Women and exile narratives in Maryse Condé and Gisèle Pineau's Francophone Caribbean novels

Abstract

One of the most prevalent issues in francophone literature is exile and its impact on the postcolonial identity formation of French colonised society. However, there is limited space for the voices of Francophone women writers to speak about their exile. This article draws on the autobiographical novels by Caribbean Francophone women writers Maryse Condé and Gisèle Pineau. The research method used is comparative cultural studies to look at the tension between the discourse of the centre and the periphery in postcolonial literature. This article shows that both writers have different exile experiences but still centre on the clash of postcolonial identities between the people of the former colonies and the colonial government. Both novels also represent the realities of francophone societies that continue to be confronted with questions of cultural roots, homeland, and cultural roots that gradually disappear under colonialism.Keywords: Caribbean, exil, female, francophone