Études postcoloniales by d’Yves Clavaron (review)

The slow entry of postcolonialism into French intellectual life has been increasingly well documented in recent years, especially since 2005 when the term ‘postcolonial’ acquired credible critical currency in France. Much work on this subject has remained partisan, ranging from the proselytism found in publications of the Groupe de recherche Achac to the hostility of sceptics such as Jean-François Bayart (who has characterized postcolonialism as a ‘carnaval académique’). Yves Clavaron’s new collection of essays is to be welcomed, as it historicizes these reactions while simultaneously suggesting the richness of postcolonial critiques developed within and beyond the French-speaking world. Particularly encouraging about the volume is its openness to areas previously ignored in the francophone arena (such as translation), as well as its emphasis on multilingual approaches. Clavaron’s Introduction — knowingly entitled ‘Histoire d’un retard’ — provides a deft overview of resistance to postcolonialism among French intellectuals, highlighting the unsuitability of specifically anglophone postcolonial theories to the historical, cultural, and linguistic specificities of the French-speaking world. Well versed in English-language postcolonial criticism but equally attuned to francophone contexts of its reception, Clavaron emphasizes the need for postcolonial studies, as they continue to evolve in France and elsewhere, to be comparative, multilingual, and multidirectional. This is an agenda evident in the essays that follow, with David Murphy and Véronique Porra providing insightful reflections on alternative postcolonialisms in other national contexts. Murphy focuses on the transcolonial comparatism that emerged at the intersection of postcolonial and francophone studies in Great Britain and Ireland; Porra describes similar processes in a German context, underlining the extent to which pioneering francophone criticism produced in Germany is rarely acknowledged in France itself. The problematics of translation are central to an excellent chapter by Lieven D’Hulst, in which he outlines postcolonial engagements with translation studies. Subsequent chapters provide case studies contributing to the volume’s overall aim of widening postcolonial analysis. Bárbara dos Santos studies the complexities of postcolonial literature in Lusophone Africa; Kim Andringa provides a fascinating insight into literatures of the Dutch Antilles as these islands struggle to find specifically national and postcolonial voices; Sylvie André explores questions of globalization and linguistic choice in the French Pacific; and Claudine Le Blanc brings to bear notions of subalternity in reading contemporary literary production in the Indian subcontinent. A final article is provided by Jean-Marc Moura, the scholar central to the introduction of postcolonialism into French academic debate. Moura defends postcolonial criticism against emerging fields such as globalization studies, and stresses its essential contribution to ‘l’analyse de relations internationales en transformation rapide’ and to ‘l’étude de l’extraordinaire intensification contemporaine des échanges littéraires mondiaux’ (p. 165). Clavaron’s concluding ‘bilan critique’ is magisterial and provides a comprehensive bibliographical introduction to postcolonial studies. One of the major achievements of this collection is its successful description of a postcolonialism à la française that avoids the pitfalls of monolingualism. It does this by emphasizing the importance of transcolonial comparatism and transcultural interconnectedness, both of which underpin Clavaron’s concluding observation, calqued on Paul Alexis’s defence of naturalism: ‘Postcolonialisme pas mort. Lettre suit’ (p. 195).