SPATIAL IMAGINARIES IN TEXACO BY PATRICK CHAMOISEAU

Abstract

We interpret the ideological meaning of fictional spaces in Patrick Chamoiseau‟s novel, Texaco, by carrying out two objectives: to expose the crucial points of the plot from the point of view of the spaces in which they occur, and to characterize the ethical sense of the aesthetics of the spatial imaginary. We rely on Gadamer‟s hermeneutic vision and theory of the imaginary, ideology and rhethoric. We conclude that: the spatial imaginaries communicate the essential part of the novel‟s plot; the spaces have a countercultural sense; geography and culture of creole are the reference to the spaces; the space‟ imaginaries reproduce the contrast between colonizers and colonized and their culture through the highlow concept; behind the imaginary‟ visibility there are units of sense such as injustice violence, poverty, colonialism; the creation of new spaces by the creole people expresses their desire of transcending their contexts; as people move in their spaces, they write the imaginaries of their culture; ekphrasis, constituted by a chain of literary figures, is the main figure to create the spaces in novel.