V. Bruyère, La Différence francophone. De Jean de Léry à Patrick Chamoiseau - Francophone and Oral Literatures

French Literature Reviews - 2026

V. Bruyère, La Différence francophone. De Jean de Léry à Patrick Chamoiseau
Francophone and Oral Literatures

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Vincent Bruyère, La Différence francophone. De Jean de Léry à Patrick Chamoiseau

Rennes: Presses Universitaires de Rennes, coll. "Plurial", 2012.

EAN 9782753520721.

202 p.

Price 16EUR

Publisher's overview:

Because they freeze and generalize complex dynamics situated in time and space, and because they are unstable and subject to the budgetary fluctuations of higher education institutions and the labor market, disciplinary labels are easy targets for criticism. Francophone studies is no exception. A simple idea underpins this book: that the field of Francophone studies cannot be defined by the opening of new chapters in the history of a national literature, nor can it be reduced to the multiplication of geographical subdivisions and postcolonial appendices within literature departments.
The work of Francophone difference forces us to rethink the meaning of literary research through its interdisciplinary reprogramming within what Bill Readings in the 1990s called the Posthistorical University. From Jean de Léry's travel writing to Patrick Chamoiseau's archaeological fantasies, via the reflections of Michel de Certeau and Gayatri Spivak on the historical sciences, a series of case studies addresses the questioning of a literary history project based on the search for an identity-based coincidence between language and territory, corpus and collectivity, sovereignty and spiritual election.

Vincent Bruyère is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of French and Francophone Studies at Pennsylvania State University (USA).

Table of Contents

  • Transfers and Critical Fictions (De Certeau, Spivak, Mudimbe, Marin)
  • Léry's Ear
  • The Savage Eye
  • Patrick Chamoiseau in Search of the Archive
  • "Signed Marof": The Apocryphal Testament of Allah Tantou

The institutional framing of academic disciplines has long been subject to debate, particularly regarding how fields like Francophone studies navigate shifting geographical and linguistic boundaries. Within modern literary scholarship, critical discussions often interrogate the traditional alignment between national language, territorial sovereignty, and collective identity. By analyzing works that span early travel writing to contemporary Caribbean literature, this volume engages with broader intellectual inquiries into the structures of literary history and the methodologies of the human sciences within the contemporary university setting.

The texts examined throughout the book encompass a diverse array of figures and traditions, including the writings of Jean de Léry and Patrick Chamoiseau, alongside theoretical reflections associated with thinkers such as Michel de Certeau and Gayatri Spivak. Readers interested in contemporary debates surrounding postcolonial criticism, disciplinary boundaries, and the evolving scope of literary research may find this study relevant to their pursuits.

You can also read the introduction to this volume and consult its table of contents.