Following the publication in *Antilla* of Max Pied’s op-ed, «Poverty in Martinique? Let’s Keep Things in Perspective,» Jeanne Wiltord sent us this article. In it, she discusses the 1946 departmentalization, the concept of ’full assimilation,« and, more broadly, our collective relationship to history and how it is passed down.
In particular, she recalls the position of Guadeloupean representative Paul Valentino, who, as early as 1946, had warned of the possible consequences of complete assimilation.
In his book But what exactly is a Black person?, Jeanne Wiltord devotes a section to a «psychoanalytic approach to the 1946 demand for full assimilation.» In it, she posits the hypothesis that this demand may have contributed, in Caribbean societies, to the establishment of a complex and paradoxical form of forgetting.
In particular, it draws on the notion of «culturally instituted denial,» developed by psychoanalyst Brigitte Lemérer based on the Freudian concept of denial. This refers to a mechanism in which two contradictory realities or logics continue to coexist, as expressed by the well-known phrase: «I know… but still.».
For Jeanne Wiltord, this issue goes beyond the field of psychoanalysis alone. It points directly to the collective work that needs to be done on colonial history—through the research of historians, archives, and oral histories—as well as the transmission of this history to younger generations.
In particular, she cites several educational initiatives that she felt were important, such as the national contest «La Flamme de l’égalité,» but especially the history quiz Ti-Jo Mauvois, held in Martinique in honor of the activist historian Joseph «Ti-Jo» Mauvois.
This contest, designed for students, was intended to expand their knowledge of local history and, more broadly, of Caribbean culture. Jeanne Wiltord said she was surprised to learn that it no longer exists, largely because there was a lack of new people to carry on the tradition and a failure to engage a new generation.
She then raises a question that, in her view, deserves to be examined collectively:
«Shouldn't we be asking ourselves why this competition was canceled?»
Beyond the mere disappearance of a single initiative, his question therefore touches on a broader issue: how can we pass on knowledge of Martinican and Caribbean history to future generations, and how can we prevent certain parts of that history from gradually fading from the collective memory?
The open debate surrounding Max Pied’s text thus extends to another realm: that of history, memory, and the way in which our societies construct their relationship to their own past.
