Architextual Authenticity: Constructing Literature and Literary Identity in the French Caribbean

Annette Joseph-Gabriel, Jason Herbeck

Research output: Contribution to conferencePresentation

Abstract

What do gingerbread houses in Haiti teach us about the construction of identity in the French Caribbean? How do hurricanes and earthquakes reveal the connections between the tangible built environment and intangible notions of identity? Architextual Authenticity: Constructing Literature and Literary Identity in the French Caribbean (Liverpool University Press, 2017) examines these questions in a rich body of works from Haiti, Guadeloupe and Martinique. The book proposes two key concepts to aid in our understanding of Caribbean writers’ construction of identity in their literary works. The term “architexture” asks readers to be attentive to the building blocks of the text and the inner workings of literary works that reflect on themselves and reach out beyond their own pages to be in conversation with other writers, other texts, other stories. Authenticity underscores the ever-present specter of the colonial past and the possibilities for drawing on multiple influences (or in Herbeck’s terminology, using multiple building materials) to construct a unique and original Caribbean identity. Drawing on a range of writers including Maryse Conde, Daniel Maximin and Yanick Lahens, this book steps back from a narrow view of the finished edifice and takes in the scaffolding and mortar that holds these narratives together.
Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - 23 Jan 2018
EventNew Books Network -
Duration: 23 Jan 2018 → …

Conference

ConferenceNew Books Network
Period23/01/18 → …

EGS Disciplines

  • French and Francophone Literature

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Architextual Authenticity: Constructing Literature and Literary Identity in the French Caribbean'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this