L’Annonce faite à Marie: de l’héritage africain à une lecture postcoloniale

Abstract

Postcolonial reading of L’Annonce faite à Marie : opportunities and challenges

Postcolonial theories generally exclude the study of certain works and periods. In practice, for example, western and medieval works tend to be banned. From this perspective, the study of L’Annonce faite à Marie by the yardstick of postcolonial concepts can then be reminiscent of a veneer or paradox. First, it is a French work, that of an author not belonging to the colonized world. Then the dramatic universe is totally precolonial, since this piece refers to the Middle Ages. Thus, it may seem, a priori, paradoxical to consider the postcolonial reading of a piece anchored in the precolonial. Plating would consist of appliying to L'Annonce faite à Marie, a method of analysis designed for epoch following colonization. Yet many critics, mostly anglo-saxons, successfully cross medieval texts and postcolonial studies. In fact, it can be seen that the theoretical tools of the postcolonial are likely to allow many possibilities of reading L'Annonce faite à Marie. They can help to analyze, for example, relations of gender or power, marginalization, migration… If we consider it as a method to read any situation of domination, the postcolonial approach can, legitimately, help to study L'Annonce faite à Marie, despite the medieval specifics of this theatrical piece.