 Title page from the second edition of Ourika (1824) | |
| Author | Claire de Duras |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Genre | Novel |
Publication date | 1823, 1824 |
| Pages | 45 |
| ISBN | 978-2-07-042433-7 |
Ourika is an 1823 novel by Claire de Duras, originally published anonymously.
Ourika is a story based on the life of a woman who was purchased as a child (in or around 1786) by the Chevalier de Boufflers, the colonial administrator of Senegal, and given as a gift to the de Beauvau family.
The novel marks a critical point in European literature. It is the first French text to depict a black woman character with a complex psychology. [1] It is the first text to create "an articulate and educated black woman narrator," [2] and "one of the most compelling works of short fiction in French and a startlingly modern commentary on race." [3]
The novella covers the time before, during, and after the French Revolution and addresses key themes of race, nationality, exile, interracial love and kinship and the psychological adjustment to these. It signifies an important movement from traditional notions of race, nationality, and kinship towards the identity politics of today.
In his journal, the Chevalier de Boufflers wrote of the purchase of the slave girl whose life would later be documented in Duras' novella: "I am buying at the moment a little Négresse of two or three years of age in order to send her to Madame de Duchess of Orléans... I feel myself brought to tears in thinking that this poor child has been sold to me like a little lamb." This girl provided lively conversation in the salons of nineteenth-century Paris, where Boufflers's letters were read, and these 'lively' conversations provided fodder for Claire de Duras's fictional Ourika. [4]
The life of the real-life Ourika was a subject of much conversation in many nineteenth century Paris, and spawned many poems, plays and novels in the popular press, including La Nouvelle Ourika (1824) and La Négresse (1826). [5] The most famous of these is the novel Ourika by Claire de Duras. Duras's story is based on a few bare bones of historical facts, and was committed (reluctantly) [ citation needed ] to the page by Claire de Duras. She only did so to prevent any possible plagiarism [ citation needed ], as she recounted the story—with much acclaim—to those attending her salon in post-Revolutionary Paris. She was the close friend of François-René de Chateaubriand, whom she had met in exile in London, and who helped her in publishing this story among others [ citation needed ] .
The novel opens from the point of view of a doctor, who has been called to treat a dying young nun in a convent. This nun is a young black woman called Ourika, who is dying of "melancholia." As an effort to cure her, he asks Ourika to tell him her story. Ourika begins by relating how she was "saved" from the slave trade as an infant by the governor of Senegal, and brought back to Paris as a gift for Madame de B. She is raised well, according to the standards for white Parisian girls of high society-she is taught to sing by the best voice coaches, instructed in painting by a famous artist, is well-read and is accomplished in many languages. Ourika also says that prior to a critical moment in her life at the age of twelve, she had no consciousness of her race or any other racial barriers: "I reached the age of twelve without it once occurring to me that there was a way of being happy beside mine. I didn't regret being black. I was told that I was an angel. There was nothing to warn me that the color of my skin might be a disadvantage." [6]
In order to show off Ourika's talents, Mme de B. organizes a ball to show Ourika off, in which she dances as "Africa." Ourika does well in her dance, but later overhears an earth-shattering conversation. A friend of Mme de B., an unnamed Marquise, declares that Mme de B. has done Ourika a disgrace by raising her above her station, which means that Ourika will now be forever unhappy. The Marquise announces, to Ourika's shock, “What kind of man would marry a Negress?" [7]
Ourika is then struck by the realization of her skin color, and undergoes a psychological reaction akin to Frantz Fanon's account of racial awareness in Peau Noire, Masques Blancs ( Black Skin, White Masks ), which has been termed "racial melancholia", "whereby racial identification becomes a site of ongoing trauma that is supported by loss and compensation.". [8] She begins to avoid mirrors, covering up her skin with gloves and hats, and begins to see her hands as "monkey's paws," going so far as to say that "this skin color of mine seemed to me like the brand of shame." [9]
Ourika also falls in love with Charles, Madame de B.'s grandson. However, he does not realize she is in love with him, and ends up marrying a young heiress, Anaïs de Thèmines, whose family have been killed by the French Revolutionaries. This drives her into depression, or "melancholy," that is so deep that she almost dies. She finally ends up retreating to the convent, where the doctor meets her.
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein, commonly known as Madame de Staël, was a prominent woman of letters and political theorist in both Parisian and Genevan intellectual circles. She was the daughter of banker and French finance minister Jacques Necker and Suzanne Curchod, a respected salonhostess. Throughout her life, she held a moderate stance during the tumultuous periods of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era, persisting until the time of the French Restoration.
The French Lieutenant's Woman is a 1969 postmodern historical fiction novel by John Fowles. The plot explores the fraught relationship of gentleman and amateur naturalist Charles Smithson and Sarah Woodruff, the former governess and independent woman with whom he falls in love. The novel builds on Fowles' authority in Victorian literature, both following and critiquing many of the conventions of period novels.
Claire, Duchess of Duras was a French writer best known for her 1823 novel called Ourika, which examines issues of racial and sexual equality, and which inspired the 1969 John Fowles novel The French Lieutenant's Woman.
Charlotte Aïssé was a French letter-writer and the daughter of a Circassian chief.
Plaçage was a recognized extralegal system in French and Spanish slave colonies of North America by which ethnic European men entered into civil unions with non-Europeans of African, Native American and mixed-race descent. The term comes from the French placer meaning "to place with". The women were not legally recognized as wives but were known as placées; their relationships were recognized among the free people of color as mariages de la main gauche or left-handed marriages. They became institutionalized with contracts or negotiations that settled property on the woman and her children and, in some cases, gave them freedom if they were enslaved. The system flourished throughout the French and Spanish colonial periods, reaching its zenith during the latter, between 1769 and 1803.
Madame Bovary is a 1949 American romantic drama, a film adaptation of the classic 1857 novel of the same name by Gustave Flaubert. It stars Jennifer Jones, James Mason, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan, Alf Kjellin, Gene Lockhart, Frank Allenby and Gladys Cooper.
Racial passing occurs when a person who is classified as a member of a racial group is accepted or perceived ("passes") as a member of another racial group.
Passing is a novel by American author Nella Larsen, first published in 1929. Set primarily in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the 1920s, the story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends—Clare Kendry and Irene Redfield—and their increasing fascination with each other's lives. The title refers to the practice of "racial passing", which is a key element of the novel. Clare Kendry's attempt to pass as white for her husband, John (Jack) Bellew, is significant and is a catalyst for the tragic events.
Marie-Guillemine Benoist, born Marie-Guillemine Laville-Leroux, was a French neoclassical, historical, and genre painter.
Madame Atomos is the name of a fictional villain who appears in a book series of novels written by French writer André Caroff, a prolific author of popular adventure series, many of which include science fiction and horror elements.
Armance is a romance novel set during the Bourbon Restoration by French writer Stendhal, published anonymously in 1827. It was Stendhal's first novel, though he had published essays and critical works on literature, art, and travel since 1815.
Marie Charlotte Hippolyte de Saujon, by marriage Countess of Boufflers, was a French femme de lettres and salon hostess. Nicknamed "l'idole" by Madame du Deffand, she was a lady in waiting to the Duchess of Chartres and a mistress of Chartres' brother, the 6th Prince of Conti.
Portrait of Madame Récamier is an 1800 portrait of the Parisian socialite Juliette Récamier by Jacques-Louis David showing her in the height of Neoclassical fashion, reclining on a Directoire style sofa in a simple Empire line dress with almost bare arms, and short hair "à la Titus." The work is unfinished.
"The Wife of His Youth" is a short story by American author Charles W. Chesnutt, first published in July 1898. It later served as the title story of the collection The Wife of His Youth and Other Stories of the Color-Line. That book was first published in 1899, the same year Chesnutt published his short story collection The Conjure Woman.
Emma Azalia Hackley, also known as E. Azalia Hackley and Azalia Smith Hackley (1867–1922), was a concert soprano, newspaper editor, teacher, and political activist. An African American, she promoted racial pride through her support and promotion of music education for African Americans. She was a choir director and organized Folk Songs Festivals in African American churches and schools. Hackley studied music for years, including in Paris under opera singer Jean de Reszke. She was a music teacher who taught Roland Hayes, Marian Anderson, and R. Nathaniel Dett. She founded the Vocal Normal Institute in Chicago.
Sophie Doin, was a French novelist and essayist whose writings contributed to the renewal of abolitionism in France during the 1820s. She targeted abuses in the French colonies, most notably Guadeloupe and Martinique, where slavery continued for decades after the declaration of Haitian independence in 1804. In her various antislavery writings, notably the novel La Famille noire, ou la Traite de l’esclavage, she drew the French public's attention to the injustices committed by the slave system. She called for a more humane treatment of Blacks, for the abolition of the slave trade, and for religious and practical education that would prepare slaves for eventual emancipation.
I Am a Martinican Woman is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Lucette Céranus (1916–1955), under the pseudonym Mayotte Capécia, in the mid-twentieth century. It tells the story of Mayotte's childhood and young adulthood, including her relationship with a white officer who ultimately abandons her in Martinique with their son. The 1948 publication of this novel made Ceranus the first woman of color to publish a book in France. In 1949, the novel was awarded the Grandprix littéraire des Antilles.
Laure was an art model in France known for her work with artist Édouard Manet. She is best known for posing as the black maid offering the white nude figure a bouquet of flowers in Manet's 1863 painting Olympia.
Gisèle Hountondji is a writer, interpreter, and translator from Benin. She is considered the first Beninese woman writer. Her 1986 autobiographical novel Une citronnelle dans la neige recounts her often painful years as a student in Europe, particularly in Paris.
Portrait of Madeleine, also known as 'Portrait of a Black Woman', is an oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Marie-Guillemine Benoist. It was exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1800, was acquired by Louis XVIII for the French state in 1818, and remains in the collection of the Louvre.
| Authority control databases: National |
|---|
