School Days (Chemin-d'Ecole) is a captivating narrative based on Patrick Chamoiseau's childhood in Fort-de-France, Martinique. It is a revelatory account of the colonial world that shaped one of the liveliest and most creative voices in French and Caribbean literature today. Through the eyes of the boy Chamoiseau, we meet his severe, Francophile teacher, a man intent upon banishing all remnants of Creole from his students' speech. This domineering man is succeeded by an equally autocratic teacher, an Africanist and proponent of Negritude. Along the way we are also introduced to Big Bellybutton, the class scapegoat, whose tales of Creole heroes and heroines, magic, zombies, and fantastic animals provide a fertile contrast to the imported French fairy tales told in school. In prose punctuated by Creolisms and ribald humor, Chamoiseau infuses the universal terrors, joys, and disappointments of a child's early school days with the unique experiences of a Creole boy forced to confront the dominant culture in a colonial school. School Days mixes understanding with laughter, knowledge with entertainment-in ways that will fascinate and delight readers of all ages.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
University of Nebraska Press
ISBN-13
9780803263765
eBay Product ID (ePID)
95546788
Product Key Features
Book Title
School Days
Author
Patrick Chamoiseau
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Topic
Literature
Publication Year
1997
Number of Pages
146 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
229mm
Item Width
152mm
Item Weight
204g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
Patrick Chamoiseau
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States
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