Fictions of Whiteness: Imagining the Planter Caste in the French Caribbean Novel

The béké, a white Creole master, is a reviled character in plantation literature, associated with slavery and economic dominance. Maeve McCusker's Fictions of Whiteness examines the representation of the béké across two centuries and a range of ideological contexts, illuminating the contradictions and paradoxes of white identity in the Caribbeans vieilles colonies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 29 November 2021
Publisher: University of Virginia Press

The Antilles continue to be a society deeply preoccupied with the intricate gradations of skin color and the social hierarchies that largely stem from, or are influenced by, racial identity. However, francophone postcolonial studies have largely neglected a significant figure in plantation literature: the béké, the white Creole master. A foundational presence in the collective Antillean imagination, the béké is a reviled character who is associated with the trauma of slavery and with the ongoing economic dominance, a figure who is simultaneously desired and fetishized.

Fictions of Whiteness, the first book-length study to delve into the literary construction of whiteness in the francophone Caribbean, offers a comprehensive examination of the overlooked béké figure in the broader history of Antillean literature and culture. In this groundbreaking work, Maeve McCusker delves into the representation of the white Creole across two centuries and a diverse range of ideological contexts. From early nineteenth-century békés like Louis de Maynard and Joseph Levilloux to canonical twentieth- and twenty-first-century novelists such as Édouard Glissant, Patrick Chamoiseau, Raphaël Confiant, and Maryse Condé, as well as lesser-known authors like Vincent Placoly and Marie-Reine de Jaham, and even obscure writers like Henri Micaux, McCusker conducts close analyses that shed light on the complexities and paradoxes of white identity in the Caribbeans vieilles colonies, which served as laboratories for the colonial mission and continue to be haunted by the specter of slavery.

Through these detailed examinations, McCusker highlights the ways in which the béké figure has been both celebrated and condemned, revered as a symbol of power and privilege but also derided as a perpetrator of violence and exploitation. She explores the ways in which the béké has been used to construct and maintain white identity in the Caribbean, as well as the ways in which it has been challenged and subverted by marginalized communities and individuals.

Fictions of Whiteness is a vital contribution to the field of postcolonial studies, offering a fresh perspective on the complex and multifaceted nature of whiteness in the francophone Caribbean. By examining the béké figure in the context of plantation literature and culture, McCusker sheds light on the enduring legacies of slavery and colonialism in the region, and challenges us to reevaluate our understanding of race, identity, and power in the Caribbean and beyond.

Weight: 549g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780813946771