Uncovering Adrienne Fidelin: Disorderly subjectivity in Gisèle Pineau's Ady, soleil noir (2021). Issue 2 (1st December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kearney, Beth; Thomas, Bonnie
• Is Part Of: Francosphères. Volume 11:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 227
• Page End: 245
• Publication Date: 2022-12-01
• Subjects: Adrienne Fidelin -- French Caribbean identity -- gender identity -- surrealism -- 1930s Paris; Adrienne Fidelin -- l'identité antillaise -- genre -- surréalisme -- Paris dans les années 1930; French language -- Foreign countries -- Periodicals; French literature -- Foreign countries -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; French-speaking countries -- Civilization -- Periodicals; France -- Civilization -- Periodicals; Civilization; French language -- Foreign countries; French literature -- Foreign countries; France; French-speaking countries; Criticism, interpretation, etc; Periodicals; 306.0944
• DOI: 10.3828/franc.2022.17
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2046-3820

Abstract

Abstract : In her 2021 novel Ady, soleil noir, Guadeloupean author Gisèle Pineau draws on her imaginative and historical skills to reimagine the life and subjectivity of Adrienne Fidelin (1915–2004), a Guadeloupean dancer in 1930s Paris and a little-known muse, model, and lover of American photographer Man Ray. Winner of the 2021 Prix du roman historique, the book offers a compelling interpretation of how Fidelin, staged as the first-person narrator 'Ady', may have understood her identity among artists of the avant-garde milieu and as a woman of colour within the context of 1930s Paris. This article examines the 'disorderly' subjectivity of the novel's narrator-protagonist, to adopt Kaiama Glover's term, arguing that she negotiates the challenges underpinning her status as a woman of colour in Western avant-garde culture and, in doing so, chooses to prioritize her own selfhood. This article was published open access under a CC BY licence: https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0 .