Joseph Zobel (April 26, 1915 in Martinique – June 18, 2006 in Alès, France) is the author of several novels and short stories in which social issues are at the forefront. Although his most famous novel, La Rue Cases-Nègres, was published some twenty years after the great authors of Negritude published their works, Zobel was once asked if he considered himself “the novelist of Negritude.”
Young Zobel was a brilliant student, earning himself a scholarship that allowed him to pursue an education and finish high school. After finishing his high school studies, he had hoped to study architecture in Paris. Unfortunately, he did not have the funds or another scholarship to help pay for such endeavors. Instead, he got his first job with the Corps of Bridges, Waters and Forests which forced him to move closer to the water in South Martinique, specifically to the towns of Diamant and Saint-Esprit. His time in Diamant and Saint-Esprit allowed him to become well acquainted with the local fishermen and to learn more about their lifestyle, which would later influence his popular novel La Rue Cases-Nègres. Despite gaining an appreciation for the lifestyle on the coast, he couldn’t forget the values he grew up with in the more rural inland of Martinique.
His most famous novel, La Rue Cases-Nègres (often translated as Black Shack Alley or Sugar Cane Alley), was published in Paris in 1950. The novel is an account of a young boy raised by his grandmother in a post-slavery–but still plantation-based–Martinique. The struggles of the impoverished cane-sugar plantation workers, and the ambitions of a loving grandmother who works hard to put the main character through school are the core focus of the novel, which also describes life in a colonial society. Zobel stated that the novel was his version of Richard Wright’s Black Boy (1945) in that they are both semi-autobiographical. (Wikipedia)
Zobel, Development, and Writing
It is as though Black labour existed wholly outside language altogether, or at least outside the French language.
- Zobel, Joseph. Black Shack Alley. Trans. Keith Warner. London: Penguin, 2020.
Zobel Videos
Discussing Joseph Zobel’s Black Shack Alley | Generations Dreaming:
Joseph ZOBEL, the author of “Rue Case Nègres (Sugar Cane Alley):
Sugarcane Alley: Wisdom of the Ancestors (Clip #1):
Mesye medouz Rue Case Nègre:
It is possible that rum (a distilled liquor made either directly from sugar cane or, more often, from the molasses that is a by-product of sugar production) was first made in Martinique as early as the sixteenth century. There were certainly distilleries on the island by the late seventeenth century, when rum was made by and for slaves. In 1713, the French authorities banned its manufacture, but production continued—rum has always been associated with illegality, piracy, and smuggling. Black Shack Alley shows rum’s ubiquity in the postcolony, and its many uses: as medicine and payment, as well as libation; it is a social lubricant in everyday situations and at times of crisis or celebration. When José first tries the drink, he feels “as if [. . .] we were going to live a free, exalted life” (40), but this is an illusory or equivocal freedom. For rum is part of what sustains Black people’s ongoing exploitation, even if it also provides temporary relief against it.
Zobel Questions
- Is Jose happier at the end of the book than at the start?
- Is Jose more free at the end of the book than at the start?
- What is the relationship here between individual change (and individual success) and historical change (or development)?
- What are the relations (contrasts or continuities) between orality and literacy in this novel?
- What is the role of Médouze?
- How does Jose’s family compare to other families we have read about in this course?
- What does this book have to say about gender? How, for instance, is being a Black woman different from being a Black man?
- Why is this book’s title “Black Shack Alley,” especially given that only perhaps a third of the plot is actually set there?
- In the course of this book, Jose moves from Black Shack Alley to the local capital, Fort de France. At the end of it, he is headed to Paris. What is the relationship between geography and power?
- To what extent is Martinique, as depicted here, “postcolonial”? How has it changed from its colonial situation, and what has stayed the same?
The following questions are taken from your blog posts…
Narration
In what aspects might Zobel’s personal experience be similar or different from the life of the protagonist?
How does José’s narration show how French colonialism has impacted his worldview throughout his childhood?
How does the imagery of the black shacks represent inequality and resistance?
How did you perceive the ending of this novel- hopeful or melancholic? Or something else entirely?
Characters
Who was your favourite character and why? Did your perception of Jose shift through out the book? Why yes or why not?
What kind of character development do you think Jose had?
Do you think Jose’s experience of maturing through many adversities is something unique to the social context behind his life? Which part of Jose’s character development was relatable to you?
Which character do you relate to most, or did any of the characters remind you of anyone in your life?
Development, Education
How and why does education provide the means for freedom? Is it enough?
To what extent do you think education continues to be a way for people to escape these cycles of discrimination and poverty?
What do you think education is? Why is it so important? Did Zobel open your eyes to the usefulness of education as he did for me?
Do you think that Jose went about things the correct way generally speaking? Or do you think that there are things that he could’ve done to make his life better and easier earlier on?
Can education change racism?
Do you think education is the key to success?
What would José’s life be like had he not gone to school?
How do you think José’s life would have turned out to be if he did not receive and education?
Was being at school better for José than living in Black Shack Alley?
What would his life be like had he not had influences like M’man Tine, Mr. Medouze, and the experience of growing up on the plantation to shape his ideologies?’
Jose, as a special case, has the opportunity to receive an education, but can this eliminate inequality, what about the rest of the youth in Black Shack Alley, and what about the rest of the youth in Black Shack Alley?
Jose was kind of clueless about racism after he moved away from Black Shack Alley, stating, “Could it be I was that repulsive in my dress? (128) when he moved to the Fort-de-France lycée. Do you think he was not educated about this when he was younger? Is he not aware or is he just looking for other explanations besides his race?
How has education played a role in your reckoning of social positioning within your ethnic background?
Do you believe the formal education he received was to thank for his realization and growth, or was his interest in learning outside of school more influential?
Reader Experience
Is it easier for the reader to have the courage to continue reading than to bluntly analyze this tragic experience from an adult’s point of view?
Was there a particular moment in this text that provoked a specific emotion in you, whether it be positive or negative and if so, what was it?
How did knowing the book was based on the Author’s own life affect your experience reading it?
Relationships
Do you think the relationship between Jose and his female family members is the essence of the book? Has Jose also learned from his peers? If so, what did he learn?
Do you think Jose truly understood what his grandmother sacrificed and did for him, or do you think he took it for granted?
Do we think that Jose feels any resentment to his mother for not being with him for so long?
Why did Jose’s mother not come straight away when M’man Tine was about to die?
What impact do you think your family has on your life?
Colonialism, Racism and Social Issues
What social issues can you compare from Black Shack Alley with problems in current Western culture?
Is colonialism, and the problems which stem from it, still affecting certain groups’ daily lives?
What are some of the other moments of blatant racism in the novel that seem to be accepted? Why?
In what ways were the themes of childhood and the theme of class issues and poverty intertwined? How can you relate to José and how do you differ from him?
Would his upbringing have been easier and less adversity if he were entirely of black descent? Additionally, why does society instinctively impose restrictions on individuals based on their race?
Do you see any other moments or behaviours throughout the story where generational trauma can be connected?
A lot of us come from countries and cultures that were previously colonized or oppressed in some form. What similarities or differences did you notice with the portrayal of oppression and colonialism here in comparison with your lived experiences and what you know of your people’s history?
Do you all believe there is still racialization or discrimination against marginalized communities in a classroom/school setting? And if yes, in what ways are they still prevalent?
Intertextuality
Both Jose and Agostino grew up in poverty, and both novels are somewhat a coming of age story: in what ways do you think that Jose and Agostino are similar/different?
Did you like this book more than Agostino? Why or why not? (Is it because there’s no weird stuff in this one?)
Other
Do you think the cane field symbolizes joy and happy memories or oppression? Can it be both?
Which do you believe had a bigger influence on Jose’s life—his struggles with poverty, which helped him become somewhat of a street smarts, or his schooling, which helped him acquire knowledge? Or both?
