vie.... LaSoufriere, 'estencorenous,notre eubiencach6dans e sien..."(193-94)[Quitesimply, ontraryo otherpeoples,weabandoned eath togotowardsife.... We arealso theSoufriere,oncealingour irewithin itsown...].This sensationofan interlocking,nfinitediscur-sive pluralism s buttressedby Marie-Gabriel'siscoveryof her mother,Sim6a'sournal,a workat the center of the creolizedculturalpolysemyofSoufrieresndof the work hatthematically ndchronologically recedest.The interstitial omplexityof these sites of resistance,wherepluralism nd

paradoxend to render ignificationiminalatbest,isencodedas adifferen-tial discourse earthe end of the novel,when Elisa,significantly riventoarticulate erautonomyorthe first ime,inscribeshersubjectivity hroughthe inherent nstabilityof the volcanoitself:"I1 a desvolcansquise meu-rent.Il y a des volcansquidemeurent"249) [Therearevolcanosthat die

away.Therearevolcanosthatsurvive].When, at the novel'send,shesym-

bolicallyglosses he end of Marie-Gabriel'sext, this finaldoublingof thediscourse onstitutes he basisof aneconomyofproteanperformativityorthiscreolepostcolonialculture. nthisnovel, survival s a consciousact ofwill, discursively onstructedout of repeatedresonancesof refusalandremembrance.

The narrative iscourse fthesenovels,then,constitutes heempow-ermentof the postcolonial ubject hrough he inscriptionof identityanddifferencenspecificnarrativetrategies.For t is in thecomplexitiesof theformand functionof narrative hatthe choice betweena recuperativein-

earityor a morenuanceddiscursiveiberation s to bemade,asEdward aid

indicates:...conventionalarratives...central o imperialism'sppropriativeand dominativettributes. arrativetself s the representationfpower....Totell asimple ationaltoryherefores torepeat,xtend,andalsoto engender ewforms f imperialism.... newsystem fmobileelationshipsust eplacehehierarchiesnheritedrommpe-rialism.273-74)

The disarticulation f such hierarchies f poweris ultimatelywhatmarkstheaccomplishmentfGlissantandMaximin.Bycontesting hediscursivelinearitiesof colonialauthority, hey areable to elaboratea new orderofresistance ndrecognitionwhichrewrites he traditionaleleologiesof themargin into key strategiesof identity and liberation. In this context of plu-ralism, the polysemy of postcolonial culture suggests a set of modernitiesthat announce a burgeoning heterogeneity, as Frangoise Lionnet suggests:"If

m.tissageand indeterminacy re indeed synonymous metaphors for our




postmodernondition...multiplicitylourisheswhenthe shacklesof homo-

geneityand rigidityare broken" 17-18). The deliberatedisjuncturesof

this regionalnarrative hus interrogatehe discursive ontext of colonialdispossessionwhile theysimultaneouslymapthe multiplemetamorphosesof a creoleCaribbean ostcolonialism, hapedbyacontext ofcontestationthattheymust,byforceofcircumstance,nvent.

NOTES

'Theconceptof thesplitsubjects astapleofpsychoanalysisnd sused nthetheories of both Freudand Lacan. Its translation nto a colonial context by nomeans uggests wholesaleadaptation fWesternwaysofknowingasapanacea ortherigors f culturalappropriation.ee, fordefinitionand discussion f the Freud-

ianconcept,TheLanguagefPsychoanalysis.orLacan, ee"TheSignification fthePhallus."A good criticaldiscussionof the questionmayalso be found in AnikaLemaire'sacques acan 2-77.

2For iscussion nddocumentation f thephenomenonof themimeticrepli-cation of colonial structures, ee Chapter1 of EdouardGlissant's eminal workCaribbean iscourse. ee also AlbertMemmi,TheColonizer ndtheColonizedsp.119-41.

'This symbolicrendering f the colonialundertakings not withoutprece-dent. See Assia Djebar'sL'Amour,afantasiaand Kateb Yacine'sNedjma or an

inscriptionof Algeriaas absent,non-speakingemaleobjectof colonialdesire,a

readinghat draws n the binaries fbilingualism ndbiculturalismroduced ythecolonialencounter.On Djebar, ndthe textualarticulation fpostcolonialhetero-

geneity, eealsomy"RewritingWriting."

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(Dis)Placing Marginality Cultural Identity and Creole Resistance in Glissant and Maximin

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