The «feminitude» of Calixthe Beyala: identity negotiation, between «négritude» and «féminisme»

Abstract

This article focuses on the notion of «feminitude», developed by Franco-Cameroonian writer Calixthe Beyala in Letter of an African woman to her Western sisters, mixing the word «négritude» with that of «féminisme». It will be shown that Beyala’s feminism essentializes both the woman and the African, both of whom are associated with a sensitive and intuitive relationship to the world, in order to stand out from Western feminism, which is considered too intellectualizing. We will then analyze two novels, The Little Prince of Belleville and Mother has a lover to understand the specificities of the feminist issues of the characters of Sub-Saharan immigrants women in France: Maryam is required to accept a misogynistic operation of the family to have the symbolic right to belong to the immigrant community. If she derogates from this order, she is excluded and loses contact with her children. Finally, we will study the gaps in the dialogue with Western feminism embodied by Mrs. Saddock, inhabited by a latent racism.