This bilingual collection illustrates the concept of the âWarrior of the Imaginaryâ, as defined by Patrick Chamoiseau, in a multi-faceted corpus of texts. Francophone contributions explore the role of the Caribbean writer in works by Chamoiseau, Ãdouard Glissant, Daniel Maximin, and Joseph Zobel. Essays in English focus not only on familiar writers (Dionne Brand, Edwidge Danticat, Wilson Harris, Jamaica Kincaid, Caryl Phillips, Derek Walcott) but also on less widely studied voices (Robert Antoni, Albert Helman). Other contributions deal with such âfighting areasâ as Afro-Brazilian music, film, and Mutabarukaâs militant poetry. The whole testifies to a surprisingly coherent imaginary, one that goes beyond the âbalkanizationâ of the Caribbean archipelago.
"A handsome bilingual volume that represents an admirable project: to bridge the gap between readers of francophone and Anglophone Caribbean writing by including essays on both literatures [â¦] This is an important collection, notable for its distinctive readings of particular texts, but also for its breadth and ambition in taking on the geographical, linguistic and formal diversity of Caribbean writing in the light of Chamoiseauâs ideas" â Chris Ringrose, Monash University