Abstract
M.A. (French)
This dissertation aims to illuminate the numerous angles which are likely to be incorporated in ‘marronage’. This concept refers to the captivity of slaves in search of freedom during the colonial period, more precisely in the ancient pro-slavery colonies such as the Americas, Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion. As the phenomenon of ‘marronage’ is largely explored in the francophone Antillean literary field, my study will be applied on the Guadeloupian and the Martinican writings. It considers significant themes like ‘The Crossing of slaves’ to be the initial step of ‘marronage’, for it turns out to represent the separation between Africa and its progenies. The captivity of slaves resulted inevitably in an identity metamorphosis innate to the insular unknown territory that the slaves encountered.
If marronage has persisted for centuries, it has in some way transformed the way Afro-descendants perceive themselves today, and it could be the basis of academic discussion, insofar as it might be the origin of what designates social, economic and familial challenges within these communities and results in unstable identities.
My research will deal with the different ways that black communities are viewed, how they perceive themselves, and relate among themselves within the Antillean society. The following methods will serve as support for this study:
- The recurring motif almost all the Antillean writings, which represents a question of torment within that society.
- Psycho-critical analysis, which consists of a psychological analysis of the black man in the pro-slavery “milieu”, considers the way this fact has been perpetuated for centuries.
- Sociological and the socio-critical analysis, which exemplify the social and moral conscience, and which later brings out the social facts resulting from what we can name the “postcolonial reality”...