Entre Haïti et le Québec. La conceptualisation de l’oraliture et de l’homme américain dans la position exotopique de Maximilien Laroche
From the 1960s, literary criticism in Quebec has had a new impetus, in particular in the comparative field. Maximilien Laroche (1937-2017), a Haitian critic and professor who has lived in Quebec since the 1960s, has contributed to this wave by establishing some points of convergence between Quebec and Haitian literature. This essay aims to analyze Laroche’s main concepts, “the American man” (l’homme Américain) and the “oraliture” (the Haitian oral heritage), underlining how his “exotopic position” (Bakhtin) has influenced his theories. The analysis of Laroche’s main works will reveal how his transitional position between Haiti and Quebec has promoted news prospects for the interamerican comparative studies. Laroche has contributed to the broadening of the continental approach, linking literatures and cultures from all over the world, but he has also underlined the importance of indigenous and traditional cultures. However his global approach has never been disconnected from his native culture and his choice to revaluate the Haitian oraliture.