Glissant "published in 1981 two books which, although primarily concerned with the crisis identity and productivity that prevails in the French West Indies, must command the attention of any reader interested in the future development of the Caribbean region. The first is a socio-political study entitled Le Discours antillais; its companion piece is a work of fiction, La Case du commandeur. Their importance...for the rest of the region lie in their author's unique of sense of the historical and cultural ties by which Martinique and Guadeloupe are inherently attached to the surrounding islands. This attachment, however-- for which he has coined the term antillanite --he considers to be imperilled by France's intention to 'assimilate' her Overseas Departments not only politically, but culturally and economically." (author)
306 p., While it has long been assumed that schooling is integral to the construction of modern nation-states, surprisingly little is known about whether and how teachers actually go about transmitting national culture in the classroom. Relying on ethnographic research conducted in lycées on the French island of Martinique, including classroom observations, semi-structured interviews with teachers, informal interviews with school administrators and regional policymakers, and archival research, the author explores the ways in which history-geography teachers negotiate the construction of national and regional identities on an everyday basis, and in doing so become active participants in the formation of these identities within schools. The author finds that teachers in Martinique have long had significant influence over the implementation of national curricula.
