3264955
doi
10.5281/zenodo.3264955
oai:zenodo.org:3264955
Post-Colonial Healing through Environmental Justice: A Psychoanalytic Reading of J.M.G. Le Clézio's Literature
LaLonde, Suzanne
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
Post-colonialism, eco-criticism, psychoanalysis, interdependence, environmental justice,
<p>This research links post-colonial and eco-critical theories through a psychoanalytic<br>
reading of Desert (2009) and The Prospector (2008) by the Francophone and Noble-<br>
prize novelist J.M.G. Le Clézio. The rationale behind this interdisciplinary approach<br>
stems from Frantz Fanon’s position that colonialism damaged both minds<br>
and the colonized earth. Relying on the research of psychoanalysts, three critical<br>
arguments are advanced. First, Le Clézio’s character Lalla develops a relationship<br>
of interdependence with nature (rather than one of interconnectedness), which<br>
guarantees freedom and in turn healing from the trauma of colonialism. Second,<br>
this agency to define herself on her own terms—as united with nature—is a keen<br>
example of justice that also applies to the natural environment. This concept of<br>
justice and environmental justice is inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s notion<br>
of rendering the other his/her “due”. Third, the character Ouma defies Homi<br>
Bhabha’s positions regarding the colonized subject and fulfills instead a special role.<br>
By living close to nature and sharing the trauma of colonialism, she is privileged to<br>
speak out on behalf of it; the post-colonial figure Alexis conversely reverts to automatic<br>
and scattered behavior, as he struggles in vain to heal from the role of the<br>
colonizer. This leads to the conclusion that although humans might have an overinflated<br>
sense of specialness as a species, colonized peoples who have lived a similar<br>
fate as the earth are well-positioned to advance justice for the natural environment<br>
and may very well serve as members of a keystone species that will determine the<br>
well-being of so many other living species on the planet.</p>
Zenodo
2019-06-30
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
3264954
1579534209.512582
248322
md5:09c5faa7b610c77b3899a684daa7f441
https://zenodo.org/records/3264955/files/June 2019 clezio.pdf
public
10.5281/zenodo.3264954
isVersionOf
doi
Postcolonial Interventions: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Postcolonial Studies (ISSN 2455 6564)
Vol. IV, Issue 2
85-113
2019-06-30