Repeating Islands

Today marks the birth date of Joseph Zobel, Martinican novelist best known for his semi-autobiographical novel La Rue Cases-Nègres (1950, translated as Black Shack Alley). Zobel was born in Rivière-Salée, in southern Martinique, on April 26, 1915, and died at the age of 91 in June 17, 2006.

Zobel’s writing centered the rural poverty of colonial Martinique, the harsh conditions of the plantation system, and the life of the working-class poor. His friendship and engagement with other literary figures provided support and inspiration for his own writing and travels.  Aimé Césaire, for example, encouraged him to write a novel, thus providing the impetus for Zobel’s Diab-là (written 1942 but published in 1946). Later, acting upon fellow writer Léopold Sédar Senghor’s suggestion that he experience African life, Zobel moved to Africa, living in Casamance and Dakar, where he was inspired to write Si la mer n’était pas bleue (1982) and Mas Badara (1983). Worldwide fame arrived in 1983 with Martinican director Euzhan Palcy’s film version of his award-winning La Rue Cases Nègres, which won 17 international awards, including a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

 Some of Zobel’s other works include Laghia de la mort (1946), Incantation pour un retour au pays natal (1964), Les Mains pleines d’oiseaux (1978), Quand la neige aura fondu (1979), Poèmes de moi-même (1984), Poèmes d’amour et de silence (1994), Le soleil m’a dit… (2002), and Gertal et autres nouvelles (2002).

Zobel is remembered as a gracious, if reluctant celebrity, but mostly as a writer who understood the framework and impact of colonialism, and who both understood and transcended poverty. The school in his home town of Rivière-Salée is now named after him, Lycée Joseph Zobel.

For more information (in English), see, http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2006/jul/01/guardianobituaries.booksobituaries/print

For more information (in French), see, http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/ile.en.ile/paroles/zobel.html

Photograph from http://www.meppublishers.com/online/caribbean-beat/archive/index.php?pid=6001&issue=82