Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française
White Spirit (European Women Writers Series)
Set on an African banana plantation, White Spirit follows three innocents: Victor, a young Frenchman running a supply store; Lola, a mulatto prostitute desperately seeking to lighten her skin; and Alexis, a chimpanzee who does not know he is a monkey. A barrel of mysterious powder christened white spirit for its bleaching effect unleashes an obsession with whiteness that exposes the perverse system of desires and hatreds binding colonizers and colonized alike, spiraling toward catastrophe. With caustic language, fierce irony, and enormous tenderness for human frailty, Paule Constant portrays a nightmarish postcolonial Africa while sparking a light of hope amid torment and suffering.
Work Information
A whip-smart postcolonial satire illuminating the absurdities of colonialism with dark comedy and profound tenderness.
Published by Gallimard in 1989. A colonial novel by French author Paule Constant, winner of the Grand Prix du Roman de l'Academie francaise in 1990. Through three innocent characters on an African banana plantation, Constant explores the contradictions of colonial rule and the absurdity of human desire with caustic humor and deep compassion. An English translation by Betsy Wing was published by University of Nebraska Press in 2006.
Review Summaries
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Library Journal called it beautifully written with original word constructions. Publishers Weekly praised the dark and rollicking prose chronicling colonialism's terrible absurdities. Booklist described it as a whip-smart postcolonial satire. Overall reception is highly positive.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Bison Books
- Published
- 2006-03-20
- Pages
- 172 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.97 x 1.02 x 21.59 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780803264410
- ISBN-10
- 0803264410
- Price
- 3634 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Nonfiction/Education/Reference
After answering a classified ad placed by an import-export company looking for energetic young men willing to take on responsibilities for its African branches&;no diploma required&;Victor finds himself on The Will of God , a dilapidated boat heading into the heart of darkness as even Conrad couldn&;t have imagined. With the piquant mixture of hilarity and painful disenchantment characterizing Paule Constant&;s vision of the &;colonial novel,&; White Spirit follows three innocents&;Victor; Lola, a mulatto prostitute; and Alexis, who does not know he&;s a monkey&;as they negotiate the perverse system of desires and hatreds on an African banana plantation. Selling what no one wants or needs, Victor takes delivery of a barrel of mysterious powder promptly christened &;white spirit&; for its ability to bleach the black arms of the workers handling the shipment. To become whiter and worthier of love, Lola buys some&;and then the rest vanishes. In this nightmarish Africa where colonized and colonizers have each other in a stranglehold, the "white spirit" unleashes an obsession that merges whiteness with a return to paradise&;an obsession that can only end in catastrophe. Through it all, with her characteristic caustic language, fierce irony, and enormous tenderness for human frailty, Constant portrays the ridiculous without ridicule&;and, miraculously, sparks a light of hope in the midst of the torment and suffering.
Paule Constant is the author of several novels, including Trading Secrets , winner of the Prix Goncourt, and The Governor&;s Daughter , both published by the University of Nebraska Press. Betsy Wing has translated Constant&;s previous novels published by the University of Nebraska Press, as well as Édouard Glissant&;s The Fourth Century (Nebraska 2001) and Hélène Cixous&;s The Book of Promethea (Nebraska 1991).