Patrick Chamoiseau
| Patrick Chamoiseau | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born |
December 3, 1953 Fort-de-France (Martinique) |
| Language | French |
| Genre | novels, essays, tales, film scripts |
Patrick Chamoiseau is a French author from Martinique known for his work in the créolité movement.
Biography
Chamoiseau was born on December 3, 1953 in Fort-de-France, Martinique, where he currently resides. After he studied law in Paris he returned to Martinique inspired by Édouard Glissant to take a close interest in Creole culture. Chamoiseau is the author of a historical work on the Antilles under the reign of Napoléon Bonaparte and several non-fiction books which include Éloge de la créolité (In Praise of Creoleness), co-authored with Jean Bernabé and Raphaël Confiant. Awarded the Prix Carbet (1990) for Antan d’enfance.[1] His novel Texaco was awarded the Prix Goncourt in 1992, and was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. It has been described as "a masterpiece, the work of a genius, a novel that deserves to be known as much as Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth and Cesaire’s Return to My Native Land".[2]
Chamoiseau may also safely be considered as one of the most innovative writers to hit the French literary scene since Louis-Ferdinand Céline. His freeform use of French language — a highly complex yet fluid mixture of constant invention and "creolism" — fuels a poignant and sensuous depiction of Martinique people in particular and humanity at large.
Works
Novels
- Chronique des sept misères (1986)
- Solibo magnifique (1988) -- See Translation by Rose Réjouis and Val Vinokur. "Solibo Magnificent" (Random House, 1997)
- Antan d'enfance (1990).
- Texaco (1992) -- See Translation by Rose Réjouis and Val Vinokur. Texaco (Random House, 1997)
- Chemin d'école (1994). (published in English under the title "School Days")
- L'Esclave vieil homme et le molosse(1997)
- Émerveilles (1998)
- Biblique des derniers gestes (2002)
- À Bout d'enfance (2005)
- Un dimanche au cachot (2007)
- Les Neuf Consciences du malfini (2009)
- L'empreinte à Crusoé (2012)
Antan d'enfance, Chemin d'école and À Bout d'enfance form the autobiographical trilogy: Une enfance Créole.
Plays
Films
- l'Exil du roi Behanzin (1994)
- Le Passage du Milieu (2000)
- Biguine (2004)
- Nord Plage (2004)
- Aliker (2007)
Comics
- "Monsieur Coutcha", under the name "Abel", with Tony DELSHAM (one of the first caribbean cartoons, published during the 1970).
- Encyclomerveille d'un tueur 1. L'Orphelin de Cocoyer Grands-Bois (2009)[3]
Children's literature
- Emerveilles (1998)
Essays
- "Éloge de la créolité" (with Jean Bernabé et Raphaël Confiant) (1989)
- "Lettres créoles. Tracées antillaises et continentales de la littérature" (with Raphaël Confiant) (1991)
- "Martinique" (with V. Renaudeau) (1994)
- "Guyane: Traces-Mémoires du bagne" (1994)
- "Ecrire en pays dominé" (1997)
- "Elmire des sept bonheurs: confidences d'un vieux travailleur de la distillerie Saint-Etienne" (1998)
External links
- Patrick Chamoiseau, biography, bibliography, interview, and links, "île en île", City University of New York, 2002-2003. (French)
- Critical bibliography (Auteurs.contemporain.info) (French)
More Reading
Rose Réjouis, "Object Lessons: Metaphors of Agency in Walter Benjamin's "The Task of the Translator" and Patrick Chamoiseau's SOLIBO MAGNIFIQUE (See Academia.edu)
References
- ↑ http://www.tout-monde.com/pdf/2009-DP-PrixCarbet.pdf
- ↑ Refuge for the wretched, by PERCY ZVOMUYA, Mail & Guardian, 24 August 2012
- ↑ http://www.editions-delcourt.fr/catalogue/bd/encyclomerveille_d_un_tueur_1_l_orphelin_de_cocoyer_grands_bois