1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«[This study] is an investigation of the different ways the disordered, tortured and traumatised body alters the parent-daughter relationship. It explores the mechanisms of power and violence on the bodies of both parents and daughters and the ways these bodies become as disordered as the psyche. [It] will deal with the construction and negotiation of both parenthood and daughterhood from the angle of the gendered traumatised body.» (p. v)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«The question that one must ask is how such a dysfunctional regime [dictature de Duvalier] and nation influenced familial relationships. What is the significance of being a father within this chaotic regime? What is at stake as far as motherhood is concerned? How is daughterhood constructed around Duvalier’s dictatorship? The present thesis addresses this problematic.» (p. 13)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
L’étude en question est basée sur la représentation du lien père-fille en Haïti à travers deux ouvrages de Edwidge Danticat’s, soit Breath, Eyes, Memory et The Dew Breaker.

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse littéraire

3. Résumé

À la lumière de son analyse littéraire, l’auteure conclut que «[t]he narratives under scrutiny have demonstrated how dictatorship played a destructive role in Haitian parenting. As analyzed in chapter one, dictatorship influenced all aspects of Haitian people. What results from this is a dysfunctional nation with a dysfunctional president that considers himself the God Father of Haiti. Accordingly, familial relationships appear to be as dysfunctional as Haiti. The present thesis attempted to answer questions such as what it means to be a daughter, a mother and a father within Duvalier’s dictatorship. My analysis raised some interrogations about how dictatorship manifests itself on the bodily level and how such bodily manifestations alter filial relationships. My present thesis exposed how regimes of control emanate from not only the political dynamic but also family and patriarchy.» (p. 93-94)