19th and 20th Century French Exoticism: Pierre Loti, Louis-Ferdinand Celine, Michel Leiris, and Simone Schwarz-Bart
This study of four 19th and 20th century colonial texts, as well as a later
postcolonial novel exposes the cadres exotiques, or exotic frameworks, of literary
exoticism. The thesis names and interprets the moods of and reactions to exoticism,
including colonial exoticism, antiexoticism, and autoexoticism. Poetic and theoretical
interpretations of exoticism, such as Victor Segalens Notion du Divers and Edouard
Glissants Opacité and Poétique de la Relation challenge the prevalent assumptions that
the literary practice was only an unfortunate byproduct of colonialism.
The first chapter presents literary history and theoretical considerations relating
to exoticism: Orientalism, nostalgia, colonial literary history, and a critical literature
review. Chapter II explores Le Roman dun spahi (1881) and Les Trois dames de la
Kasbah (1882) by Pierre Loti, two texts dating from Frances high colonial period of the
late 19th century. Chapter III studies works and contexts of the 1930sLouis-Ferdinand
Célines Voyage au bout de la nuit (1932) and Michel Leiriss LAfrique fantôme (1934).
These modernist texts appeared with the decline of colonial exoticisms popularity.
conclude with an analysis of Simone Schwarz-Barts Pluie et vent sur Télumée Miracle
(1973), a postcolonial novel about the life of a Creole woman in the former French
colony of Guadeloupe.
Advisor:Kate Jensen; Pius Ngandu; Helen Regis; Nathaniel Wing; Jack Yeager; Kevin Risk
School:Louisiana State University in Shreveport
School Location:USA - Louisiana
Source Type:Master's Thesis
Date of Publication:06/16/2004