Reimagining postcolonial identities: The Blancs-Matignon of Guadeloupe

In: French cultural studies

Abstract

Mariette Monpierre's and Michel Reinette's 2022 documentary, Les Derniers Blancs Matignon de Guadeloupe, and Estelle-Sarah Bulle's 2018 novel, Là, où les chiens aboient par la queue emblematize the complexities involved in reimagining postcolonial identities in Guadeloupe, especially that of the Blancs-Matignon. They are a mostly White, endogamous, and isolated group who have had a discreet existence in the thickly forested inland region of Grands-Fonds du Moule since the late 1600s. Through an analysis of the documentary and parts of the novel, the article explores historical, cultural, and linguistic convergences between the Blancs-Matignon and the majority Black and mixed-race population of Guadeloupe. The identity politics of weaving the narratives of the Blancs-Matignon into the matrix of Guadeloupe's contemporary society will also be examined.