This work delineates the unique role theatre plays in the establishment of Martinican and Guadeloupian cultural and national identity independent from (although integrated with) the dominant French culture of their former colonizers. As French overseas departments, both Martinique's and Guadeloupe's public school system has been imported from France and thus imposes an alienating French emphasis on West Indian consciousness and identity. Yet theatre offers a new place for cultural education because it can instill pride, consciousness and identity in a localized form particular to Martinique and Guadeloupe. This important educational function is especially notable in the plays analyzed here, which are virtually absent from the critical literature on the French Caribbean, yet clearly merit a closer look.

I examine a corpus of over twenty French West Indian plays. I consider these plays as cultural manifestations of what Martinicans and Guadeloupians value and disparage. I look at this theatre also as a national theatre wherein a narrative of the nation is fabricated and affirmed publically. I study Martinicans and Guadeloupians through their theatrical cultural manifestations which themselves focus on historical and contemporary events. Thus my analysis contributes cultural and historical depth to the rapidly evolving field of French Caribbean theatre criticism.

My dissertation examines works, 1960-present, by Aime Cesaire, Edouard Glissant, Daniel Boukman, Ina Cesaire, Rene Louise and Patrick Chamoiseau, to name a few. One can discern in these works an independent cultural identity, which can be illuminated by the lens of "auto-ethnography." This term refers to Glissant and Chamoiseau's interest in studying and transcribing their own cultures with both the critical eye of an outside observer and the deep understanding of a native informant. Although the other authors did not self-identify as auto-ethnographers, I argue that one can apply this concept more broadly.

The early 1960s were a crucial time when many colonies were fighting for and gaining independence. Although not directly engaged in anti-colonial struggles, Martinicans and Gaudeloupians nevertheless participated in independence movements and theatre was a significant arena for articulating these issues. Prior to this moment, imitation and reproduction of French theatre, culture, and society reigned; from the 1960s onward, playwrights focused on the expression and resuscitation of local history and culture. To facilitate this expression, many writers turned toward popular movements such as Negritude, Antillanite, and Creolite, enabling a cultural education and affirming an identity particular to both Martinique and Guadeloupe.