The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

Written as the recollection of a 110-year-old woman, "Miss Jane", The
Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is the narrative of African-American
history from the Declaration of Emancipation to the Civil Rights movement of
the 1960s. Gaines's masterpiece is meant to represent the interpretation of
the events of a century through the central character's uneducated but
streetwise vision. Carefully built on a historical structure, the book relies
on a well-mastered stylistic technique that mixes several literary genres,
providing the reader with a deep insight into the African American experience.
Inevitably, such central issues as "black pride", human dignity, ethics or the
nature of freedom are raised and the reader finds himself actively involved in
the re-construction of a black subject whom "history" had relegated in the
footnotes of a "Manifest Destiny" written by revisionist ideologues.

Patrick BADONNEL, former chair of the "Agrégation", is full professor of
American literature at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University (Paris III), where he
teaches seminars on the African American subject and on psychoanalytical
criticism. He is the author of several books on American contemporary writers
(with Professor C. Maisonnat) and has written extensively on William Styron's
work. Also interested in the short story he is the author (with C. Maisonnat)
of La Nouvelle Anglo-saxonne. Initiation à une lecture psychanalytique
(Hachette Supérieur, 1998).

Cet ouvrage est le fruit de la collaboration entre les éditions Armand Colin
et le Centre National d'Enseignement à Distance, établissement public
d'enseignement qui dispense des formations de tous niveaux à plus de 350 000
inscrits répartis dans le monde entier.

Cette contribution scientifique d'enseignants chercheurs de l'Université
française s'intègre dans les préparations assurées par le CNED aux CAPES et
aux agrégations d'anglais qui comprennent aussi des conseils méthodologiques
et des entraînements aux épreuves des concours avec correction personnalisée.


Ernest J. Gaines : the author and his work. Catherine Carmier and Of Love and
Dust. General context and historical background. Narrative strategies.
Language and voice. Genres interdits : la violence fictionnelle. Le principe
féminin. Une virilité problématique. Discours de la servitude, parole de la
négritude. Réduction eidétique, extension politique.