@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Arts, Faculty of"@en, "French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies, Department of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; ns0:degreeCampus "UBCV"@en ; dcterms:creator "Williams, Helen T."@en ; dcterms:issued "2010-07-18T04:07:08Z"@en, "1986"@en ; vivo:relatedDegree "Master of Arts - MA"@en ; ns0:degreeGrantor "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:description """The focus of inquiry in this thesis is female identity and its representation through Language as seen in the novel Pluie et vent sur Telumee Miracle by Simone Schwarz-Bart. The context of the novel clearly depicts instances of oppression of both women and Blacks. I have chosen to apply feminist interpretations of Lacanian psychoanalytical theory, which qualify a woman's place in the symbolic order of Language as that of "object", in order to analyse women's alienation in Language as depicted in the novel. I believe Lacan's view of Language as a hierarchical system into which the human child is born not only underscores the dominant position of Language in relation to the individual, it also emphasizes the extent to which women are prevented from speaking with the (authoritative) voice of the Subject. I focus on Schwarz-Bart's process for the "feminine" encoding of meaning, whereby the traditional "male" perspective is supplanted by an alternative approach to existence. This initial analysis of the repression of women in a patriarchal or male-dominated discourse is then used as a model to study the position of the Black in a society dominated by Whites. I have adopted Jung's interpretation of the workings of the unconscious as a means of further extending the study from the realm of the sexual (male vs. female) to the political (White vs. Black). Delving more deeply into the Guadeloupian context of Pluie et vent sur Telumee Miracle provides the basis with which to counter the dual Lacanian assumption that (sexual) identity does not exist before its symbolization in discourse and that the individual is therefore limited to expressing himself or herself within the confines of the essential male=subject/ female= object paradigm."""@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/26629?expand=metadata"@en ; skos:note "Female Identity through Language i n Simone Schwarz Bart's Plui e et vent sur Telumee Miracle Helen T. Williams B.A. (Hons.) Memorial University of Nfld., 1979 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (French Department) We accept t h i s thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA A p r i l 1986 C Helen Teresa Williams, 1986 In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements f o r an advanced degree at the U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree t h a t the L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e and study. I f u r t h e r agree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e copying of t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by h i s o r her r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s understood t h a t c o p y i n g or p u b l i c a t i o n of t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l not be a llowed without my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . Department of The U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia 2075 Wesbrook P l a c e Vancouver, Canada V6T 1W5 Date Qif>uJ Id. rffa 7Q1 - i i -Abstract The focus of inquiry i n t h i s thesis i s female i d e n t i t y and i t s representation through Language as seen i n the novel Pluie et vent sur Telumee Miracle by Simone Schwarz-Bart. The context of the novel c l e a r l y depicts instances of oppression of both women and Blacks. I have chosen to apply feminist interpretations of Lacanian psychoanalytical theory, which qualify a woman's place i n the symbolic order of Language as that of \"object\", i n order to analyse women's alien a t i o n i n Language as depicted i n the novel. I believe Lacan's view of Language as a hi e r a r c h i c a l system into which the human c h i l d i s born not only underscores the dominant position of Language i n r e -l a t i o n to the i n d i v i d u a l , i t also emphasizes the extent to which women are prevented from speaking with the (authoritative) voice of the Subject. I focus on Schwarz-Bart's process f o r the \"feminine\" en-coding of meaning, whereby the t r a d i t i o n a l \"male\" perspective i s supplanted by an alternative approach to existence. This i n i t i a l analysis of the repression of women i n a patriarchal or male-dominated discourse i s then used as a model to study the position of the Black i n a society dominated by Whites. I have adopted Jung's interpre-t a t i o n of the workings of the unconscious as a means of further ex-tending the study from the realm of the sexual (male vs. female) to the p o l i t i c a l (White vs. Black). Delving more deeply into the GuadJeloupian context of Pl u i e et vent sur Telumee Miracle provides the basis with which to counter the dual Lacanian assumption that - i i i -(sexual) i d e n t i t y does not e x i s t before i t s symbolization i n discourse and that the i n d i v i d u a l i s therefore l i m i t e d to expressing himself or h e r s e l f within the confines of the e s s e n t i a l male=subject/ female;* object paradigm. - i v -Table of Contents Page In troduc t ion 1 Chapter I : The D e f i n i t i o n of \"Woman\" i n Male Discourse 8 Chapter I I : A l t e r n a t i v e Approaches to Language: The \"Other\" as Non-Object 3 ^ Chapter I I I : Women Speak: \"Feminine\" Discourse i n the Text 59 Chapter IV: Return to Guadeloupe 80 Conclusion 97 Bib l iography 102 - V -A cknowledgements I would l i k e to thank Valerie Eaoul, Francoise Iqbal and Ralph Sarkonak whose teaching served to inspire and moti-vate my work. A special thanks goes to my thesis advisor Valerie Raoul f o r her invaluable support and encouragement over the• past few years. I would also l i k e to thank my mother, P a t r i c i a Williams, whose unerring f a i t h i n my a b i l i t i e s enabled me to complete t h i s project. - 1 -Introduction Ma mere l a venerait tant que j'en... etais venue a considerer Toussine, ma grandmere,\" comme un etre mythique, habitant a i l l e u r s que sur terre, s i bien que toute vivante e l l e e t a i t entree, pour moi, dans l a legende. Being a woman, l i v i n g yet mythical, a subversion of the Word, i n -sc r i b i n g herself i n history, t h i s i s the experience of Telumee Lougandor i n F l u i e i t vent sur Telumee Miracle by Simone Schwarz-Bart. The novel e l i c i t s a re-thinking of \"Language\" as a symbolic abstract order which excludes or o b j e c t i f i e s women. Pluie et vent describes an alternative relationship to representation, one based on the notion of correlation rather than that of difference. This relationship i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y \"feminine\" i n that i t mirrors precisely Carol G i l l i g a n ' s elucidation of female psychological de-velopment. Woman's development points toward a d i f f e r e n t history of human attach-ment, stressing continuity and change i n configuration, rather than replace-ment and separation.2 Whereas dominant patriarchal discourse isolates elements according to t h e i r difference, P l u i e -et vent',s \"feminine\" discourse affirms the interdependency of a l l aspects of existence such as Man, Nature and the subconscious. The t i t l e i t s e l f i s a synthesis of Natural, human, and mythic elements. I t introduces the novel's alternative order, an order - 2 -which proffers movement beyond abstract l i n e a r discourse as i t s central.component. The author weaves l i n g u i s t i c ' and st r u c t u r a l constructs together to produce a tapestry of Guadeloupian experience. \"Pluie et vent\" i l l u s t r a t e s the p l u r a l i t y of Nature as p u r i f i e r , nurturer, and destroyer. . . . E l i e venait a moi et nous plongions ensemble, tout h a b i l l e s , lachions nos craintes, nos jeunes apprehensions au fond du Bassin bleu. (7\"+) ...au long des ses derniers jours, grand -mere fa briquait-elle du vent pour gonfler mes v o i l e s , me per-mettre de reprendre mon voyage sur l'eau. (170) . . . l a porcelaine e t a i t en miettes, l e petrole enflamme se repandait sur les jambes de Meranee, sur ses epaules... Dans l a nuit s'echappa une torche vivante que l e vent du s o i r a t t i s a i t en hurlant. (2-+) As for \"Telumee\" the name's connotation i s threefold; \" t e l l u s \" (Latin for \"terre\" - \"terre nourriciere\"),\"thelus\" (Greek for \"the feminine\"), and \"telos\" (Greek, meaning \"destiny\" or \"ultimate end\"). \"Miracle\" i s the transforming agent, the speaking presence of the \"feminine\". Telumee as \"Miracle\" represents the transcendence of vi c t i m i z a t i o n . In the words of the author: j ' a i p r i s conscience de tout ce deferlement d'evenements qui menacaient de...denaturer (Telumee). C'etait comme un miracle qu'elle s o i t restee f i d e l e a elle-meme.^ As \"Miracle\" enigmatizes \"Telumee\" by endowing her with a mythic - 3 -q u a l i t y , so does \"Telumee\" demystify \"Miracle\" by transforming i t from common noun to proper name. The multifaceted s i g n i f i c a t i o n of each element i n the t i t l e i s an i n i t i a t i o n into the novel's prismatic structure. The opening l i n e of the novel establishes a l i n k between the Self and the environment which i s consistent throughout the novel (\"Le pays depend bien souvent du coeur de l'homme: i l est minuscule s i l e coeur est p e t i t , et immense s i l e coeur est grand\" ( l l ) ). The notion of \"pays\" here r e f l e c t s the concept of an inner r e a l i t y whose horizons expand according to the individual's f e e l i n g of i n -t r i n s i c self-worth. The \"coeur\" i s akin to an island, f o r although i t e x i s t s as an entity i n i t s e l f , i t i s also subject to malefic ex-ternal influences. Telumee's \"coeur\" must learn to bear the weight of outside forces i n the same way that Guadeloupe suffers climatic and socioxeconomic adversity (storms, drought, colonization). Man Gia, the sorceress, councils Telumee on how to proceed through l i f e by conjuring up the analogy of the drum to convey t h i s struggle be-tween inner and outer r e a l i t i e s . ...sois une v a i l l a n t e petite negresse, un v r a i tambour a. deux faces, l a i s s e l a v i e frapper, cogner, mais conserve toujours intacte l a face du dessous. (62) Telumee's coming into \"selfhood\" involves acceptance of both her inner r e a l i t y as a woman and the outer r e a l i t y of a l l that i s \"other\" to her. As producer and product of her text, she relates a myriad of re l a t i o n s with the external world. Her s u b j e c t i v i t y consists of the _ 4 -movement between inner and exterior forces rather than the demar-cation or separation of the s e l f from the \"other\". She i s l i k e her i s l a n d country, subject to the surrounding environment yet whole and centred within i t . Telumee therefore comes to stand f o r the point of interaction between what i s known or understood through the terms of Language, and what exists beyond the grasp of i n d i v i d u a l conscious-ness. Her conception of existence e f f e c t i v e l y dissolves the h i e r a r c h i -c a l l y determined boundaries i n d i c a t i v e of l i n e a r patriarchal discourse. The c i r c u l a r i t y of Guadeloupe's coast s p a t i a l l y echos the novel's theme of constant regeneration. This echo i s taken up at a s t r u c t u r a l l e v e l , i n the narrative, f o r the terminus of Telumee's journey i s also her point of departure (\"debout, dans mon p e t i t j a r d i n \" ) . Time i s equally c y c l i c a l as i t s passing i s marked by seasons, events, and r i t u a l s which are re-enacted from generation to generation. In view of t h i s the r i v e r i s adopted as a primary metaphor for. human existence in the text. Toutes ies r i v i e r e s , memes les plus eclatantes, c e l l e s qui prennent l e s o l e i l dans leur courant, toutes l e s r i v i e r e s descendent dans l a mer et se noient. On peut prendre meandre sur ifteandre, tourner, con-tourner, s'insinuer dans l a terre, vos meandres vous appartiennent mais l a vie est l a , patiente, sans commencement et sans f i n , a vous attendre, p a r e i l l e a 1'ocean. (8l) This metaphor minimizes the abstract quality of time by emphasizing movement, f l u i d i t y , and regeneration (\"sans commencement et sans f i n \" ) . - 5 -Time becomes an element r e l a t i v e to the s e l f , fused with the cadence of c o l l e c t i v e development, not a l i e n to i t . The aim of t h i s study w i l l be to examine the relationship be-tween language use and id e n t i t y i n the novel. The f i r s t chapter w i l l undertake an analysis of women's \" o b j e c t i v i t y \" i n t r a d i t i o n a l male discourse. Lacanian psychoanalytical theory w i l l be drawn upon i n order to establish the mechanism by which women are i n i t i a l l y excluded from a role as subject i n the symbolic order. Various \"feminist\" perspectives w i l l be evoked to i l l u s t r a t e how women's i n i t i a l a l i e n -ation i s perpetuated through the terms of patriarchal discourse. The second chapter - proceeds to an examination of the various modes of discourse available to the male subject i n the text. Having set up a prototype f o r women's oppression i n male discourse, t h i s p osition w i l l be juxtaposed to that of the Black i n the dominant White discourse. This second stage of the analysis i s related to the theories of both C a r l Jung and Ka r l Stein. The t h i r d chapter of the thesis w i l l focus upon alternative \"feminine\" approaches to existence. Telumee's voice here w i l l be seen as a s i g n i f i e r to Toussine's experience (that which i s s i g n i f i e d ) . Toussine succeeds i n d i r e c t l y transmitting her experience to her granddaughter through a form of modelling which merges the physical (body language) with the symbolic (abstract discourse). Thus Telumee's narrative w i l l indicate a di f f e r e n t mode of existence, f o r her world i s defined by \"speaking experience\", a concept which - 6 -dissolves the t r a d i t i o n a l dichotomy of the ra t i o n a l , .over .the s p i r i t u a l by stressing the interdependency of these constructs. As the f i r s t three chapters w i l l favor a western \"feminist\" bias, the fourth and f i n a l chapter w i l l examine the work's A n t i l l e a n roots by dealing with P l u i e et vent as a contexture of Guadeloupian experience. Simone Schwarz-Bart's s t y l e i s mimetic as i t reproduces the \"feminine\". Plui e et vent transcends both genre and discourse-in i t s t r a n s c r i p t i o n of the Guadeloupian oral t r a d i t i o n i n a creolized French. Schwarz-Bart imbues her imagery with the sensuality of Guadeloupe, a sensuality which diffuses the abstract, and liberate s the \"object\" (women, Blacks). Once freed, the oppressed may re-appro-priate t h e i r c u l t u r a l i d e n t i t y through the intermediary of A n t i l l e a n myth. - 7 -Footnotes - Introduction 1. Schwartz-Bart, Simone. P l u i e et vent sur Telumee Miracle, (Paris: Editions du S e u i l , 1972). p. 11. A l l further references to the novel w i l l \"be i n the text. Subsequent references to the t i t l e w i l l be i n the shortened form of Pluie et vent. 2. Carol G i l l i g a n . In a Different Voice, (Cambridge, Mass •„ Harvard University Press, 1982), p. -+8. 3. Jean Bernabe. \"Contribution a 1'etude de l a di'glossie l i t t e r a i r e I I . Le cas de Pluie et vent sur Telumee Miracle,''in Textes et Etudes Documents, No. 2, (1979), P. HO. Heliane et Roger Tournson. \"Interview avec Simone et Andre Schwarz-Bart sur les pas de Fanot^te\", i n Textes et Etudes Documents, No. 2, (1979), P. 15. - 8 -CHAPTER I The D e f i n i t i o n of \"Woman\" i n Male Discourse - 9 -So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the f i e l d and every b i r d of the a i r , and brought them t o the man t o see what he would c a l l them; and what-ever the man c a l l e d every l i v i n g c r e a t u r e , t h a t was i t s name. Genesis — A u t r e f o i s , d i t - e l l e , un n i d de fourmis mordantes a v a i t peuple l a t e r r e e t v o i l a , e l l e s s ' e t a i e n t elles-memes appelees hommesj,.. pas p l u s que ca... ( 6 l ) Toutes ces femmes q u i se perdaient avant 1'heure... on c h e r c h a i t en v a i n l e nom, l e v r a i nom q u ' e l l e s avaient merite de p o r t e r , sur l a t e r r e . . . (82) The accession of the subject t o language, the symbolic order of communication, guarantees h i s dominion, through \"naming\", over a l l t h a t i s \"other\". Then the man s a i d , \"This a t l a s t i s bone of my bones and ! f lesh. of the f l e s h ; she s h a l l be c a l l e d Woman, because she was taken out of Man.\" Woman's p r i m o r d i a l e x c l u s i o n as a naming \"subj e c t \" i n Language has the consequence of r e l e g a t i n g her t o a r o l e of \"object\", or t h a t from which the subj e c t i s separate. She becomes, i n f a c t , the very reason f o r the sub j e c t ' s existence i n the symbolic order, being assigned t o the necessary place of \"absense\",rfrom which man e s t a b l i s h e s h i s presence : - 10 -The...cause of desire and support of male fantasy; gets transposed onto the image of the woman as Other...The absolute \"Otherness' of the woman, therefore, serves to secure f o r the „ man his own self-knowledge and truth. The symbolic encoding of experience has h i s t o r i c a l l y been the domain of men, given that woman was i n i t i a l l y absent from language as subject, and subsequently \"excluded from the production of c u l t u r a l forms.\" Therefore, the construct woman , with i t s d i r e c t r e l a t i o n to that of \" f e m i n i n i t y , may actually be a mis-representation of authentic 'female' experience. (femininity -or being \"effeminate\") has nothing to do with the r e a l i t y of l i v i n g women, but with an awareness on the part of males of an inherent weakness i n them-selves which they name \"femininity\" or \"effeminacy\" or \"woman\" - and which they attempt to exorcise by projecting i t upon r e a l l y existent women as well as the women of t h e i r fantasies.- 5 The r e l a t i o n s h i p ' between the concepts \"man\" and \"woman\" becomes > one of privil e g e d \" S i g n i f i e r \" i n \"man\" (a term which denotes a presence) over a dislocated \" S i g n i f i e r \" \"woman\" (a term which desig-nates an absence). Turning to Ju l i e t i ' Mitchell's \"Psychoanalysis: A Humanist Humanity or a L i n g u i s t i c Science\", i t i s evident from a lacanian psychoanalytical point of view, that the \"wholeness\" or unity of the subject himself i s but a f i c t i o n . This ego i s not centred i n i t s e l f . . . i t i s formed i n alienation. The small human infant forms i t s ego i n an i d e n t i f i c a t i o n with an other (person) - 11 -who i s a whole object. I t i s thus i n i t s very formation other than i t s e l f and i s constantly being g threatened by i t s own otherness. Therefore, the subject's position i n language i s assured solely through the mechanisms of a r i g i d s o c i a l structure which p o s i t i v e l y defines h i s role according to the negativity of the \"feminine\". ..,we...divide on the basis of g e n i t a l i a , we...construct only two sexes, we doiinsist on. a whole range of gender determined behaviors. And we do a l l t h i s f o r a purpose. By arranging the objects and events of the world according to these rules we set up the rationale, and „ the vindication, f o r male supremacy. I t i s impossible to locate the cause or origins of Patriarchy g as we know i t . Adrienne Rich and Mary Daly posit both b i o l o g i c a l and psychic \"barrenness\" i n the male, r e s u l t i n g i n an absolute desire to control through the agency of c u l t u r a l structures. (This i s evident i n the obvious b i o l o g i c a l reversal apparent i n the b i b l i c a l rendition of the creation of man, where man usurps the position of creator and \"gives b i r t h \" to woman). Just as language comes to a r t i c u l a t e \"desire\" f o r an o r i g i n a l object, which, according to Lacan, has previously been \" l o s t \" to the c h i l d , i t also assures a more complex a r t i c u l a t i o n of control over that which the subject cannot e f f e c t i v e l y \"know\" (feminine sexuality, proof of paternity).'* In the novel Plui e et vent, the subject's r e l a t i o n to language i s rendered even more problematic. The post-slavery society of Guadeloupe lends i t s e l f to the establishment of a unique - 12 -symbolic order i n which the generally privileged term \"man\" must further locate himself within a positive (White) or negative (Black) category depending upon his colour. The Negro, i n t h i s instance, suffers an alie n a t i o n not d i s s i m i l a r to that f e l t by woman, as the symbolic r e g i s t e r f a i l s to encode his experience. Consider the following incident, where Amboise i s made aware of his non-existence or o b j e c t i v i t y i n the eyes of the dominant group (here the Whites i n P a r i s ) : Des q u ' i l s o r t a i t de cet hotel, i l l u i semblait traverser des li e u x peuples d'esprits malins, etrangers a sa chair et a son sang et qui l e regardaient passer avec l a plus parfaite indifference, comme s ' i l n ' e x i s t a i t pas a leurs yeux. (p .2 l6) This negation of h3>seexistence as \"subject\" i s akin to the o b j e c t i -f i c a t i o n of women i n pat r i a r c h a l language. As P h y l l i s Ghesler states: \"there i s some theoretical j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r viewing women, or the sex-caste system, as the prototype f o r a l l subsequent class and race s l a v e r y . \" 1 0 Such \" o b j e c t i v i t y \" where the male Negro i s concerned extends to the economic sphere, just as i t does with women. The evidence f o r t h i s i s the f a c t that the Negro i s able to earn a l i v i n g \"on show\", i n much the same way as are women i n professions such as stripping, modelling or prostit u t i o n : . . . i l y en avait un qui gagnait sa vie a f a i r e carrement l e negre, dans une cage, s'agitant comme un derate et poussant des c r i s et c'etait ce que ces blancs-la, aimaient v o i r . , i . (p.215) - 13 -The exterior i n v i s i b i l i t y of the Negro to the White indicates then, a r e j e c t i o n of hi s s u b j e c t i v i t y . The \"appearance\" of the Negro here corresponds to the \"appearance\" of \"Woman\" i n that they are both manifestations of an \"otherness\" to the perceiving subject. A l l attempts on the part of Amboise to integrate himself as a c o n t r o l l i n g subject into white Parisian society are destined to f a i l u r e . Slavery's residual c u l t u r a l impact,in conjunction with the absence of a symbolic encoding of Amboise's experience i n the cu l t u r a l realm, produces a powerful f e e l i n g of alienation. As a res u l t of the i n s t i t u t i o n of slavery, the Negro had become \"other\" even to himself. I I d i s a i t que des mains ennemies s'etaient emparees de notre ame et l'avaient modelee a f i n qu'elle se dresse contre elle-meme. (219) Amboise's grandmother's a r t i c u l a t i o n of the well-learned words of the White masters demonstrates the Negro's complicity i n the con-struction of t h e i r c u l t u r a l i n f e r i o r i t y ; \" l e negre est une reserve de peches dans l e monde, l a creature meme du diable\" (215). Her perception p a r a l l e l s the phenomenon of which Mary. Daly speaks i n her analysis of patriarchal indoctrination. The Myth Masters are able to penetrate t h e i r victims'sminds/imaginations only by seeing to i t that t h e i r deceptive myths are acted out over and over again i n performances that draw the p a r t i c i -pants into emotional complicity... In giving the myth r e a l i t y by acting i t out, the participants become re-producers and \" l i v i n g proof\" of the deceptive myths.\"'\"\"'\" - 1 4 -Although s lavery had \"been abo l i shed , the i n t e r n a l i z a t i o n of i t s i d e o l o g i c a l in f luences continued to d i s r u p t the conventional s u b j e c t / object r e l a t i o n found i n P a t r i a r c h y . The s l ave ' s a l i e n a t i o n as worker was not e a s i l y erad ica ted , as the means of product ion stayed 12 i n the hands of the Whiite c o l o n i a l s . The Negro male remained cut o f f from any d i r e c t c o n t r o l i n the socio-economic order , the con-t r o l which a p a t r i a r c h a l ideology by r i g h t s ought to guarantee him. The moment of d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n between the s i t u a t i o n of the male Negro and that of woman i n general comes with the i n s e r t i o n of the former as \"subject\" w i t h in h i s own Non-White d i s course , where the male/female h ierarchy once more dominates. Quand i l r e v i n t a l a Guadeloupe, i l a s p i r a i t seulement a a l l e r pieds nus au s o l e i l , a prononcer l e s paroles d ' a u t r e f o i s , dans l e s rues de l a P o i n t e - a - P i . t r e . . . et puis de se plonger dans l ' e a u profonde des femmes d ' i c i . . . (2l6) (i Here i s evidence that the inherent \"subjecthood\" of a man i n P a t r i a r c h y goes beyond ethno-geographic boundaries and assures , at some p o i n t , h i s p o s i t i o n as the p r i v i l e g e d S i g n i f i e r i n h i s own s p e c i f i c economy. I t i s w i th in t h i s spectrum of pos t - s lavery Guadeloupe that Telumee's r e l a t i o n s h i p with E l i e , her f i r s t \"love\", comes i n t o being. T h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p s i g n a l s her i n i t i a l i d e n t i f i c a t i o n with the S i g -n i f i e r \"Woman\". The t r a d i t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p e s tab l i shed between E l i e / s u b j e c t and Telumee/object can be taken as a paradigm f o r the - 15 -male/female dichotomy which permeates patriarchal ideology. At the outset of t h e i r courtship Telumee i s grounded i n a non-reciprocal a l l i a n c e with the privileged term \"man\". I I r i a i t tout seul, et, au premier regard q u ' i l me jeta-j'e demeurai inerte, s a i s i e d'une curio s i t e etrange...(69) She i s frozen or r e i f i e d by his \"regard\". Here E l i e appears as having the power to perceive and define, and i s thus assured of the control allocated to him through the convention of Language. Telumee, for her part, must assume the place of \"absence\" (object) i n order that E l i e e x i s t as subject. As t h e i r relationship progresses E l i e w i l l attempt to provide Telumee with a secondary form of \"existence\", one dependent on his observation and approval. I t becomes evident i n the developing stages of t h e i r r e l a t i o n -ship that E l i e and Telumee are operating from c o n f l i c t i n g perspectives. The discrepancy between t h e i r respective visions i s confirmed by the following passages: (Telumee) ...je me sentais envahie par l a pensee qu'une petite chose e t a i t sur l a terre, de l a meme grandeur que moi, qui m'aimait et c'etait comme s i nous etions s o r t i s du meme ventre, en meme temps. (7-+) (Elie) ...( j ! ; poussait toujours devant lui'le^meme reve, dont je f a i s a i s partie... ( 7-+) Telumee here a r t i c u l a t e s andidentification with E l i e that i s based upon empathy. Her perspective would therefore allow f o r r e c i p r o c i t y - 16 -i n the relationship. E l i e ' s view, on the other hand, bespeaks a need f o r autonomous control. His v i s i o n contains a s t a t i c representation of his i d e a l l i f e , a l i f e where the acquisition of material possessions i s synonomous with success. -Tu verras, d i s a i t - i l , tu verras plus v^tard, quel beau cabriolet nous aurons, et nous serons h a b i l l e s en consequence, moi en costume a jabot, t o i , en robe de brocart a, c o l chale; et nul ne nous reconnaitra... (7-+) E l i e seems incapable of making what Evelyn Fox K e l l e r describes as the \"(move) from the egocentricity of a self-dominated contiguous world to the recognition of a world outside and independent of him/ herself: a world i n which objects can take on a \" l i f e \" of t h e i r own.\"13 These two divergent approaches follow closely the patterns attributed to \"female\" and \"male\" moral development which Carol G i l l i g a n describes i n her book In a Different Voice. From the di f f e r e n t dynamics of separation and attachment i n t h e i r gender i d e n t i t y formation through the divergence of iden-t i t y and intimacy that marks th e i r experience i n the adolescent years, male and female voices t y p i c a l l y speak of the importance of d i f f e r e n t truths, the former of the r o l e of separation as i t defines and empowers the s e l f , the l a t t e r of the ongoing process of attachment that creates and sustains the human community Examples of E l i e ' s \"masculine\" perception abound i n the text, and - 17 -these, coupled with his natural empowerment (as male subject) through the terms of Language i t s e l f , enable him to project his conception of t h e i r common future onto Telumee's consciousness. I I r i a i t encore, m'entourait, me cernait, me h u i l a i t de mi l l e paroles, m'inventait des robes bleues, rouges, vertes, et pour f i n i r d i s a i t que je me trouvais devant l u i comme un arc-en-ciel...,. (84) The ease with which Telumee accepts t h i s p a r t i c u l a r mode of imparting a dominant view can be attributed to the fact that i t concurs with the reigning \"Doxa\". ...ce f u t tout comme s i e l l e s (laveuses) avaient toujours su, en leur cervelle, que ma destinee e t a i t de vivre sur une branche, a Fond-Zombi, sous l ' a i l e d'Elie. (126) The house E l i e builds, however, becomes a prison i n which to hold his image of Telumee rather than a shelter. Telumee's self-image afterusheosettsi*uphh\"duse with E l i e betrays the fixedness of her l i f e as E l i e ' s \"Woman\". ...je me sentais...comme s i j ' e t a i s deja toute preservee, poudree, exposee heureuse sur mon l i t de mort. (1-+1) E l i e wants to confine \"his\" Telumee, f o r she i s a construct of his perception and projection which i s necessarily i n danger of sl i p p i n g away. E l i e represents the archetypical \"male\" i n patriarchal - 18 -society. His perception i s based on a process of \" o b j e c t i f i c a t i o n \" , a process t r a d i t i o n a l l y associated with the male. ... i t i s primarily the father (or the father figure) toward whom the c h i l d turns f o r protection from...the anxieties and fears of disintegration of a s t i l l very f r a g i l e ego. I t i s the father who comes to stand f o r individuation and d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n f o r objective r e a l i t y itself...-'-•5 The danger of such unquestioned b e l i e f i n a dichotomized world i s parabolized by Reine Sans Nom i n her recounting of \"L'Homme qui voulait vivre a. 1'odeur\". The story's t i t l e i s indicative of the insular perspective held by the main character. Plus i l observait l e s hommes, plus i l l e s trouvait pervers et l a mechancete q u ' i l , voyait en eux l'empechait d'admirer quoi que ce fu t . (77) Here i s a man who refuses to embrace the t o t a l i t y of existence. Wvabor's f i x e d delineation of boundaries between s e l f and other has the effect of cutting him off from any \"communion\" with his surroundings. I I v i t des contrees que l ' o e i l humain n'a jamais contempiees, des etangs couverts de fl e u r s rares, mais i l pensait a l'homme et a. son mal et r i e n ne l e charmait. (78) Wvabor gives p r i o r i t y to h i s mare, \"Mes Deux Yeux\", a female object representing ..his own v i s i o n . . His ultimate b e l i e f i n the d e f i n i t i o n he has fabricated causes an irrevocable rupture between his s e l f and - 19 -•the environment, a consequence which precludes any relationship with a \" r e a l \" woman having her own v i s i o n . . . . i l apergut une femme aux yeux sereins, l'aima, tenta alors de mettre pied a terre , mais i l e t a i t trop tard. La jument se mit a brair e , a ruer et prenant l a cavalcade, l'entraina a i l l e u r s , bien l o i n de l a femme...La bete e t a i t devenue son maitre. (78) The moral Reine Sans Nom draws from the story i s the following: ...derriere une peine i l y a une autre peine, l a misere est une vague sans f i n , mais l e cheval ne doit pas te conduire, c'est t o i qui dois conduire l e cheval. (79) \"Le cheval\" i s representative of forces both natural and ideological to which the i n d i v i d u a l i s subject. I t i s aysymbol of a l l that man cannot know or control. What Reine Sans Nom i s advocating i s a f l e x i b i l i t y of perspective which w i l l enable an in d i v i d u a l to recog-nize the independent r e a l i t y of the \"other\". E l i e , however, becomes a victim of his excessive need to delineate between s e l f and other. This need translates i t s e l f into physical violence against Telumee. -Tu te crois toujours petite f i l l e au Bassin bleu, mais s i tu ne l e sais pas, je t'apprends que t u es une grande femme aux seins lourds sous ta robe...et bientot je te ferr' connaitre ce que s i g n i f i e l e mot femme sur l a terre et tu te rouleras et tu cri e r a s , comme une femme roule et c r i e quand on l a manie bien...Tu essayes de me fuir...mais t u n'eviteras pas l'homme que je suis... (158) - 20 -The violence i n t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p places Telumee i n an impossible s i t u a t i o n ; she i s forced e i t h e r to come to terms with her symbolic exclusion from the p a t r i a r c h a l order which E l i e perpetuates, or l i t e r a l l y to face t o t a l a n n i h i l a t i o n at i t s hands, A cl o s e r look at the text w i l l provide an ana l y s i s of Telumee's v i c t i m i z a t i o n as \"Woman\". As has already been mentioned, i n the h i e r a r c h i c a l ordering of Patriarchy the \"feminine\" category i s viewed as subservient to the \"masculine\". This i n i t i a l d i v i s i o n of humanity in t o two d i s t i n c t groups r e f l e c t s a p o s i t i o n of b i o l o g i c a l reductionism. Yet, as man i s d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e from the natural order p r e c i s e l y through c u l t u r a l and s o c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s , the b i o l o g i c a l d e f i n i t i o n s of \"male\" and \"female\" ought no longer to s u f f i c e . However, rather than going beyond t h i s d u a l i s t i c approach, the abstract symbolic order serves to uphold and promote i t , i n favor of the male. E l i e ' s r e f e r r a l to woman's destiny as being d i c t a t e d by her \"ventre\" confirms the ove r r i d i n g preponderance of the b i o l o g i c a l i n male discourse. -( -L'homme a l a force, l a femme l a ruse, mais e l l e a beau ruser son ventre est la, pour l a t r a h i r et c' est son pr e c i p i c e . ( ? l ) The p h y s i c a l aspect of female sex u a l i t y (-.ventre\") i s i n e x t r i c a b l y bound up with the c u l t u r a l notion of \"femininity\" i n Language; they both represent aspects of existence \"other\" than those known experi-e n t i a l l y to man. In t h i s instance, \"feminine\"sexuality\" can be taken - 21 -to stand f o r that which the male sees i n the place of the woman, ( i . e . her physical appearance) La femme apprend au cours de son enfance a. se se r v i r de son EXTERIEUR pour s i g n i f i e r son sexe INTERIEUR... e l l e f a i t appel continuellement au regard de 1 'autre pour repondre de son identite sexuelle . 1 6 \"Feminine sexuality\" therefore can be considered a construct which i s divorced from any i n t e r i o r r e a l i t y s p e c i f i c to a woman. The t o t a l abstraction of the concept of \"Woman\" re s u l t s i n the equating of her sexuality to a mystery of \"The Mystery\" f o r man. Not only does i t stand f o r the necessary \"lack\" i n order that he defines, himself as aipresence, but as i t occurs within the d u a l i s t i c economy of male discourse ( i . e . subject/object, good/evil, dark/light etc.) i t further must incorporate the b i - p o l a r i t y of \"purity\" (the virgin) and \"impurity\" (the whore). The Bible re-inforces t h i s l i m i t e d duality i n the construct \"Woman\", f i r s t with Eve (the bearer of o r i g i n a l s i n - the \"knowledge\" of the flesh) and then with the Vi r g i n Mary (the purity of the Immaculate Conception). Pere Abel acts as E l i e ' s prime model f o r h i s emotional development. Being deprived of the actual physical presence of a mother, he has no experience of r e a l i t y \"other\" than the masculine. His struggle f o r autonomy from the \"Mother\", there-fore, i s deferred or repressed, coming to the foreground only when he establishes a relationship with the \"feminine\" through Telumee. E l i e ' s ignorance of the \"feminine\" augments his anxieties of reengulfment by t h i s representation of - 21a -LEAF 22 MISSED IN NUMBERING. - 23 -\"Mother\". To him, the external or o b j e c t i f i e d world appears as a dangerous \"foret\" i n which he r i s k s l o s i n g himself. This image was passed on to him by the Father. .. .parf ois l e pere Abel lui-meme me cfaitA> , l ' e f f e t d'un enfant abandonne sur l a terre. Certains s o i r s y i l se met a hurler dans son l i t : est-ce que je sors du ventre d'une femme humaine?...et puis i l se penche vers moi, me prend dans ses bras et chuchote: helas, ou a l l e r pour crier?...c'est toujours l a meme foret , toujours aussi epaisse.,.alors mon f i l s , ecarte l e s branches comme tu peux, v o i l a . (72) Elie&s fear of reengulfment recurs whenever the p o s s i b i l i t y of a sexual encounter between him and Telumee i s imminent. Nous nous etions baignes ensemble, et l e s o l e i l buvait l'humidite sur nous, tandis que nous reposions sur une immense roche plate, toute brulante, au beau milieu de l a riviere...Me tournant vers E l i e , je l u i v i s 1 'expression hagarde q u ' i l avait sous l e flamboyant de l'ecole, parlant de son pere, de l a f o r e t , de l a vie aux mil l e traces, et de ses craintes de s'egarer.....j/J'ai pense a me coucher l a , sur les galets, a f i n qu'Elie me recouvree de tout son corps... (pp.85-86) Tout en badinant de l a sorte, E l i e se rapprochait et comme i l venait a ma hauteur, me s e r r a i t contre l u i , je me souvins d'avoir deja vu cette loieur c r a i n t i v e dans ses yeux, autrefois, sous l e flamboyant de l'ecole, tandis q u ' i l me p a r l a i t de foret en fr i c h e et de traces qui risquaient de se perdre, un jour... (117) Thus, f o r E l i e , \"feminine sexuality\" appears as.a manifestation of - Zh -h i s anxieties concerning the bl u r r i n g of boundaries between s e l f and other. Since the mystery of \"feminine sexuality\" i s perceived and defined by the male subject i n the text, from Telumee's point of view, her actual r o l e i n E l i e ' s downfall eludes her. She enters 1? t h e i r commonlaw relationship certain that i t i s her destiny. Le lendemain, ge m'eveillai avec 1 'impression de suivre ma destinee de negresse, de ne plus etre etrangere sur l a ter r e . (125) The ephemeral nature of her position i s revealed to her at the moment when E l i e succumbs to L a e t i t i a . During E l i e ' s prosperity, Telumee may have appeared to him as the incarnation of \"Woman\" (with an em-phasis on \"purity\" associated with the role of wife), but i n his subsequent state of moral corruption, he i s l o g i c a l l y seduced by the opposite pole'of the feminine mystique, L a e t i t i a the \"whore\". The l i n k between Nature and the \"feminine\" i n the text (\"la foret\" as metaphor f o r \"feminine sexuality\") i s further substantiated by the fact that adversity i n Nature acts as the catalyst f o r E l i e ' s r u i n . The eruption of forces beyond man's control generates a fe e l i n g of anxiety p a r a l l e l to that which he experiences during ex-pulsion from the mother's womb. In the novel, E l i e suffers fear and helplessness when confronted with a force that escapes the bounds of his control. Any a l l u s i o n to woman as the o r i g i n a l creator of man dislodges the subject from the place of self-possession, the position from which he says \" I \" . Woman as mother pre-existed the \" I \" of the - 25 -male subject; he issued from her, and as such, remained passive i n his own construction. I t i s here that the desire to secure a set of laws which w i l l guarantee a subjective control f o r the male appears to be based on a f a l l a c y , or the r e j e c t i o n of a previously apparent truth (the dominance or even the existence of the \"(M)other\"). The eruption of Nature i n the text engenders the anxiety-related to the loss of s e l f which i t i s the symbolic order's r o l e to suppress. ...cette f o i s tout semblait autre, c'etait l e debut de l a saison et les hommes paraissaient deja a bout de f or'ces...\" l a disgrace de Fond-Zombi cbmmenga par un hivernage qui s u r p r i t tout l e monde...Et l e careme survint, torride,stupefiant, etouffant pores et devastant poulaillers.,.,. (1-+4) E l i e ' s actual powerlessness as an in d i v i d u a l subject i s now revealed to him: he has veritably l o s t his way i n the metaphorical \"foret\" of feminine sexuality. E l i e semblait trouver que l e s o l e i l avait t e r n i , perdu de s o n eclat, et et l ' o n voyait dans s o n regard que cet homme ne c o n n a i t r a i t pas l'emer-veillement de s i tot. (l44) Turning i n despair from one li m i t e d representation of \"Woman\" (Telumee) E l i e now retreats to i t s l o g i c a l opposite i n L a e t i t i a . L a e t i t i a w i l l incarnate \"Significance\" f o r E l i e i n her manifest sensuality and ultimate inner complicity with the patriarchal order. 'When she approaches Telumee. \\ L a e t i t i a operates at the l e v e l of - 26 -sexuality as the incarnation of e v i l , as i s evident i n the following \"Garden of Eden\" scene:. Le sous-bois de 1 'Autre Bord me p l a i s a i t particulierement, a cause de ses palmiers entre lesquels croissaient des bananiers sauvages et des Cannes congo. L'endroit me m y s t i f i a i t un peu, comme s i , en un temps revolu et l o i n t a i n , l'avaient habite des hommes capables de se r e j o u i r des r i v i e r e s , des arbres et du c i e l . . . E l i e ( L a e t i t i a ) longeait l a r i v e de sa demarche trainante et souveraine, glissant sur l a terre et les pierres et les f e u i l l e s comme une couleuvre en vadrouille. (136) L a e t i t i a ' s success i n d i v e r t i n g E l i e i s guaranteed by her own com-p l i c i t y with the dominant ideology. She adheres to the prevalent notion that women must make use of t h e i r exterior i n order to s i g -n i f y t h e i r i n t e r i o r . L a e t i t i a ' s childhood \"motherlessness\" (akin to that of E l i e ) has l e f t her defenseless against the influences of patriarchal ideology. L a e t i t i a , e l i e , a l l a i t d'une case a 1 'autre, attrapant une leche de morue, une tranche de f r u i t a pain, un f r u i t , une miette de viande, car tout l e v i l l a g e e t a i t sa maman. (68) Without a strong maternal bond from which to derive a centred s e l f , L a e t i t i a accepts the role assigned to her i n the d u a l i s t i c economy of patriarchal discourse. Her be l i e f i n her own \" o b j e c t i v i t y \" e f f e c t i v e l y confines her to a ro l e of fi x e d or \"dead\" construct. L a e t i t i a has understood that the only place f o r a woman on earth i s i n the cemetery, because she must s a c r i f i c e her own i n t e r i o r or - 2? -inner r e a l i t y i n order to c i r c u l a t e within the s o c i a l order of a patri a r c h a l system. - P e t i t e f l e u r de coco, d i t - e l i e ( L a e t i t i a ) , navree, en quel pays l e s cloches ont-e l l e s sonne pour t o i ? . . . t a case, mais quelle casefe'... tu n' es pas plus i c i chez t o i qu'ailleurs, et ne l e savais-tu pas, deja, que l a seule place d'une negresse sur l a terre est au cime-t i e r e ? . . . (165) Telumee's inevitable f a i l u r e to correspond to E l i e ' s v i s i o n of her assures her defeat and subsequent \"death\" as \"Woman\" i n the text. She cannot support the l i m i t e d d e f i n i t i o n assigned to her i n male discourse. Telumee's bonding with her grandmother, Reine Sans Nom, has provided her with a strong self-image which;, w i l l \" resus-c i t a t e her af t e r each l i f e c r i s i s . An additional factor which i n h i b i t s Telumee's co l l u s i o n with the r o l e of \"Woman\" i n male discourse i s her sustained state of 19 \"childlessness\". Her mother, V i c t o i r e , was obliged to accept a man i n order to provide f o r her two children. ...apres t o i , Regina, j ' a i accepte l'homme Angebert sur mon plancher, mais c'etait seulement du pain que je cherchais; et t u l e vois, j ' a i recolte viande sur viande, Telumee d'abord, puis c e l u i - c i . . . (33) Telumee may r e s i s t t h i s mode of \"exchange\" (man f o r \"pain\") as she remains unencumbered by supplementary mouths to feed. She i s sym-b o l i c a l l y i n i t i a t e d into the system where women are seen to possess an \"exchange value\". In the pa t r i a r c h a l economy, woman's sexuality, - 28 -s p e c i f i c a l l y her a b i l i t y to reproduce, comes under the heading of \"goods\" to be bought by the male. However, Telumee's f a i l u r e to reproduce what Sharon W i l l i s c a l l s the \"phallus c a p i t a l \" grants her 20 economic independence on a concrete/physical l e v e l . This i n turn w i l l allow her a certain maneuverability v i s - a - v i s the symbolic system. The attempt to imprison Telumee i n the role of sexual \"truck\" begins with an i n i t i a t i o n into the symbolic system of exchange i n pere Abel's boutique. Pere Abel attempts, verbally, to construct a v i s i o n f o r Telumee of herself as \"passive receptacle\". -Es-tu patiente, p e t i t e , demandait-il non sans malice...car avant tout, une femme doit etre patiente, c'est 5 a . -Et qu'est-ce que l'homme doit etre, avant tout? -Avant tout, r e p o n d a i t - i l , un peu fanfaron, un homme ne doit avoir: .. . peur n i de viv r e , n i de mourir\". (73) This rape i n the symbolic r e g i s t e r (the act of establishing the passivity of the woman i n opposition to the active male l i b i d o ) i s quickly followed by the exchange of a material g i f t . Et v i t e , i l prenait dans l e bocal une boule de menthe, me l a tendait en souriant: que ce p e t i t gout de menthe te fasse oublier mes paroles, cartouches vides dans un f u s i l r o u i l l e . . . (73) Just as i n Freud's case of Dora, where sexual favors were assured through material exchanges, i n t h i s p a r a l l e l instance, pere Abel manoeuvres to inser t Telumee into the system of exchange legitimized - 29 -by Patriarchy. We know that one of the clues prompting Dora's recognition of her father's relationship with Frau K. i s his i n -creased generosity towards herself and her mother, i n an e f f o r t to conceal the motives behind his making expensive presents to Frau K . ^ l Abel offers Telumee a \" g i f t \" i n exchange f o r her acceptance of his perception of feminine sexuality. In t h i s way, man looks to women f i r s t to store \" h i s \" c a p i t a l ( r e c e p t i v i t y i n the sexual act) and eventually to reproduce i t (by giving b i r t h ) . Following Freud's interpretation that the jewel-case i s a metaphor for the female genitals, women are receptacles which c o l l e c t and store the father's jewels, i n which his c a p i t a l accrues and repro-duces i t s e l f . The i n i t i a t i o n of Telumee i s interrupted at the physical l e v e l , however, when she stays \" c h i l d l e s s \" . Despite the fact that pere Abel has defined her sexuality i n r e l a t i o n to man's \"desire\", her f a i l u r e to reproduce b i o l o g i c a l l y precludes any complete act u a l i z a t i o n of the role'oft Woman\" i n the socio-economic f i e l d . A woman without a b i o l o g i c a l reproductive function, there-fore, i s a m i s f i t i n a 'patriarchal economy, for she refuses to c i r -culate according to i t s rule s . No.ttonly w i l l she disrupt the economic system i n p r a c t i c a l terms, she also causes a disturbance i n the symbolic order, f o r she exists i n an \"unnamable\" state. As Adrienne Richestates: - 30 -We have no f a m i l i a r , ready-made name fo r a woman who defines herself, by choice, neither i n r e l a t i o n to children nor to men. 23 V i c t o i r e ' s production of the \"phallus/capitalV e f f e c t i v e l y grounds her i n a male discourse. Telumee, however, must take up an a l t e r -nate position outside the regular \"order\", f o r although she has been shown her place i n the exchange economy, her \"barrenness\" prohibits her from taking i t up. Telumee sets out f i r s t on the road of traditionalism'' the ide a l i z e d male/female relationship appears as the means by which a woman re a l i z e s her place on earth. However, being unable to sustain the voyage through l i f e as an o b j e c t i f i e d male construct, she en-counters r e j e c t i o n by her supposed savior, E l i e (God-'-& prophet), and as a r e s u l t she soon finds herself r a d i c a l l y displaced from the e x i s t i n g dominant order. Je n'ai pas l e souvenir des jours qui suivirent...Je r e s t a i l a plusieurs semaines, sans bouger, ne distinguant meme plus l e jour d'avec l a nuit...Lorsqu^on me p a r l a i t je r e s t a i s muette, et l'pn d i s a i t que l a parole m'etait u devenue l a chose l a plus etrangere du monde du monde. ( l 6 6 ) Af t e r her f a l l from patriarchal grace, Telumee w i l l be reborn: she w i l l assume an alternative perspective with regard to language. Her new position w i l l be one which understands Language as ansystem of r e l a t i v e s , rather than of dichotomies. Through an understanding of - 31 -existence as a non-hierarchical intermingling of the \"abstract\" and the \" r e a l \" (or the \"other\" and the \" s e l f \" ) , Telumee w i l l be able to see herself other than according to the dictates of patriarchal ideology. She w i l l achieve a centred existence as a woman, following the example of Reine Sans Nom, who, \"sans nom\", was nevertheless \"Reine\" by her own acts of s e l f - d e f i n i t i o n , of \"autonomy\". - 32 -Footnotes - Chapter I 1. Herbert G. May, & Bruce M. Metziger eds. The New Oxford Annotated Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977), P • ^\"t 2. I b i d . . p. 3. J u l i e t M i t c h e l l , Jacqueline Rose eds. Feminine Sexuality, (London: McMillan Press, 1982), p. 50. •4-. Dale Spender, Man Made Language (Boston: Routledge & K^ ga-n Paul, 1980), p. 52. 5. Mary.Daly, Gyn/Ecology (Boston: Beacon Press, 1978), PP. 359-360. 6. J u l i e t M i t c h e l l , Women: The Longest Revolution (New York: Pantheon Books, 1966), p. 239. 7. Dale Spender, op c i t . , p. k. 8. Mary Daly's contention that \"Patriarchy appears to be ^ -every-where\", (Mary Daly, Gyn/Ecology, p. l ) helps to establish Patriarchy as the dominant universal ideology which i s r e f l e c t e d i n and held up by the symbolic order of language as does the following d e f i n i t i o n of the term by Adrienne Rich: \"Patriarchy i s the power of the fathers: a f a m i l i a l - s o c i a l , i d e o l o g i c a l , p o l i t i c a l system i n which men - by force, d i r e c t pressure, or through r i t u a l , t r a d i t i o n , law, and language customs, etiquette, education, and the d i v i s i o n of labor, determine what part women s h a l l or s h a l l not play and i n which the female i s everywhere subsumed under the male.\" (Adrienne Rich, Of Woman Born-(New York: Bantam Books, 1976), p. -+0). 9. \"The i n s t i t u t i o n of phallocentric law i s congruent with the need to prove paternity and authority, to secure property by transforming the c h i l d into an alienated object named and possessed by the father, and to secure property by transforming the woman into a mediating instrument of the production and - passage of property.\" Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, \"Displace-ment and Discourse of Woman\" i n Displacement. Derrida and After, ed. Mark Krusnick (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1983), p. 18*+. 10. P h y l l i s Chesler, Women and Madness (New York: Avon Books, 1972), p. 62. - 33 -11. Mary Daly, op. c i t . , p. 109. 12. \"L'esclave ne pratique aucune sorte de \"rapport personnel\" ...avec l e s o u t i l s qui sont u t i l i s e s dans son t r a v a i l . . . Ni l'entretien de ces o u t i l s n i leur perfectionnement ne . requierent - 1'attention de l'esclave. D 1autre'part, l e systeme se r v i l e est t e l que l e nouvel arriyahfc ne prend aucune sorte d'interet a l a \"productivite.\" (Edouard Glissant, Le Discours a n t i l l a i s (Paris: Editions du S e u i l , 198l), p. 102/ 13. Evelyn Fox K e l l e r , Reflections on Gender and Science (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985), p. 82. Ik. Carol G i l l i g a n , In a Different ^oice (Cambridge Mass.j-HHarvard University Press, 1982), p. 156. 15. I am using \"Doxa\" here i n the sense defined by Roland Barthes: \"La Doxa...c'est l'opinion publique, l ' E s p i r i t Majoritaire... Roland Barthes (Paris: jgditions du S e u i l , 1975) p. 5 l ) . The \"case\" (house) i n the novel denotes a pinnacle of achieve-ment i n the l i f e of woman according to the Doxa of the l o c a l setting. 16. Christiane O l i v i e r , Les Enfants de Jocaste (Paris: Denoel/ Gauthier, 1980), p. 69. 17. E l i e does not formally marry Telumee i n the way that Jeremie married Toussine. This i s apparently due to lack of f i n a n c i a l security on his part and may therefore be construed as re-enforcing the \" f i c t i o n a l \" nature of his r o l e as dominant provider. 18. Lacan as well r e s t r i c t s h is d e f i n i t i o n s of \"une femme\", according to male desire, as \" s o i t comme vierge, s o i t comme prostituee.\" (Jacques Lacan i n \"La S i g n i f i c a t i o n du Phallus\" oilfeEcrits (Paris: Editions du S e u i l , 1966),p. 695). 19. Although Telumee l a t e r becomes the adoptive mother of Sonore she has no \" b i o l o g i c a l \" dependants when she i s young and unemployed. 20. Sharon W i l l i s , \"A Symptomatic Narrative\" D i a c r i t i c s . 13, No. I (Spring, 1983), pp. -+6-60. 21. I b i d . , p. hG. 22. I b i d . , p. kS. 23. Adrienne Rich, Of Woman Born- (New York: Bantam Books, 1976), p. 253. (Roland Barthes, - 3^ -CHAPTER I I Alternative Approaches to Language: The \"Other\" as 'Non-Object - 35 -The post-freudian \" l i n g u i s t i c \" approach of Jacques Lacan i s useful i n analysing the circumstances of man/woman oppression, as a d e f i n i t e subject/object relationship i s involved. However, a broader-based analysis of the realm of the subject i n L'anguage i s necessary i n order to deal s p e c i f i c a l l y with alternate modes of discourse available to the male subject i n the text. Carl Jung's theories w i l l be relevant i n t h i s instance, f o r through Jung's con-ception of the operations of the psyche i t i s possible to examine the relationship between man/woman oppression (which concerns a subject/object relation) and the p a r t i c u l a r phenomenon of the v i c -timization of one subject by another (here the domination of the male Negro by the White male). The construct of s i g n i f i e r \"Woman\" has been established as the referent \"object\" essential to the formation of the male subject i n Language. On a physical l e v e l , t h i s phenomenon i s mirrored i n the act of separation from the Mother (who i s a woman) which i s necessary f o r the c h i l d to construct his i n d i v i d u a l i d e n t i t y . Un homme ne peut se construire dans un premier temps que dans 1'opposition a l a mere, que dans l a contre-identi-f i c a t i o n a l a femme.l Later on, the notion of \"separation\" becomes a paradigm f o r the psychological development of the (male) subject, a development established and continued through the terms of Language i t s e l f . - 36 -In the order of language, \" I \" and \"You\" conceptualize and mark separate persons, as \"she\" and \"he\", \"mother\" and \"father\" d i f f e r e n t i a t e genders and roles...Discovery of the father's r o l e i n the primal scene and recog-n i t i o n of male dominance i n the s o c i a l world conjoin with the i n t e -gration of the patriarchal c h i l d into the systematic organization of language. The interlocking of l i n g u i s t i c with c u l t u r a l rules suggests an equation between the organization of patriarchal culture and i t s sexually d i f f e r e n t i a t e d oedipal subjectivity. 2 From his position of subject, the i n d i v i d u a l projects the inherent dualism which constitutes his very \"coming into being\" onto his surrounding environment, thereby establishing an oppositional or hie r a r c h i c a l ordering i n Nature i t s e l f . Nature comes to be equated with the body, while man as subject s i g n i f i e s the abstract or the \" s p i r i t \" . Jung defines \" c u l t u r a l development\" assman's a t t r i b u t i o n of p r i o r i t y to the s p i r i t over the body i n the oppositional hierarchy of existence. This, according to Jung, i s essential to a t t a i n higher moral goals. The ingrained dichotomy of the Gree,k mind had now become acute, with the re s u l t that the accent shifted s i g -n i f i c a n t l y to the psychic and s p i r i t u a l , which was unavoidably s p l i t off from the h y l i c realm of the body. A l l the highest and ultimate goals lay i n man's moral destination, i n a s p i r i t u a l , supramundane end-state, and the •» separation of the h y l i c realm broadened into a cleavage between world and s p i r i t . 3 - 37 -I t i s only by leaving behind the body (Mother), therefore, that the subject i s able to continue h i s s o c i a l development i n a world governed by the p r i n c i p l e s of a p a t r i a r c h a l ideology. Instead of attachment, i n d i v i d u a l achievement r i v e t s the male imagi-nation, and great ideas or d i s -t i n c t i v e a c t i v i t y define the stan- ^ dard of self-assessment and success. Power i t s e l f i s guaranteed p r i m a r i l y through separation, f o r attach-ment would presuppose a d e f e r r a l of i n d i v i d u a l achievement. In h i s essay Refus de l a femme, K a r l Stern l i n k s t h i s same r a d i c a l s p l i t between mind and body, and the ensuing s u p e r i o r i t y a t t r i b u t e d to the mind, to the development of modern science. ...seule cette r a d i c a l e separation entre l e sujet connaissant et l' o b j e t connaissable pouvait per-mettre l e progres des sciences exactes. I I faut d'abord que l e sujet se separe de l'univers pour expliquer c e l u i - c i par l e s mathe-matiques...Dans l a c i v i l i s a t i o n medievale et d'autres encore, tant que l'homme se concevait comme encastre dans l a nature et i n -trinsequement uni a. l ' o b j e t q u ' i l contemplait, 1 ' o b j e c t i v i t e s c i e n -t i f i q u e r e s t a i t impossible.5 Stern locates the o r i g i n of a desire to give p r i o r i t y to the mind or s p i r i t over the environment (matter or \"matiere\") i n the i n i t i a l formative a c t of separation from the mother (\"mater\"). Having equated \"mater\" with matter (\"jmatiere\") Stern goes on to develop the th e s i s that the desire f o r c o n t r o l i n the male subject increases i n d i r e c t - 38 -r e l a t i o n to the amount of negative influence exercised upon him by the mother. In other words, domination over the \"female\" (female= boay=nature) i s at the base of i n d i v i d u a l development and achieve-ment i n p a t r i a r c h a l society. Le puissant; 1'administrateur qui non seulement gere des biens mais d i r i g e des hommes; l'homme qui aborde l e s r e l a t i o n s humaines comme s i e l l e s r e l e v a i e n t de l a technique...ces types d1hommes se refusent a tous g l e s moyens de communion, d ' i n t e r i o r i t e . Jung's conception mirrors that of Stern's i n that he l a b e l s the feminine the weaker element i n the subject which must be repressed i n order to gain c o n t r o l i n the s o c i a l order. According to Jungjs when an outward or s o c i a l l y powerful r o l e i s played, an inward or 7 \"effeminate\" weakness e x i s t s i n regard to the unconscious. Both men relegate the female to the r o l e of Mother, which functions i n the pre-symbolic or unconscious realm. The equation man=Logos=culture becomes the formula f o r \"success\" or control i n the s o c i a l order with repression of woman=Eros=unconscious as i t s p r e r e q u i s i t e . In order to e x i s t as a \" c o n t r o l l i n g \" subject i n society, the i n d i v i d u a l must i d e n t i f y wholly with what i s deemed acceptable by a p a t r i a r c h a l Doxa and deny the existence of any a l t e r -nate i n t e r i o r or inner r e a l i t y ( i . e . the s u b j e c t i v i t y of a woman or an integrated masculine/feminine s u b j e c t i v i t y i n the male). Thus the oppression of women can be seen as i n t r i n s i c to the very estab-lishment of the symbolic order of patriarchy and i t s language. - 39 -In order to come to terms with the d i f f erences between the two forms of oppression evident i n our text (male-female and White-Black) i t i s u s e f u l to look more c l o s e l y a t the i m p l i c a t i o n s of Jung's t h e o r i e s . I f the symbolic order i t s e l f i s p a t r i a r c h a l , with woman as object and man as subject , the v i c t i m i z a t i o n of women must be a u n i v e r s a l g iven. As a lready s t a t e d , i n Chapter I , the moment of d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n between the oppressed Negro male and woman occurs a t the point of i n s e r t i o n of the male as dominant subject w i th in h i s own discourse ( i . e . Amboise's r e t u r n to Guadeloupe). There i s therefore a p a r a l l e l between the S i g n i f i e r \"subject\" and what i s s i g n i f i e d i n the male i n d i v i d u a l (h i s inner r e a l i t y ) which does not e x i s t i n the case of the woman. Woman -/ a woman, but Subject Man= a man. T h i s correspondence w i l l a t some po int guarantee a p lace of p r i v i l e g e f o r a male i n a s p e c i f i c d iscourse as i t does to Amboise i n h i s own Guadeloupian s o c i e t y . I t i s through t h i s r e a l i z a t i o n that the f o l l o w i n g statement becomes poss ib le : Amboise's d i s p l a c e -ment i s geographical and economic i n P a r i s , whereas Telumee's w i l l be i n d i c a t i v e of the symbolic order i t s e l f . Jung proposes the view that the i n d i v i d u a l i s the mediator i n an ongoing confrontationnbetween ex terna l \"soc ia l\" forces and those of an i n t e r n a l or unconscious r e a l i t y . In order to surv ive more or l e s s s u c c e s s f u l l y i n the outs ide worlds the i n d i v i d u a l must adopt a \"mask\" or \"persona\" which fo l lows c l o s e l y the r u l e s of s o c i e t y . - ko -The persona i s a complicated system of re l a t i o n s \"between i n d i v i d u a l con-sciousness and society, f i t t i n g l y enough a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a d e f i n i t e im-pression upon others, and, on the other to conceal the true nature of the i n d i v i d u a l . ^ The more the i n d i v i d u a l i d e n t i f i e s with hisppersona (his \"outer\" or s o c i a l s e l f ) the less he i s able to understand or acknowledge the workings of his unconscious or \"inner\" r e a l i t y . The repression of one's\"true nature\" ( a l l of the natural, yet undesirable character t r a i t s according to s o c i a l precepts) causes a phenomenon of \"pro-jection\" to occur, whereby the unconscious \"projects\" i t s e l f onto others. This locates a l l that i s unacceptable to the i n d i v i d u a l i n the place of the \"other\". Jung c a l l s these t r a i t s or characteristics the \"shadow\", and he states that the further away from consciousness (or the more deeply repressed) these t r a i t s are, the less able the i n d i v i d u a l i s to recognize them as such. The projections of the shadow most recognizable to the i n d i v i d u a l are those which are a 9 product of the \"personal unconscious\". Those which are the furthest away from consciousness (deeply repressed) tend to possess an autonomous nature and belong to what Jung terms the \" c o l l e c t i v e un-conscious\".\"'\"0 The shadow projections of the c o l l e c t i v e unconscious have a much greater influence over the i n d i v i d u a l than those of the' personal unconscious f o r they are not necessarily a function f a m i l i a r to any p a r t i c u l a r i n d i v i d u a l , being more closely associated with the \"myth producing\" or primordial l e v e l of the unconscious. - 41 -Shadow projections, therefore, are what may allow f o r the vic t i m i z a t i o n of non-controlling male subjects i n society. Because the Whites' power exists c u l t u r a l l y and economically as a r e a l i t y i n the text, they possess the means to encode t h e i r own s p e c i f i c meanings, leaving out or ignoring those p a r t i c u l a r to the Negro. I f the White chooses to view the Negro as i n f e r i o r , due to a shadow projection, there i s nothing to stop his doing so, nor i s there any way to halt the adoption of t h i s perception as a c u l t u r a l norm. In th i s respect, the male Negro comes to share a role of vict i m with women i n general. Compare the following statements by Dale Spender with the si t u a t i o n of the male Negro i n the text: ...women have not been i n a position to have t h e i r meanings taken up and incorporated i n those of the socie-bj. They have not been i n the public arena, they have not been the \"culture\"-makers with the r e s u l t that any meanings which they may wish to encode, but which are d i f f e r e n t from or at odds with those that have been generated by men, have been tenuous and transitory: they have been cut off from the main-stream of meanings and therefore have frequently been l o s t . ^ In t h i s case, the dominant subject has the power to \"project\" h is shadow onto the Negro male (and female). This then provides the means f o r the establishment and continuation of a \" j u s t i f i a b l e \" form of oppression by the White subject, thus r e l i e v i n g him of the re s p o n s i b i l i t y of integrating h is shadow. - hz -What the dominant group sees as objectionable i n t h e i r victims can provide an i n t e r e s t i n g clue to what they fear i n themselves -i t ' s a sort of distorted mirror image of the rejected part of themselves...In h i s book Blaming the Victim, sociologist William Ryan shows how white Americans treat black Americans as second-class c i t i z e n s , providing them with i n f e r i o r education, i n f e r i o r housing, i n f e r i o r jobs - and then point to the r e s u l t , the semi-s k i l l e d black l i v i n g i n a ghetto as the proof that the black American i s \"inherently\" incapable of coming up to white standards.^ The a l i e n a t i o n experienced by Amboise i n Paris marks h i s i n i t i a t i o n into a world where the oppositional hierarchy of positive and negative elements inherent i n patriarchal ideology ( i . e . subject as good/ object or \"other\" as e v i l ) i s but an arbitrary f i c t i o n . His r e a l i -zation of the existence of an alternate i n t e r i o r or inner r e a l i t y ( i n t h i s case his own) gains him access to a perception whereby apparently \"opposing\" constructs are seen to coexist. I I avait lave sa tete de toutes idees blanches, mais i l n'en gardait nulle amertume. Ces gens-la etaient d'un bord et l u i de 1 'autre, i l s ne regardaient pas du meme cote de l a v i e , pas plus que ga, l e f r e r e . . . (216-217) Once he accepts the p r i n c i p l e of the \"shadow\" within (\"rien ne poursuit l e negre que son propre coeur\" (l - ^7 ) ) he i s able to tran-scend the oppositional bias of l i n e a r , abstract discourse, and go on to replace the notion of separation and opposition with that of - 43 -integration. He attains the Jungian i d e a l of a man who acknowledges the \"feminine\" within rather than r e j e c t i n g i t as being undesirable and relegating i t to an \" a i l l e u r s \" or \"without\" beyond the p e r i -meters of his own existence. Two diametrically opposed r e l a t i o n s of the subject to e x i s t -ence are presented i n the novel. In the f i r s t case, we have the White or dominant approach ( l i n e a r or abstract discourse): the position of the subject i s secured by a controlled, l i n e a r v i s i o n which represses systematically any eruption of the unknown represented by \" l e hasard\" or the unconscious. Tapage, frengsiefrbouseuladeuwenaient mourir au bout de cette a l l e e , chaque chose avait une place, une heure, une raison d'etre bien precise, r i e n n'etait l a i s s e au hasard...C'etait un temps sans surprise. ,.,.(9l) Such a perspective denies the existence within o f l a l l that i s un-desirable or inadmissable according to the pre-established terms of the reigning ideology. In the second instance, there i s an acknow-ledgement of an uncontrollable force which circu l a t e s beyond the conscious grasp eloupian perspective: \"(une) fagon d'apprehender l e monde, de ne pas vouloir calculer, de se donner entierement a 1'instant\". In the.text, i t i s the movement or i n s t a b i l i t y of t h i s perspective which uproots the unity of the dominant view. As Language i s thus freed from the lim i t e d spectrum of White c o l o n i a l existence, words are unleashed from t h e i r positive or negative values. The p r i n c i p l e and purpose of t h i s perspective i s the \"feminine\" as defined by S a l l y S i l v e r s and A b i g a i l Child: \"(the feminine defeats) coherent su b j e c t i v i t y on which capitalism idealism i s based - (points) up multiple contradictions which are 4 c l e a r l y delineated and not unspoken, s i l e n t , taped shut\". The \"feminine\" s e l f experiences Language as a struggle of contraries, rather than as a relationship to authority. Pl u i e et vent as a text mirrors t h i s relationship through a subversion of the t r a d i t i o n a l whole or unified n o v e l l i s t i c \" r e a l i t y \" . Ernest Pepin describes the narrative strategy of Pluie et vent as \"un discours or a l rapporte par ecrit\" . \" ' In t h i s f i r s t instance Plui e et vent subverts genre: i t performs a mutual transcendence of the oral and l i t e r a l . At another l e v e l , the text prompts a subversion of \"discourse\" through the medium of i t s own \"creolized\" French. - 84 -J ' a i 1'impression de mettra,. dans cette espece de langue franchise que j ' e c r i s a ma maniere Creole, 1'esprit de notre langue.& This subversion i s omnipresent; i t affects both form and content. Pepin describes t h i s process of transcendence as two \"codes\" which \"se cotoient, s'affrontent, s'interpenetrent\". However, not only does t h i s description dichotomize Schwarz-Bart's universe, Pepin's confrontational masculine terminology f o r c i b l y stems/channels the sensation of flow indica t i v e of the author's \"feminine\" s t y l e . None-theless, h i s elucidation of the overall s t r u c t u r a l process at work i n P l u i e et vent i s quite v a l i d . Les nombreuses traductions de phrases Creoles, les nombreuses phrases a referent Creole, les proverbes, l e s contes, les chants, ressortissent a l ' o r a l i t e tandis que l ' e c r i t u r e r e g i t g de fagon complexe l'economie du texte. The o r a l i t y of Plu i e et vent challenges the primacy of the abstract, The work's prismatic structure incorporates Language i n i t s multi- • p l i c i t y . The various facets of the work i n f e c t / r e f l e c t each other; oral/written, Creole/French, proverb-poetry-parable/narrative, feminine-spirit/masculine-abstract.^ As the s p i r i t u a l encroaches upon the r a t i o n a l or material, there i s a sensual l i b e r a t i o n of the abstract. A p a r a l l e l exists at t h i s point between the \"feminine\" and the Black f o r , i n the oppressor's eyes, they share a role of sexual/ sensual \"object\". The e x p l i c i t sensuality of the Black culture both tempts and threatens the White as a manifestation of h i s own repressed - 85 -desires. While the dominant discourse (be i t White or patriarchal) rejects the body, the discourse of the \"other\" accepts and rejoices i n i t . A Gua^eloupian woman, has claimed i n her autobiography that \"Nos ancetres etaient nes avec cet amour de l a proprete, cet amour pour leur c o r p s . T h e use of the term \"proprete\" to depict the Guadeloupianls attitude d i r e c t l y c o n f l i c t s with Mme. Desaragne's e a r l i e r association of \" l a boue\" with Telumee's culture. White Christian dogma's equating of the sexual body with e v i l (due to the advent of Origin a l Sin) i s not relevant to the GuacLeloupian perspective, f o r , i n the Black world, the f l e s h and the soul are not separate e n t i t i e s . L'homme n'est pas compose/d;-'une ame et d'un corps. Son corps pergu, nomme tantot ko, tantot kadav, est habite et traverse par les forces s p i r i t u e l l e s qui font d'un homme un corps r e e l et vivant et non pas un cadavre (squelette) .H The Guad/eloupian Blacks do not view existence as a perpetual battle f o r control between the soul's \"purity\" and the wicked ways of the f l e s h . They understand the s p i r i t as an in t e g r a l part of \" l e corps\" which animates the physical body through the f l u x of positive and negative ( s p i r i t u a l ) forces. L'expression kenbe ko (t e n i r son corps) s i g n i f i e se c'ontroler,\\controler sa vie psychologique pour que vivent en equilibre les bons et les mauvais esprits qui l a dirigent... - 86 -The pertinent phrase here i s \"vivent en equilibre\", f o r i t evokes the notion of synthesis which emerges from Reine Sans Nom's discourse. Reine Sans Nom leaves to Telumee, as her legacy, t h i s b e l i e f i n the \" r e l a t i v i t y \" of a l l elements i n existence. (Telumee) - Qu'est-ce qui est done naturel a l'homme, l e bonheur ou l e malheur? - G'est selon, me d i t (Reine Sans Nom)...ton a f f a i r e est de b r i l l e r maintenant, alors b r i l l e et l e jour ou l'infortune te d i r a : me v o i l a , tu auras au moins b r i l l e . (1-+3) Her v i s i o n of l i f e as a continual struggle of contraries defeats the idea of one unity i n discourse. Telumee's presence creates a (con)textual dissidence i n B e l l e -F e u i l l e ' s homogeneous atmosphere. Contextual i n that, although the reader i s aware of an undercurrent to the flow of White authority, the Whites themselves are not. Telumee's ref u s a l to comply with the negative White projections she encounters constitute a personal triumph over the Desaragnes' authority. With Reine Sans Nom as her ro l e model she i s able to maintain a positive self-image during her stay at B e l l e - F e u i l l e . Je ne songeais qu'a manoeuvrer, me f a u f i l e r a droite, a gauche, avec une seuie idee au' milieu de mon coeur: i l me f a l l a i t etre l a , comme un c a i l l o u dans une r i v i e r e , simplement pose dans l e fond du l i t et g l i s s e , g l i s s e l'eau par-dessus mol, l'eau trouble ou c l a i r e , mousseuse, calme ou desordonnee,, j'etais une petite pierre. (p. 9 2 ) - 87 -The power of the White l i e s i n the system which he represents. The name Desaragne i s s i g n i f i c a t i v e : \"Le nom Desaragne, renvoie a l'ancien francais \"aragne\" (rappel de l a periode inaugurale de l a colonisation) lui-meme derive du l a t i n \"aranea\", qui s i g n i f i e * 13 * ^ araignee\". Telumee's self-possession allows her to avoid entangle-ment i n the web of White ideology. ...je servais et desservais, souriais a. l a ronde, manoeuvrais, esquissais un pas sur l a droite, l a gauche, ne songeant qu'a. me preserver, a demeurer intacte sous ces paroles de blancs... (97) Her victory i s boith \"feminine\" and Black f o r her subject position incorporates gender and colour. The GuadSloupian perspective which she r e f l e c t s merges with the \"feminine\" i n i t s subversion of a \"domi-nant\" subjective economy. A luxuriant subtext of poetic imagery re-emerges throughout the novel to mirror, at a st r u c t u r a l l e v e l , the \"undercurrent\" of alternate discourse signalled by Telumee's presence at B e l l e - F e u i l l e . Simone Schwarz-Bart's intertwining of human and vegetal elements pro-duces metaphors which exude a sensuality not unlike that associated with a \"jouissance\" of the body. Her metaphors draw a composite picture of Nature which includes \"man\" i n much the same way as the Guad'eloupian perception of the body includes \"les es p r i t s \" . The following description of V i c t o i r e , taken from the t e x t , i l l u s t r a t e s the \"organic\" interplay t y p i c a l of Schwarz-Bart's images. - 88 -Les annees l'avaient juste un peu ouverte, et e l i e e t a i t maintenant, sous l e s o l e i l , une gousse de v a n i l l e eclatee qui l i v r e enfin tout son parfum. (45) As the \"poetic\" or \"verdant\" subtext permeates the text, i t performs what could be termed a sensual \"contamination\" of the abstract. The metaphors translate an ongoing communion between the body ( s e l f ) and the environment (\"other\"). S i e l i e (Victoire) se tenait dans 1'ombre, e l i e c o l o r a i t l ' a i r qui l'entourait immediatement, et c'etait comme s i sa propre pre-sence s u s c i t a i t alentour une aureole de fumee. (33) The relationship between man and Nature i s reciprocal: as man \"colors\" Nature, so does Nature take on \"human\" q u a l i t i e s . A mesure que notre sueur penetrait cette terre, e l i e devenait notre, se mettait a l'odeur de nos corps... Un carre d'ignames paccala avait surgi l e long de l a berge, et tout autour, des centaines de v r i l l e s enroulaient leurs lianes tendres et epineuses, a l a maniere tourmentee de l'ame qui fournit a l'ame les l i e n s qui l a li g o t e n t . (212) The manifest sensuality of these images reclaims \"sexuality\" from the realm of the abstract. Accordingly, the f i r s t sexual encounter between E l i e and Telumee i s celebrated as a mystical or s p i r i t u a l i n t eraction with the forest. - 89 -Un immense r i r e qui s o r t a i t de toute l a foret s'est empare de nous, cepedant que nos deux cerfs-volants partaient en errance dans l e c i e l , (118) The physical act of copulation i s not treated as separate from the o v e r a l l context or environment which generates i t . Sexuality i s a l l u -ded to, \"through a natural sensuality and not named or defined as such. ... je 1' arrofsais.. (Amboise) d'une eau parfumee' a la' c i t r o n n e l l e que j'avais eu soin de mettre a t i e d i r au s o l e i l , depuis l e matin. L'eau cou l a i t en murmurant contre son corps et l'odeur de l'eau penetrait l ' a i r , qui s'imbibait comme de verdeur, tandis qu'Amboise s'ebrouait et f a i s a i t de longues giclees qui me transpergaient, me mouillaient, m' empor taient. (21-+) Schwarz-Bart's images defy and subvert abstract, l i n e a r discourse. Her style i s mimetic as i t r e f l e c t s and reproduces the textual matrix of integration on both a s t r u c t u r a l l e v e l (through the interplay of text and subtext), and on a \" l i n g u i s t i c \" l e v e l (where natural and human elements are portrayed as interdependent). The whole or unified perspective represented by the Doxa i s undermined by the multiformity of r e l a t i o n s presented and represented i n the novel's prismatic structure. This general phenomenon of transcendence, which recurrs at every l e v e l , recognizes and validates alternative s o c i a l r e a l i t i e s . P l u i e et vent's \"discourse\" embraces d i v e r s i t y and nonconformity within l i n g u i s t i c constructs such as \"mother\", \"woman\" and \"Black\", for i t neither assigns nor endorses f i x e d meanings. - 90 -In keeping with t h i s o v e r a l l perspective, Reine Sans Nom supports her daughter's choice of s e l f - f u l f i l l m e n t over motherhood despite s o c i a l disapproval. On l a (Victoire) blama beaucoup, et l a rumeur publique l'accusa de cracher sur son propre ventre, pour qui et quoi?...Mais lorsque Haut-Colbi s ' i n s t a l l a dans notre tourV e l i e (Reine Sans Nom) commenca a trouver que V i c t o i r e ne naviguait pas s i mal, apres tout. (46) Reine Sans Nom does not accept the conventional h i e r a r c h i c a l ascen-dancy of the \"Mother\" over the \"Self\" f o r women. She subscribes to an i d e a l of choice according to \"context\", and, i n t h i s case, V i c t o i r e ' s happiness and her own desire to have Telumee \"aureoler ses cheveux blancs\" j u s t i f y her daughter's choice. In her usual enigmatic way she exonerates V i c t o i r e by va l i d a t i n g her r i g h t to rejoice i n what happiness l i f e may offer. A ceux qui c r i t i q u a i e n t l a conduite de sa f i l l e ,elle repondait d'une petite voix toute amusee...mes amis, l a vie n'est pas une soupe grasse et pour bien longtemps encore, l e s hommes connaitront meme lune et meme s o l e i l , memes tourments d'amour... (46) In her book La Parole des Femmes; Sssai sur des romancieres des A n t i l l e s de langue franqaise, Maryse Conde explores the r e l a t i o n -ship of man to Nature i n Plui e et vent. She i d e n t i f i e s the novel's fundamental union of man with Nature as an essential characteristic of myth. - 91 -Cette union fondamentale de l'homme et des elements de l a nature, aspects dif f e r e n t s quoique semblables d'une meme force v i t a l e , est une carac-t e r i s t i q u e essentielle du mythe.-^ Conde's view of the mythic as \" l e chant general de l a terre\" f a i l s to distinguish between A n t i l l e a n myths and those of the White culture. Rene M e r i l , on the other hand, does set up an opposition between the myths of the colonizers and those of the oppressed or colonized. He sees A n t i l l e a n myth as s p e c i f i c to the context of slavery. C'est de ne r i e n controler et de n'etre sur de r i e n - n i du passe, n i du present, n i encore moins de l'avenir - Kqui f a i t de l a societe a n t i l l a i s e l e l i e u reve des mythologies et des nevroses passeistes et f u t u r i s t e s pour supporter, dissimuler, f u i r un insupportable present. 15 The mythic or \"l'imaginaire\" constitutes a c o l l e c t i v e \"symptomatic\" reaction to what M e r i l terms \"les mythologies de l a colonisation Reactionnelles\".\"^ ( l e s mythologies a n t i l l a i s e s ) surgissent...en reaction...au sens ou l'on d i t d'un malade q u ' i l r'eagit a son mal par l a f i e v r e ou l a nevrose.17 A n t i l l e a n myth developed i n response to the insufferable conditions of slavery. I t plays a cathartic r o l e i n the drama of Guadeloupe. Dany Bebel-Gisler also interprets myth as a defense. She views 'l'imaginaire et l e symbolique\" as essential components of A n t i l l e a n - 92 -existence which subvert and combat the memory of \" l a violence esclavagiste...cette h i s t o i r e i n s c r i t e dans l e corps et dans l a langue C r e o l e \" . 1 8 In P l u i e et vent, the cane f i e l d s represent the ultimate paradigm of c o l o n i a l oppression. The omniscient power of the \"Usine\" permeates the l i f e of every Black worker. (les femmes) anxieuses d'arriver aux vingt p i l e s qui constituent une journee, vingt p i l e s de vingt-cinq . paquets, dix m i l l e coups de coutelas, quelques pieces de zinc aux i n i t i a l e s de 1'Usine, morue seche, hu i l e , s e l , farine France et rhum de 1'Usine, melasse de 1'Usine, sucre brut de 1'Usine au p r i x obligatoire de 1'Usine, passe-passe, deux sous pour un. (199-200) The physical loss of Reine Sans Nom and man Cia leaves Telumee i n a state of material penury. As a r e s u l t , she has no alternative but to offer herself as an exchange commodity to the White market (\"Si je ne voulais pas mourir de faim, avant l a r e c o l t e , i l me f a l l a i t rentrer dans l e s champs de canne de 1'Usine\" (195) )• Her work i n the cane f i e l d s brings Telumee face to face with the r e a l i t y of Black subjugation. La, dans l e feu du c i e l et des pi'quants, je tran s p i r a i s toute l'eau que ma mere avait deposee dans mon corps'.\" Et je compris enfin ce qu'est l e negre... (200) At t h i s point i n her l i f e Telumee reaches the stage of \"une femme sans esperance\". Yet even as she i s brought low by the degradation - 93 -of \"slavery\", the voice of c o l l e c t i v e Black strength reaches out to her. Le temps, e t a i t venuo de combattre l a sueur, l a fatigue, l a debandade deaJimes et brusquement, Amboise langa un caladja entrainant au-dessus du troupeau... (203) Hearing Amboise's song i n the f i e l d s shores up her resistance to despair. \"Le chant\" acts as a l i f e l i n e which re-unites Telumee with the positive aspects of her past. I t furnishes her with a window onto the Black heritage, and i n so doing strengthens her a b i l i t y to withstand oppression. \"Le chant\" i s an embodiment of A n t i l l e a n myth • which provides a catharsis f o r her suffering. ...soudain, je ne sus comment, ma voix me quitta et s'eleva tres au-dessus des autres, comme dans l e s temps anciens, pergante, vive et gaie, et Amboise se tourna vers moi avec etonnement, et mon visage e t a i t baigne de larmes. (204) This access to a c u l t u r a l i d e n t i t y i s also achieved through the r i t u a l of dance. Telumee and Amboise's ceremonial \"housewarming\" incorporates both song and dance i n i t s celebration. The movement of dance liberates the i n d i v i d u a l from the constraints of everyday existence. Dance possesses a transforming power which purges and cleanses the c o l l e c t i v e psyche. Amboise s u i v a i t (Olympe) a l a ^ trace, et lorsqu'elie semblait redescendre sur terre, i l imprimait a son tambour une detente qui l'arrachait de - 94 -nouveau a elle-meme, l a debarras'sait de ses membres, de son corps, de sa tete et de sa voix, de tous les hommes qui avaient pi e t i n e , lacere,dechire sa charite. E l i e tournait, se bai s s a i t , se r e l e v a i t , d'un geste s u b t i l i s a i t nos tourments, por t a i t nos existences aux nues pour nous l e s rendre, depouillees de tout fange, limpides. (209-210) This a r t i c u l a t i o n of mythic r i t u a l re-enforces the Black's sense of self-worth. The i n t u i t i v e knowledge of a strong c u l t u r a l heritage puts slavery into perspective as an imposed system. Black v i c t i m i -zation thus i s understood to be a condition of White oppression and not a condition of Black existence. ...nous nous sentions p a r e i l s au cabri attache dans l a savane, et nous savions que l a v e r i t e de notre sort n 1 e t a i t pas en nous-memes, mais dans 1 'existence de l a lame. (219) Myth functions as a network to support the in d i v i d u a l when h i s s e l f -image i s threatened by external forces. As a c o l l e c t i v e show of force, myth i s also enough to threaten White authority. Amboise's song translates t h i s latent menace of Black power. Et son chant monta s i haut ce matin-la que les commandeurs a cheval,-dans l e l o i n t a i n , s'assurerent de l a presence d'une arme, sous les fontes de leurs s e l l e s . (205) Once again, Black experience comes f u l l c i r c l e to be re-united with the \"feminine\", as subjective presence ceases to be defined solely - 95 -i n r e l a t i o n to authority. By not speaking Creole to the Desaragnes, Telumee imposes herself as absence within the Doxa, thus undermining i t s authority. Telumee ne s'oppose pas a ses maitres car e l i e n 1attend d'eux n i legitimation n i excommuni-cation. E l i e est, et de ce f a i t , leur resiste . 1 9 The female characters i n the text are equally recognized by t h e i r absence from the place of \"Woman\". The a r t i c u l a t i o n and va l i d a t i o n of r e l a t i v e \"contextual\" truths acts as a catalyst i n the subversion of the dominant discourse. The textual tapestry of Schwarz-Bart's images does not portray d i v i s i o n : \"the synaesthesia essen t i a l l y ( i s ) 20 a r e f l e c t i o n of r e l a t i o n s not dichotomies\". Plu i e et vent describes an unfolding dynamic whose momentum enfranchises the \"other\" from the confines of an abstract, masculine \" o b j e c t i v i t y \" . - 96 -Footnotes - Chapter IV 1. Jean Bernabe, - \"C-ontribution a 1'e'tude' .de l a d i g l o s s i e ./-•.; l i t t e r a i r e \" , p. 12-4-. 2. I b i d . , p. 124. 3. Heliane e t Roger Toumson, \"Sur l e s pas de Fanotttey\" p. 18. 4. S a l l y S i l v e r s , A b i g a i l C h i l d , \"Rewire//Speak i n Disagreement\", i n P o e t i c s J o u r n a l , No. 4, (May, 1984) pp. 70-71. 5. Ernest Pepin, \"Le Jeu des f i g u r e s r e p e t i t i v e s dans l'oeuvre\", P. 90. 6. Heliane et Roger Toumson, op. c i t . , p. 19. 7. Ernest Pepin, op. c i t . , p. 90. 8. I b i d . , p. 91. 9. I am not u s i n g the term \" S p i r i t \" here i n the Jungian sense but r a t h e r t o denote the animating p r i n c i p l e or \" w i l l \" . 10. Dany, B e b e l - G i s l e r , Leonora,L'Histoire enfouie de l a Guadeloupe, ( P a r i s : E d i t i o n s du S e u i l , 1985), P. 64. 11. I b i d . , p. 303. 12. I b i d . , p. 303. 13. Ernest Pepin, op. c i t . , p. 92. 14. Maryse Conde, La Pa r o l e des femmes, p. 66. 15. Rene M e r i l , \"Mythologies a n t i l l a i s e s \" , p. 38. 16. I b i d . , p. 37. 17. I b i d . , p. 37. 18. Dany, B e b e l - G i s i e r , op. c i t . , p. 303. 19. Ernest Pepin, op. c i t . , p..96. 20. S a l l y S i l v e r s , A b i g a i l C h i l d , op. c i t . , p. 75. - 97 -Conclusion The name \"Lougandor\" establishes one more bridge between the realm of human experience and that of Nature, f o r i t s etymon \"Lougan\" s i g n i f i e s \"un carre de terre\". The Lougandor t r a d i t i o n i s one of a wisdom rooted i n the body: the founder of the lineage (\"Lougan\"/ \" l a t e r r e \" / the \"feminine\" body) i s Minerve, the roman goddess of wisdom. Pluie et vent relates the reunion between what i s \"known\" to man and what l i e s just beyond his reach (\"les e s p r i t s \" , \" l e miracle\"): \"Les Lougandor ont toujours aime survoler, i l s s'accro-chaient des a i l e s et i l s se hissaient\" (32). The Lougandors, a matrifocal family, are the medium of t h i s reunion. Through t h e i r re-appropriation of the unknown, an \"other\" r e a l i t y , they are able to create a discourse which embraces the t o t a l i t y of existence. The weaving together of the woof of the \" s e l f \" and the warp of the \"other\" i s what creates the tapestry of Guadeloupian experience that i s Plui e et vent. The medium, or the weaver, i s Telumee, and she works with the threads of \"speaking experience\" passed on to her by Reine Sans Nom. Telumee makes comprehensible i n human terms that which the Doxa has rejected or repressed. Her \"regard\" liberates the object as i t pierces the persona or outer \"face\" - the Doxa's f i c t i o n . ... je (Telumee) regardais••;. .man Cia, a l a recherche de ce qui en e l i e d i f f e r a i t des autresr :humain^ '. . . et plus je l a voyais, plus je l a trouvais p a r e i l l e a tout l e monde, une quelconque petite v i e i l l e de Fond-Zombi. (58) - 98 -Telumee incarnates the complexities of a \"feminine\" approach to existence. She i s the \"verre en c r i s t a l \" , the textual matrix of integration; a mirror of the novel's c r y s t a l l i n e or prismatic structure. P l u i e et vent retrieves both women and Blacks from the role of \"object\" as i t upholds the r e l a t i v e \"truths\" of their alternative voices. The novel i s an acknowledgement of the Guad«loupian's i n -t r i n s i c self-worth which becomes a part of the c o l l e c t i v e unconscious at the moment of reading. Je pense, voyez-vous, comme les A f r i c a i n s , que lorsqu'un vieux meurt, toute\"1- une bibliotheque di s p a r a i t . . .c'est une espe^ce de ^ memoire que j ' a i voulu r e s t i t u e r . . . P l u i e et vent i s a story of regeneration; a regeneration of the female \" s e l f \" . Telumee's a f f i l i a t i o n and i d e n t i f i c a t i o n with \" l a terre\" provides her with the support to counter her al i e n a t i o n as \"Woman\" i n patriarchal discourse. Both the land and woman have been granted the power to produce l i f e . While each must endure the vagaries of existence ( s o u f f r i r ) and u l t i -mately die (mourir), each has the power to begin the process once again (renaitre). The three verbs fuse into one another and highlight the theme of endurance: endurance of the land and of the island of Guadeloupe, but more important, endurance of the s p i r i t of the Caribbean and of i t s people,-^ Telumee's a r t i c u l a t i o n of her own discourse, the \"Miracle\", i s what - 99 -guarantees the su r v i v a l of her people. An i n t e g r a l part of the Lougandor heritage i s a re j e c t i o n of \" l e discours f e t i c h i s t e regnant\". When Telumee i s o b j e c t i f i e d at B e l l e - F e u i l l e as a \"faiseuse de bechamel\" she need only return to Fond-Zombi, where Reine Sans Nom confirms her existence as \"une personne humaine\" (102). I t i s the Blacks' c o l l e c t i v e recognition of t h e i r value as individuals which w i l l ensure the su r v i v a l of t h e i r race. . . . s i Dieu blame et s ' i l tue, q u ' i l tue...mais ce q u ' i l ne peut empecher c'est qu'un negre l u i montre de quel poids pese sur l a terre, a ses yeux, l'ame d'un autre negre. (180) Pluie et vent was the f i r s t novel Simone Schwarz-Bart wrote alone ( i n 19&7 she published Un P l a t de pore aux bananes vertes i n collaboration with her husband, Andre Schwarz-Bart). Her second solo e f f o r t , T i Jean 1'Horizon, appeared i n 1979- T i Jean 1'Horizon recounts the mythic voyage of i t s here, T i Jean, across A f r i c a . T i Jean r e l i v e s the adventures of the Guadeloupian c o l l e c t i v e unconscious as he effects a return to his primal roots: \"Mother\" A f r i c a . Where-as Pluie et vent explores a woman-centred strength, therefore lending i t s e l f more re a d i l y to an analysis from a \"feminist\" point of view (since i t deals with the sphere of the \"object\"), the motivating'face i n T i Jean 1'Horizon, i s the development of male or \" p h a l l i c \" power, (the realm of the \"subject\"). - 100 -La seule chose q u ' i l s remarquerent, ce f u t l a fagon dont sa petite queue se dressait au milieu des combats de son age...Emerveilles, les gens prir e n t p l a i s i r a provoquer sa colere juste pour v o i r l'organe se mettre debout, herisse, tendu comme une fronde...le Bon Dieu fournit toujours davantage que 1'esprit de l'homme ne peut imaginer, i l f o u rnit tant et plus et v o i l a , 1'enfant d'Eloise (Ti Jean) avait herite d'une verge en or.'...^ However, without Telumee's vindication of the \"other\" r e a l i t y (the \"feminine\", \" l a terre\", \" l a Guadeloupe\"), T i Jean would not have been assured a centred position of \"subject\" from which to enact his perilous voyage. I t i s Telumee's \"feminine\" discourse which permits T i Jean to hasard and to survive re-engulfment by the Mother ( A f r i c a ) . A major theme of Pluie et vent which re-emerges i n T i Jean 1'Horizon i s that of \"communion\" between the s e l f and the other. Le regard de l'homme ne s u f f i t pas, murmura (Ti Jean) un jour en souriant, et i l faut etre au moins deux pour s'assurer d'une chose, fut-ce de l a r e a l i t e d' un b r i n d' herbe... -5 Both novels highlight interaction or networking as the main purpose of Language: \"Une langue est avant tout communication\".^ Schwarz-Bart 's works i l l u s t r a t e Language i n i t s f l u i d i t y , as they release words from the dichotomy of male discourse. Pluie et vent stands as a testament to courage and l i b e r a t i o n against the repression and ali e n a t i o n of the dominant ideology. The novel provides a source of l i m i t l e s s strength to the muted, tentative voice of the \"other\". - 101 -Footnotes - Conclusion 1. Heliane et Roger Toumson. \"Sur l e s pas de Fanotte\", p. 15. 2. Karen Smyley Wallace.\"The Female and the Se l f i n Schwarz-Bart' s P l u i e et vent sur Telumee Miracle^\" p. 430. 3. Roger Toumson,. \"Pluie et vent sur Telumee Miracle: Une reverie encyclopedique: Sa structure, son projet ideologique\", p. 65. 4. Simone Schwarz-Bart, T i Jean 1'Horizon, (Paris: Editions du S e u i l , 1979), P. 30. 5. I b i d . , p. 270. 6. Heliane et Roger Toumson, op. c i t . , p. 19. - 102 -Bibliography By and on Simone Schwarz-Bart Antoine, Regis. \"La Martinique et La Guadeloupe en 1980\" Europe No. 612, A p r i l , 198O, pp. 3-7. \" Bebel-Gisler, Dany, Leonora. L'Histoire enfouie de l a Guadeloupe. Paris: Editions Seghers, 1985. Bernabe, Jean. \"Contribution a 1*etude de l a diglossie l i t t e r ' a i r e . 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Vittachi, Anuradha. \"Roots of Discrimination\". The New Inter-nationalist. No. 128, October 1983, pp. 12-13-- 10? -Warner, William Beatty. \"Reading Rape: Marxist-Feminist Figurations of the L i t e r a l \" . D i a c r i t i c s , , Vol. 3, No. 4, Winter, 1983, 12-32. W i l l i s , Sharon. \"A Symptomatic. Narrative\". D i a c r i t i c s , Vol. 13, Nol 1, Spring, 1983, 46t60. ' "@en ; edm:hasType "Thesis/Dissertation"@en ; edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0097002"@en ; dcterms:language "eng"@en ; ns0:degreeDiscipline "French"@en ; edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ; dcterms:publisher "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:rights "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en ; ns0:scholarLevel "Graduate"@en ; dcterms:title "Female identity through language in Simone Schwarz Bart's Pluie et vent sur Télumée Miracle"@en ; dcterms:type "Text"@en ; ns0:identifierURI "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26629"@en .