Journal | Il Tolomeo
Journal issue | 17 | 2015
Research Article | Damas, météore
Damas, météore
- Kathleen Gyssels - Antwerp University, Belgique - email
Abstract
In a collection of poetry, Mine de riens, published during the centennial year of his birth, Léon-Gontran Damas (1912-1978) paid tribute to the Amerindians by opening with a long poem which signified upon the masks ("mine" meaning 'expression', 'look', 'appearance', and, indeed 'mien') donned by the colonized indigenous population of the 'Eldorado' of the Guianas. In Mine de riens, he recalls the early exploitation of Native Americans as a cheap? labour-force in the Spanish gold mines. Damas also touches on other forgotten or taboo topics hitherto little represented in the literature of the Greater Caribbean, such as the sexual abuse of children (or 'minors', homonym of 'miners' in French), homoerotic desire (anticipating Christiane Taubira's quoting from Damas' Black-Label before the National Assembly in 2013 while defending gay marriage), and competing claims on historical commemoration in the French Republic (Jews and blacks being accorded unequal attention). The article also problematizes the neglect of Damas as co-founder of Negritude (with Senghor and Césaire), in sharp contrast to the attention paid to Glissant, Bernabé, Confiant, and Chamoiseau, Martinique's post-Negritude authors of Créolité, this partly because of the lack of public awareness caused by the problematic handling of Damas' manuscripts. The fact that Damas' own title, Mine de riens, was replaced by Dernière escale is a prime example of the lamentable state of affairs in Damasian studies today.
Published Dec. 31, 2015 | Language: fr
Keywords Resurgence through politics, Queering French-Carib
Copyright © 2015 Kathleen Gyssels. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.14277/2499-5975/Tol-17-15-7
Recensioni | Reviews | Comptes rendus
- Ghosh, Vishwajyoti (ed.) (2013). This Side, That Side: Restorying Partition. New Delhi: Yoda Press, pp. 336 Siddiqui, Shahid (2014). The Golden Pigeon. Noida: HarperCollins Publishers, pp. 252
- Esterino Adami
- Dec. 31, 2015
- Sanchez, M.G. (2015). Solitude House. Huntingdon: Rock Scorpion Books, pp. 292
- Esterino Adami
- Dec. 31, 2015
- Lahiri, Jhumpa (2016) In Other Words. Transl. by Ann Goldstein. Gurgaon: Penguin Books India, pp. 233. Transl. of: In altre parole. Parma: Ugo Guanda Editore, 2015
- Esterino Adami
- Dec. 31, 2015
- «Aminata Sow Fall: itinéraire d’une pionnière» (2015). Textes réunis et présentés par Alioune Diaw et Cheikh M.S. Diop. Interculturel Francophonies, 27, juin-juillet, p. 267
- Anna Michieletto
- Dec. 31, 2015
- Fryer, Peter [1984] (2010). Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain. London; New York: Pluto Press, pp. 648
- Sara Pahor
- Dec. 31, 2015
- Ollivier, Émile (2013). Passaggi. Trad. di Elena Pessini. Piacenza: Nuova Editrice Berti, pp. 190
- Alessia Vignoli
- Dec. 31, 2015
- Meddeb, Abdelwahab (2012). Poema di un sufi senza Dio: Sulla tomba d’Ibn Arabi. Ortica Editrice: Aprilia, pp. 112
- Sara Del Rossi
- Dec. 31, 2015
- Paret, Roland (2011). «Z. L’État haïtien existe, je l’ai même rencontré...». Montréal: Éditions du CIDIHCA, pp. 120
- Sara Del Rossi
- Dec. 31, 2015
- «Rêves fantômes fantasmes» (2014). Ponti/Ponts, 14, 2014, pp. 1-79
- Sara Del Rossi
- Dec. 31, 2015
- «Alain Mabanckou, ou la vocation cosmopolite» (2014). Textes réunis et présentés par F. Mambenga. Interculturel Francophonies, 25, juin-juillet, p. 337
- Anna Michieletto
- Dec. 31, 2015
- «Rêves fantômes et fantasmes» (2014). Ponti/Ponts, 14, pp. 79-350
- Alessia Vignoli
- Dec. 31, 2015
Interviste | Interviews | Interview
- Interview with Sindiwe Magona
- Maria Paola Guarducci
- Dec. 31, 2015
- An Interview with Rosemary Sullivan, after Her Writing Stalin’s Daughter
- Laura Ferri Forconi
- Dec. 31, 2015
Articoli | Articles | Articles
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What’s in a name?
Language attitudes and linguistic features in NoViolet Bulawayo’s We Need New Names - David Newbold
- Dec. 31, 2015
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Identité migrante et culture plurielle
La réappropriation du moi à travers les héroïnes de Vénus Khoury-Ghata et de Malika Mokeddem - Francesca Tumia
- Dec. 31, 2015
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Storia di un romanzo africano in Italia
Le traduzioni de L’Enfant noir di Camara Laye - Linda Framattei
- Dec. 31, 2015
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D’une édition à l’autre
Le premier roman d’Anthony Phelps quarante ans après - Alessia Vignoli
- Dec. 31, 2015
- Damas, météore
- Kathleen Gyssels
- Dec. 31, 2015
-
La soggettività postcoloniale
Riflessioni a partire da Suheir Hammad, Nathalie Handal e Mohja Kahf - Marta Cariello
- Dec. 31, 2015
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L’empreinte à Crusoé di Patrick Chamoiseau
L’avventura ‘interiore’ di un Robinson del XXI secolo - Anna Vitali
- Dec. 31, 2015
Testi creativi | Creative Works | Créations
- Myriam J.A. Chancy: an Introduction
- Franca Bernabei
- Dec. 31, 2015
- ‘The Tug’
- Myriam J. A. Chancy
- Dec. 31, 2015
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Un rire qui nous enterrera tous
Présentation de: Roland Paret, Le rire d’Athanase, inédit - Sara Del Rossi
- Dec. 31, 2015
- Le rire d’Athanase
- Roland Paret
- Dec. 31, 2015
Editoriale | Editorial | Éditorial
- Editoriale | Editorial | éditorial
- Il consiglio di direzione | The Editorial Committee | Le Conseil de Direction Il Tolomeo
- Dec. 31, 2015
| DC Field | Value |
|---|---|
|
dc.identifier |
ECF_article_265 |
|
dc.title |
Damas, météore |
|
dc.contributor.author |
Gyssels Kathleen |
|
dc.publisher |
Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing |
|
dc.type |
Research Article |
|
dc.language.iso |
fr |
|
dc.identifier.uri |
http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/il-tolomeo/2015/1/damas-meteore/ |
|
dc.description.abstract |
In a collection of poetry, Mine de riens, published during the centennial year of his birth, Léon-Gontran Damas (1912-1978) paid tribute to the Amerindians by opening with a long poem which signified upon the masks ("mine" meaning 'expression', 'look', 'appearance', and, indeed 'mien') donned by the colonized indigenous population of the 'Eldorado' of the Guianas. In Mine de riens, he recalls the early exploitation of Native Americans as a cheap? labour-force in the Spanish gold mines. Damas also touches on other forgotten or taboo topics hitherto little represented in the literature of the Greater Caribbean, such as the sexual abuse of children (or 'minors', homonym of 'miners' in French), homoerotic desire (anticipating Christiane Taubira's quoting from Damas' Black-Label before the National Assembly in 2013 while defending gay marriage), and competing claims on historical commemoration in the French Republic (Jews and blacks being accorded unequal attention). The article also problematizes the neglect of Damas as co-founder of Negritude (with Senghor and Césaire), in sharp contrast to the attention paid to Glissant, Bernabé, Confiant, and Chamoiseau, Martinique's post-Negritude authors of Créolité, this partly because of the lack of public awareness caused by the problematic handling of Damas' manuscripts. The fact that Damas' own title, Mine de riens, was replaced by Dernière escale is a prime example of the lamentable state of affairs in Damasian studies today. |
|
dc.relation.ispartof |
Il Tolomeo |
|
dc.relation.ispartof |
Vol. 17 | December 2015 |
|
dc.issued |
2015-12-31 |
|
dc.identifier.issn |
|
|
dc.identifier.eissn |
2499-5975 |
|
dc.rights |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License |
|
dc.rights.uri |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
|
dc.identifier.doi |
10.14277/2499-5975/Tol-17-15-7 |
|
dc.peer-review |
yes |
|
dc.subject |
Resurgence through politics, Queering French-Carib |
|
dc.subject |
Resurgence through politics, Queering French-Carib |
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