Digital Commons Network^™

Damner Le Damier Ou Rédimer La Danse De La Terre Dans Le Meurtre Du Samedi Gloria De Raphaël Confiant, Hanétha Vété-Congolo

Présence Francophone: Revue internationale de langue et de littérature

The value of the “damier”, a traditional dance from Martinique, is significant because it evokes cohesion, order and balance and symbolizes distinctive attributes from Martinique’s society at large. Martinique enters in a new era which characteristics are defined by regional development. This development is a break between the past and the present or with population’s intelligible referents and landmarks, and is represented between tradition and modernity, as a transformation led by urbanization. Traditions become shaky and in the novel, the city is unable to take on those rural values, symbolized by the “damier”.