Martinique (France) / All works
Novel
The Ripening
La Lézarde
Édouard Glissant · 1958
Synopsis
In Lambrianne, an imaginary town in Martinique, at the time of the 1945 elections, a group of young activists decides to eliminate Garin, who has been charged with silencing the popular movements. They draw into their plan Thaël, a young peasant, who takes the task upon himself. Around them flows the Lézarde, the river that crosses the country and which the novel makes the image of a people rising up.
Context
The author's first novel, published by Seuil in 1958, The Ripening received the Prix Renaudot that same year. The narrative transposes the electoral period of 1945 and 1946, when Aimé Césaire became mayor of Fort-de-France, and the island's change to the status of a département. Glissant had already published an essay, Soleil de la conscience (1955), and a long poem, Les Indes (1956). The novel appeared in English as early as 1959 under the title The Ripening, translated by Frances Frenaye, then in a translation by Michael Dash in 1985.
Who it is for
For entering Glissant's work through a story, and seeing an island debate its future at the end of the war.
Prizes and reception
Prix Renaudot 1958; translated into English the following year, then retranslated in 1985.
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