Synopses & Reviews
A Poetics of Relation: Caribbean Women Writing at the Millennium fosters a dialogue across islands and languages between established and lesser-known authors, bringing together archipelagic and diasporic voices from the Francophone and Hispanic Antilles. This study underscores the socio-cultural impact of emigration and the perpetual self-redefinition that results from this phenomenon. Without denying the enduring impact of former colonial divisions or minimizing the specificities to each bloc in the region, Ferly shows that a comparative analysis of female narratives is often most pertinent across linguistic zones.
Review
'[This book]stands out among other comparative studies in the field by engaging Edouard Glissant's image of the rhizome and his theory of Relation to construct a pan-Caribbean approach that delineates a unique female literary tradition. Combining a comprehensive overview of foundational theories and questions with insightful close readings, Ferly offers a new direction for scholars and students of women's writing in the Caribbean.'—Sally Barbour, professor of Romance Languages, Wake Forest University
'Ferly's innovative dialogue across race, ethnicity, islands, languages, and oceans, challenges colonial inheritances by engaging polyphonic Francophone, and Hispanophone Caribbean female narratives in a profusion of creative networks summoning the continually shifting matrix of the mangrove. A must-read for scholars of comparative Caribbean studies.'—Catherine Reinhardt, Chapman University
'A solid contribution to studies on contemporary women's writings from the French and Spanish Caribbean rooted in the ecologically-minded and innovative paradigm of the mangrove.' - Dawn Duke, chair of Africana Studies and associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Tennessee
Synopsis
A Poetics of Relation fosters a dialogue across islands and languages between established and lesser-known authors, bringing together archipelagic and diasporic voices from the Francophone and Hispanic Antilles. In this pan-diasporic study, Ferly shows that a comparative analysis of female narratives is often most pertinent across linguistic zones.
About the Author
Odile Ferly is Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Clark University.
Table of Contents
Introduction: "The Roots of Relation" * Overcoming Marginalisation: Relation and Female Subjectivity * Rhizomic Roots: Nation and Relation * The Emergence of a Creole Discourse * Identity in Relation*Diaspora Writing: The Poetics of Wandering * Conclusion: Caribbean Female Narratives into the Third Millennium