Archipelagic Stories, Anguilliform Resistances

Abstract

This article addresses the persistent anthropocentric bias of archipelagic studies. It asks: What would it mean to invite more-than-human and transspecies perspectives into our theorizations of archipelagoes? This interrogation is addressed by following the meanderings of the eel—famously recognized as “the most mysterious creature in the natural world”—through two Francophone texts arising from the Indian Ocean: the first is Mauritian author Ananda Devi's novella La vie de Joséphin le fou (2003), and the second is Comoran author Ali Zamir's novel Anguille sous roche (2016). Through detailed literary analysis, this article demonstrates that in both prose narratives, the perspectives of marine creatures are crucial to the complete telling of intergenerational violence: in particular, the seemingly “infinite” memory and determination of eels becomes an antidote to the fragmentation caused by human trauma. Additionally, this article argues that in both texts, the anguilliform is not simply a theme but also a method, which allows for novel archipelagic forms of storytelling and memory that are as slippery and sinuous as the animals who inspire it. The eel's anguilliform movement thus becomes a source of stylistic and narrative renewal, which allows both texts to embody commentary on the ethical slipperiness of their narratives, as well as on readers’ positionality and complicity.