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"Réhabiliter l'humanité de 'ceux qui voient la nuit'": Albinism in Didier Destremau's Nègre blanc
- L'Esprit Créateur
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 52, Number 2, Summer 2012
- pp. 89-98
- 10.1353/esp.2012.0021
- Article
- Additional Information
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Despite concern from support groups about the general inaccuracy of depictions of people with albinism, the representation of albinism in contemporary literature has enjoyed limited critical attention. In the preface of his novel Nègre blanc (2002), Didier Destremau outlines his aim to "réhabiliter l'humanité de 'ceux qui voient la nuit,'" acknowledging the beliefs and stereotypes attached to albinism and the need to challenge them. Through a close reading of Nègre blanc this article examines the success of Destremau's project in his novel, which portrays different understandings of the genetic condition by focusing on a protagonist living with albinism in Mozambique.