Overview

Sex, Sea, and Self reassesses the place of the French Antilles and French Caribbean literature within current postcolonial thought and visions of the Black Atlantic. Using a feminist lens, this study examines neglected twentieth-century French texts by Black writers from Martinique and Guadeloupe, making the analysis of some of these texts available to readers of English for the first time. This interdisciplinary study of female and male authors reconsiders their political strategies and the critical role of French creoles in the creation of their own history. This approach recalibrates overly simplistic understandings of the victimization and alienation of French Caribbean people. In the systems of cultural production under consideration, sexuality constitutes an instrument of political and cultural consciousness in the chaotic period between 1924 and 1948. Studying sexual imagery constructed around female bodies demonstrates the significance of agency and the legacy of the past in cultural resistance and political awareness. Sex, Sea, and Self particularly highlights Antillean women intellectuals’ theoretical contributions to Caribbean critical theory. Therefore, this analysis illuminates debates on the multifaceted and conflicted relationships between France and its overseas departments and expands ideas of nationhood in the Black Atlantic and the Americas.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jacqueline Couti
Publisher:   Liverpool University Press
Imprint:   Liverpool University Press
Volume:   81
ISBN:  

9781800859944

ISBN 10:   1800859945
Pages:   400
Publication Date:   01 November 2021
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Introduction – On ne vous a pas oubliés: Re-Scripting and (Re-)Gendering French Antillean Discourses Part I – She Says: Nascent Black French Feminist Thought and the Theorization of “New” Epistomologies of Self from the Interwar Period to the Aftermath of Departmentalization Chapter 1 – The Doudou Strikes Back: Dissecting Doudouisme during the Interwar Period Chapter 2 – Transatlantic Women’s Voices: The Doudou Writes Back Chapter 3 – Mayotte Capécia: From “I am Martinican” to “I am becoming French” Part II – He Says: Black Male Recolonization of Space in the Tropics Chapter 4 – Deconstruction of the White Creole Myth: Creole Desire and the Flip Side of the Coin Chapter 5 – Whiteness and Masculinity Gone Wild: Impossible Redemption Coda – Who Speaks for Whom? Bibliography Index

Reviews

Sex, Sea and Self brings cutting-edge critical analyses of overlooked texts to a broad scholarly audience. It is a timely and original contribution to French Caribbean studies. Anny Dominique Curtius, University of Iowa

Author Information

Jacqueline Couti is Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Rice University, Houston, Texas.

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