Abstract EN:

For many readers, aime cesaire conjures up the image of a manly and committed poet, a black activist standing for negritude. We have focused on the representation of women in his imaginative process and in particular on the imagery related to the 'anima'. The mythocritical analysis allows us to track down the underlying archetypes through the study of the great myths and to understand how the poet bends and twists them to create his own mythology. Our study hinges on three axes : first, the cosmogonic myths bringing to the fore the androgynous feature as a synonym for unity and wholeness ; second, the conflicting myths stressing the fall, the exodus and the apocalypse where harmony is shattered by the flow of history and time and lastly the myth of redemption allowing for the recovery of a lost unity. The images of women are as a rule almost always positive. They take on a negative connotation when stemming from the colonial history, the slave trade and slavery. From our selected point of view, the works rely mainly on judeochristian myths and to a far lesser extent on caribbean myths. African myths are dealt with as mere ideological and literary references. Our main concern has been to show that the spring and trigger of cesaire's creative power is the androgynous feature.