Penser les reconfigurations écocritiques de l’engagement littéraire : quelques réflexions à partir du projet ’Les peuples de l’eau’ (2004-2007) Article - Septembre 2020

In July 2004, under the aegis of UNESCO, the bark La Boudeuse set off to visit eight societies located between South America, the Pacific Ocean, Asia and Africa. The project led to the creation of a new series by the Editions du Seuil : “Peuples de l’eau”, where the works of the writers that participated in the journey were published, i.e. Raga by J. M. G. Le Clézio and La Terre magnétique by Édouard Glissant. The project and the books may be considered as symbols of an international revival of intellectual and literary commitment, in particular for the critic of the degradation of world environment. The paper relates these texts to the two rhetorical-poetical poles characterizing the “ecocritical commitment” that can be observed in contemporary literatures in a European language. Thus, it is possible to observe two complementary dynamics : one denouncing the past and present devastation of the Pentecost island and of the Easter island, the other proposing to associate the representation of these two islands to symbols of survival.