FR329 Slavery and After: Writing the Francophone Caribbean

Module Code: FR329
Module Name: Slavery and After: Writing the Francophone Caribbean
Module Coordinator: Professor Pierre-Philippe Fraiture
Term 1
Module Credits: 15

Module Description

The Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe have been French for longer than Calais or Strasbourg and, as 鈥榦verseas departments鈥�, are still integral parts of the French nation. Their inhabitants have been fully-fledged French citizens since 1946, yet their ancestors were enslaved in Africa and shipped to the Caribbean to be set to work in the most inhumane of conditions by the French. By 1848, when slave rebellions and the work of French abolitionists, along with the revolutionary discourse of 'libert茅, 茅galit茅, fraternit茅', finally made slavery untenable in the 'pays des droits de l'homme', Victor Sch艙lcher was sent to the Caribbean to announce that France was liberating her slaves from servitude, and the French colonial 'mission civilisatrice' began. During the course of this module, we will explore the paradoxes that have arisen from this history, examining what it means to be French when you live thousands of kilometres from France, and what it means to be Caribbean when your island is so culturally and linguistically French. We will begin by looking at the history of colonisation and slavery in the French Caribbean and then we will study twentieth- and twenty-first-century writing from both islands - texts which all deal, in one way or another, with the continuing legacies of slavery today.

Primary Texts

Aim茅 C茅saire, Cahier d鈥檜n retour au pays natal (1939)
Frantz Fanon, Peau noire, masques blancs (1952) [Extracts]
Patrick Chamoiseau, L'Esclave vieil homme et le molosse (1997)
Maryse Cond茅, Victoire, les saveurs et les mots (2008)
Daniel Maximin, L'脦le et une nuit (1996)

Assessment Method:

For 2026-2027:

80% coursework assessed by 2750-3000-word essay

20% commentary/critical review, 800-1000 words

Disclaimer

_{This information was correct at the date of publication. However, teaching staff (or their availability) and departmental facilities do sometimes vary, or become unavailable, for reasons beyond the University鈥檚 control. In exceptional cases, timetable slots may need to change to accommodate clashes. Where this happens, the University will ensure the minimum of disruption and will ensure that the expected standard of education is maintained.}

Professor Pierre-Philippe Fraiture

Fran莽ois-Auguste Biard, L鈥橝bolition de l鈥檈sclavage dans les colonies fran莽aises en 1848

Module Outline

海角社区

School of Modern Languages and Cultures