Abstract
In his article "The Metaphor of Assimilation in Rabéarivelo's Poetry" Yasser Khamees Ragab Aman discusses the impact of the metaphor and the policy of assimilation in the poetry of Jean-Joseph Rabéarivelo, who swings between a desired image of a superior France based on a mythically archetypal symbol of a patron and a reality which, as a matter of course, distorts the image of a good-natured colonizer. Aman traces the influence of French Symbolists such as Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, and Laforgue on Rabéarivelo's poems and discusses to what extent these influences help make an assimilé of the poet. In Aman's interpretation Rabéarivelo identifies with the French symbolists since his work shows many of their characteristics and shows how the poet tries to adapt this model to transfer his own heritage through French. In his personal life, the poet's conflict between a desire for assimilation and desperate attempts at self-expression culminates in his suicide. In Aman's view, Rabéarivelo is smothered by the metaphor of the benevolent patron which he believes in.
Recommended Citation
Khamees Ragab Aman, Yasser.
"The Metaphor of Assimilation in Rabéarivelo's Poetry."
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
11.4
(2009):
<https://doi.org/10.7771/1481-4374.1558>
This text has been double-blind peer reviewed by 2+1 experts in the field.
The above text, published by Purdue University Press ©Purdue University, has been downloaded 1778 times as of 03/26/24.