Memory and Relation in Gisèle Pineau’s Mes quatre femmes

Gisèle Pineau’s 2007 memoir Mes quatre femmes provides a powerful example of the myriad processes at work in the preservation and transmission of memory. Her creative transposition of four of her female ancestors into a dark “memory jail” exposes the way in which memory is a highly constructed phenomenon and how different people harness its powers in different ways. The work particularly highlights the intimate relationship between memory and identity. Moreover, Mes quatre femmes offers a striking literary portrayal of Édouard Glissant’s theory of Relation. Pineau demonstrates the redemptive possibilities of a relational approach to one’s life experiences.