A Poetics of Disorder: Maryse Condé in Dialogue with Édouard Glissant and “Others”
Document Type
Presentation
Location
Magnolia Room, LSU Student Union / Zoom
Start Date
5-3-2026 11:20 AM
End Date
5-3-2026 11:40 AM
Abstract
In her essay, “Order, Disorder, Freedom and the West Indian Writer” (1993), Maryse Conde makes a case for a true and authentic Caribbean literature that incorporates female voices. However, her task leads to an audacious and controversial critique of key Caribbean figures for attempting to impose and fix the boundaries of this literature. For example, her essay takes a slight dig at Glissant’s theory, described as obscure, abstruse and unable to impose itself in the literary world. Through her critique of these important thinkers, Conde advances her notion of “disorder” which opens new possibilities for intellectual freedom and creativity. What does Conde mean by disorder? What makes her concept unique from that of Glissant and others criticized? What is the role of females in this new concept, and where does she intersect with Glissant? To answer these questions, I will analyze Conde’s concept of disorder, paying close attention to its unique characteristics and its point of convergence with Glissant. I contend in this paper that Conde’s notion of disorder redefines the aesthetics of Caribbean literary and cultural thought by simultaneously challenging patriarchal frameworks and interrogating restrictive models advocated by scholars like Glissant. Her concept challenges the false mythologization that renders the Caribbean female writer and character invisible while reinventing literary creativity as the ability to shock and transgress, a dynamic that can be read as intersecting with Glissant’s notion of Relation.
A Poetics of Disorder: Maryse Condé in Dialogue with Édouard Glissant and “Others”
Magnolia Room, LSU Student Union / Zoom
In her essay, “Order, Disorder, Freedom and the West Indian Writer” (1993), Maryse Conde makes a case for a true and authentic Caribbean literature that incorporates female voices. However, her task leads to an audacious and controversial critique of key Caribbean figures for attempting to impose and fix the boundaries of this literature. For example, her essay takes a slight dig at Glissant’s theory, described as obscure, abstruse and unable to impose itself in the literary world. Through her critique of these important thinkers, Conde advances her notion of “disorder” which opens new possibilities for intellectual freedom and creativity. What does Conde mean by disorder? What makes her concept unique from that of Glissant and others criticized? What is the role of females in this new concept, and where does she intersect with Glissant? To answer these questions, I will analyze Conde’s concept of disorder, paying close attention to its unique characteristics and its point of convergence with Glissant. I contend in this paper that Conde’s notion of disorder redefines the aesthetics of Caribbean literary and cultural thought by simultaneously challenging patriarchal frameworks and interrogating restrictive models advocated by scholars like Glissant. Her concept challenges the false mythologization that renders the Caribbean female writer and character invisible while reinventing literary creativity as the ability to shock and transgress, a dynamic that can be read as intersecting with Glissant’s notion of Relation.
Comments
Key Words : Poetics, Disorder, Dialogue, controversial, patriarchal, convergence, relations.