The Narrative of Liberation. Perspectives on Afro-Caribbean Literature, Popular Culture, and Politics by Patrick Taylor (review)

L ’E sprit C réateur structuralism, she then undertakes Lacan’s progressive reductionism of thought into language, which leads to the negation of the cartesian subject. Humorously—is it really humor?—he remarks, “ le moyen de résoudre l’énigme du Je c’est de l’éliminer” (344). In Les Mots et les choses, Foucault finally kills off the subject—interpreted by some as the death knell of humanism (349). Barthes’s three faces and their fundamental unity in Le Degré zéro de l'écriture and Critique et vérité are discussed. In a stunning chapter on Blanchot, Braun writes that he was the first to understand “ cet élément hétérogène à la raison dont les pitreries dada, les recherches occultes de Breton, la folie d’Artaud et les déchaînements de Bataille signalaient l’existence” (383). Derrida and “ déconstruction” is the theme of Braun’s excellent last chapter, after which follow the conclusion and Epi­ logue, “ Transcendance interdite.” Because of its thematics, perceptions, and depth, Le Moi décapité is a milestone in criticism. It is recommended to all libraries as well as to all those interested in the humani­ ties. That Braun was able to synthesize as well as to explicate the various literary, philo­ sophical, and aesthetic movements since World War I with the clarity and knowledge of a classicist and humanist, is unique in today’s world. Sadly may I say—she is the last of this class of scholars capable of effecting such a feat. B e t t in a L . K n a p p Hunter College and the Graduate Center o f CUNY Patrick Taylor. T h e N a r r a t iv e o f L ib e r a t io n . P e r s p e c t iv e s o n A fr o -C a r ib b e a n L it e r a t u r e , P o p u l a r C u l t u r e , a n d P o l it ic s . Ithaca: C o rn e ll U n iv e rs ity P re s s , 1989. Pp. xiv + 251. Patrick Taylor begins his book by postulating that all narrative is socially symbolic, and that it serves to order experience and to “ render . . . [it] meaningful in terms of a cultural tradition.” One of the substantive concerns of The Narrative o f Liberation is to offer a sociopoetical reading of the narratives encoded in various Afro-Caribbean cultural prac­ tices: Haitian vaudou; trickster tales; the literature of negritude; and the writings of George Lamming and Derek Walcott. Taylor’s argument hinges upon a fundamental distinction between “ mythical” and “ liberating” narrative forms. Operating within the general frame­ work of an opposition between “the principle of destiny and the principle of freedom,” and particularizing this opposition through reference to the specific context(s) of colonial­ ism, Taylor suggests that while “ mythical” narrative ultimately evinces resignation in the face of a reality that is regarded tragically, as simultaneously oppressive and unalterable, “ liberating” narrative “ presupposes the reality of human freedom,” and takes the world, not as “ a fixed, pre-given entity,” but as “ possibility.” Taylor argues that vaudou, trickster tales, and negritude writing all exemplify “ mythical” narrative. On the one hand, they serve to identify—and hence to unify—the colonized as an oppressed group, and to affirm the necessity of (anti-colonial) struggle. But on the other hand, they tend to take the hegemony of the colonial system for granted; and ultimately they capitulate to it. Writing about the trickster narrative, thus, Taylor main­ tains that it “assumes the system, even as it sees the necessity of struggle within it.” And this same “ tragic” structure of struggle within the overall context of defeat is seen to animate vaudou and negritude writing as well. “Liberating” narrative, which calls upon the colonized population to overcome “drama” —defined as “ mythical, tragic understanding” —and to assume “ historical, national, and human responsibility” is located in the writing of Lamming and Walcott, 116 W in t e r 1990 Book Reviews and, paradigmatically, in...