Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

L’Enigme du retour by Dany Laferrière

2011; American Association of Teachers of French; Volume: 84; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Francês

10.1353/tfr.2011.0181

2329-7131

Lois Beck,

Caribbean and African Literature and Culture

des expertises psychologiques l’ont déclaré atteint d’une psychose. Le narrateur décide alors de partir en Côte d’Ivoire à sa recherche. De récits mystérieux en aventures étranges, il découvrira que son père a été transformé en “homme de pierre”. L’aspect fantastique de ce conte est divertissant mais sans épaisseur, et il est par moments lassant dans ses longueurs et méandres narratifs. Il a le mérite de faire pénétrer le lecteur occidental dans les arcanes de certaines coutumes africaines, dont celles de la sorcellerie et des rituels communautaires, ainsi que des relations hiérarchiques sociales et familiales. Fairfield University (CT) Marie-Agnès Sourieau LAFERRIÈRE, DANY. L’Enigme du retour. Paris: Grasset, 2009. ISBN 978-2-246-74891-5. Pp. 300. 18 a. This first-person book seems autobiographical, although it is a novel. The style alternates between haiku-style poetry and prose, with prose gradually becoming more prevalent, and finally almost exclusive. In these sections, the absence of quotes to indicate conversations requires a careful reading. The return to Haiti mentioned in the title begins when the author, Dany, whose home is Montreal, learns of his father Windsor’s death in New York City, and it ends when Dany decides to remain in Haiti. The first section, “Lents Préparatifs du Départ,” occupies only one-fourth of the book. For several decades, both the writer and his father have been political exiles (although under a different dictateur tropical). Dany’s preparations are mostly mental and include evoking childhood memories, especially attempting to recall whatever Dany knows about his father (very little), who left Haiti when the writer was five (Windsor’s face is not even clear to him). Although Dany has lived in Montreal for 33 years, the reader senses he has no deep connections with either possessions or people. He takes very few items in a small suitcase and says a few quick goodbyes. In New York he reconnects with two uncles who provided an apartment for his father, and meets his father’s best friend after the memorial service. Already his thoughts alternate between Haiti and Canada, commenting that in one winter he eats more meat than Haitians enjoy in an entire lifetime, giving readers a foretaste of the descriptions to come. Interspersed throughout the novel are references to Aimé Césaire’s Cahier d’un retour au pays natal. While this work seemed insipid to him at 16, it is now rich in imagery. Comparisons of Césaire’s and his own imminent return to Haiti are thus interspersed throughout the book. The bulk of description about Haiti comes in the second, much longer part, “Le Retour.” It is a vivid mixture of negative aspects: the prevalent social problems, the pervasiveness of death which comes quickly and randomly, the tonton macoutes hiding behind dark glasses and sowing violence in their wake, memories of his constant hunger. In short, Haiti is “une île que les oiseaux ont déjà fuie” (125). But the writer also recognizes the charm of his birthplace: the hospitality of the peasants who immediately treat him as a long-lost son, the welcoming attitude of his childhood friends and his father’s friends (who do not need an introduction, seeing him as the spitting image of his father), and the sensory delights (colors, the taste of ripe fruits, etc.). Soon after arriving in Haiti, he writes “Je ne veux plus penser. / Simplement voir, entendre et sentir. / [...] intoxiqué par cette explosion de couleurs / 858 FRENCH REVIEW 84.4 d’odeurs et de saveurs tropicales. / Cela fait si longtemps que je ne fais pas partie d’un tel paysage” (82). Upon his return to his father’s grave, Dany writes the following: “Mon père est revenu / dans son village natal. / Je l’ai ramené. / Pas le corps que la glace / brûlera jusqu’à l’os. / Mais l’esprit qui lui a permis / de faire face / à la plus haute solitude” (289). He randomly continues his voyage and arrives at a remote hamlet where he writes “C’est la fin du voyage” (300). According to Wikipedia, Laferrière usually avoids having his...