From the slave good savage to the runaway slave: A few thoghts on the image of slaves in French and carribbean litérature

Abstract

Slavery is one of the oldest institutions of the world. The trade of African slaves in the Americas started a few years after the discovery of the New World. Marivaux’s play l’Ile des esclaves / The Island of Slaves, despite his title, is not really against slavery in the West Indies. Bernardin de Saint-Pierre who follows the ideas of Rousseau about the “good savage”, created an idyllic world in his novel Paul and Virginie although he knew about the horrible conditions of slaves in French colonies. In George Sand’s novel Indiana, the beautiful servant Noun is more oriental than colonial. Bug-Jargal, the hero of Victor Hugo, is a rebel slave devoted to his masters. Prosper Mérimée in Tamango clearly supports slavery. Lamartine’s play Toussaint Louverture has no success. Slaves in French literature do not represent a real rebellion against the colonialist. Only the contemporary Caribbean writers have created the runaway slave who is a symbol of the struggle for freedom.