Conversations with Conde: Entretiens avec Maryse Conde

Entretiens avec Maryse Condé consists of eight conversations between Maryse Condé and Françoise Pfaff, a Professor in the department of Romance Languages at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and author of two books on the African cinema, among other writings. Maryse Condé is an author of international renown whose works include essays, plays, novels, and critiques. Among her novels are Hérémakhonon, (En attendant le bonheur), Ségou, Moi, Tituba sorciére noire de Salem, Traversée de la mangrove, and La colonie du nouveau monde.

The conversations, except for one which took place in 1982, span a two-year period (1991–1992) and are chronologically and topically arranged. After the first conversation concerning important events in Condé’s life, the others focus on each of her major works in the order of their publication. The last one, “The Black Diaspora,” embraces a variety of issues: black writers from different geographical areas, the oral tradition, créolité, and the African and Caribbean cinema, among others. The final section consists of a postword written by Régis Antoine of the “Centre international d’études francophones à la Sorbonne.” His erudite analytical comments and informed critical opinions are in keeping with the intellectual tenor of the book, offering a center of interest all their own. Entretiens also contains an abundant and up-to-date bibliography, the first one to my knowledge to include, in addition to all of Condé’s writings, a complete list of critical works generated by them.

Reading a work of fiction means entering the imagined world of its author, known to readers only through his or her creations. Whether this fictional world is familiar, intriguing, or provoking, the very fact that the person who engendered it remains a stranger creates a feeling of curiosity: the author’s personality, aesthetics, and world view are felt as essential elements that effect a deeper understanding of the work and possibly create a heightened receptivity. As a bio-bibliographical conversation, Entretiens is likely to satisfy those readers eager to obtain more extensive information about the author, since it consists of a thorough exploration of the background from which Maryse Condé draws her inspiration and the substance of her works. In her introduction, Françoise Pfaff defines the work aptly as Condé’s “biographical and literary journey, a view of her personality, her mind, her thoughts, and of the likely connections between her life and her works.”

The conversations combine substance, informality, and spontaneity, the result of a fruitful collaboration between two women writers who know each other personally. They consequently discuss a wide range of issues, personal and political, in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, adding a most enjoyable tone to an intellectually stimulating book. The smooth flow of the exchange may give readers a false impression of effortlessness; the apparent ease of the conversations, both their effectiveness and the interest they provoke, in fact reflect the distinctive skillfulness of the interviewer, as Pfaff utilizes her thorough knowledge of Condé’s works, the milieu from which they originate, and the interweaving of concepts and events which shape and color the author’s creativity. This very familiarity enables Pfaff to steer the conversations with authority and discretion. Her questions, commentaries, comparisons, and calls for elucidation function as landmarks that confer both structure and continuity on the conversations, helping them remain focused without being stilted.

Beyond the more personal biographical topics—such as Condé’s childhood and adolescent years, her academic preparation, family, and African journeys—the literary aspects of Entretiens that deal with Condé’s works and related topics hold a particular interest mainly because of the dual perspective from which Condé speaks: she appears both as a writer and as a critic of her own writings. As a writer, she stresses the principles she considers among the most important: “Eviter le conventionnel, le manichéiste, le militant” [Avoid conventionality, manicheism, militancy]. This forceful statement manifests her integrity, her respect for the truth, and a strict adherence to reality, while also implying her rejection of any form of didacticism, a rejection she...