ABSTRACT
Martinican authors Edouard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau have made a significant contribution to postcolonial literature and memory studies in their diverse body of work that encompasses both fiction and non-fiction. Slavery and colonialist rule dominated Martinique until its abolition in 1848. In Glissant's model, the memory of slavery in Martinique, becomes linked to that of other societies who have suffered under the plantation system and indeed, to any society which has experienced trauma. Like many surrounding islands in the Caribbean, Martinique was subjected to the traite négrière, which imported slaves from Africa to work on the sugar plantations. Glissant and Chamoiseau's fictional and non-fictional body of writings constitutes a rich source for the theorization of memory in both a Caribbean and global context. Glissant argues that the way one interacts with the physical environment of a place, which is a major focus of conquest and domination under colonialism, is central to a revisioning of history.
