Maternity in the Antilles:

refusal and idealization of the maternal figure in society and literature

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the different maternal experiences and the rejection of motherhood from a western perspective focusing on Antillean culture. It is proposed a brief analysis of the manifestation of the (non) motherhood during the biblical period to the contemporary society in order to exhibit the complexity and grandeur of the theme. It seeks to present a definition of certain concepts that encompass the theme of motherhood, such as the “compulsory motherhood”, the difference between “motherhood” and “mothering” and the construction of the image of women “poteau-mitan”. Such definitions assist in understanding their expressions and representations in some classic narratives of Antillean literature. In all the texts analyzed here, the vital presence of the maternal figure of the main characters is contemplated or the story of a mother is witnessed as a central element of the narrative. Through the different stories of the Antillean novelists, there is divergence regarding the expected conduct of women and the various manifestations of motherhood in each female character. The reflections of intellectual women such as Julia Kristeva, Fatima Py, Françoise Vergès, Stéphanie Mulot, Bell Hooks, Elisabeth Badinter and Nubia Hanciau are welcomed as central theoretical foundations. The literary interfaces between the Guadalupean writer Maryse Condé and the Caribbean novelists Joseph Zobel, Simone Schwarz-Bart, André Schwarz-Bart, Patrick Chamoiseau and Gisèle Pineau are valued.