Customer Reviews

I Am a Martinican Woman & the White Negress: Two Novelettes

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Interesting read in itself -- but a must read if you are a follower of memoirs, post-colonial literature, reflections on mixed-race alienation, WWII and The Vichy government, and especially, Frantz Fanon. As stated in the wonderful introduction by Dr. Clark, Fanon dedicated part of his famous book, "Black Skin, White Masks" to a damning critique of the works of Capecia, claiming her internal racism, Eurocentricism and romantic preference for the superior white man over the savage black man was indicative of an over all cultural and pyschological problem that colonialization/slavery had produced on non-white/non-European inhabitants. This rings true especially in her memoir, "I am a Martinican Woman" where some truly jaw dropping statements about white superiority are expressed. But by the second book, "The White Negress", her views on race become more complicated. It helps that the second book is written as fiction in 3rd person whereas the memoir narrative of the previous makes her racism even more noticable. I disagree however that either book considers European culture superior. Both memoir and novel are full of lush, romantic, positive descriptions of the island and island people. Race in the US is pretty simply put: you are either black or white. In Martinique, however, there are many forms/names of race and your position is more determined by the whiteness or darkness of your skin. The author has a white grandmother so her musings on race politics and her identity crisis are especially compelling. As mentioned earlier, much of these two books take place during WWII and both books explore the effects of the Vichy French goverment upon its colonial terrorities. Battles and switches to DeGaulle support by the "native" islanders is especially interesting. Both books are full of West Indies history pre-WWII as well. The introduction and notes give one a good historical context and enrich the reading. Not as well written or perhaps well translated as most famous post-colonial lit but worth reading if you are interested. Just get ready to cringe at her own tragic internal/external racism but applaud her ahead of its time feminism.