Anne Cheynet

Anne-Marie Thérèse Fontaine (born 1938), known by her pen name Anne Cheynet, is a French author in Réunion. Her 1977 work Les Muselés [fr] is considered a significant contribution to Réunionnais literature, as the first novel to be formally labeled as "Réunionnais."[1]

Biography

Anne-Marie Thérèse Fontaine was born in Saint-Denis, Réunion, in 1938, and spent her childhood in the city's Saint-François neighborhood.[2] She traveled to Aix-en-Provence to study in 1956, remaining abroad until 1963.[3]

Back on the island, she worked as a secondary school teacher before getting involved in politics. She later returned to the classroom as a preschool teacher.[3]

She published her first book, the poetry collection Matanans et Langoutis, in 1972, followed by her best-known work, the novel Les Muselés, which is considered the first work billed as a "Réunionnais novel."[1][2] The novel, which has an activist slant, focuses on the lives of the poor in Réunion.[4] Cheynet, who was from a poor white family, drew on her experiences of discrimination during the island's colonial era.[2]

Anne Cheynet has since published several other books, including the poetry collection Ter tout' kouler and the short story collection Rivages maouls.[3] In 2022, she released a bilingual story collection illustrated by Claire Ruiz, La clé dans zot poche: Histoires semées depuis le Grand Sentier.[5]

Between 2001 and 2004, she produced three CDs of oral storytelling.[3]

She writes in both French and Creole.[3]

Selected works

  • Matanans et Langoutis (poetry), 1972
  • Les Muselés (novel), L'Harmattan, 1977
  • Ter tout' kouler : Poème pour la terre multicolore (poetry), vol. 1, Ravine des Sables, ADMV, 1992
  • Rivages maouls : histoires d'Annabelle (autobiographical), vol. 1, Océan, 1994
  • La clé dans zot poche: Histoires semées depuis le Grand Sentier (stories), Éditions Poisson Rouge, 2022

References

  1. ^ a b Nicole, Rose-May. (1996). Noirs, cafres et créoles : études de la représentation du non blanc réunionnais : documents et littératures réunionnaises 1710-1980. Paris: L'Harmattan. ISBN 2-7384-4615-9. OCLC 36876288.
  2. ^ a b c "Anne Cheynet, 5 Questions pour Île en île". Île en île (in French). 2010-12-09. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Anne Cheynet". Île en île (in French). 2004-08-04. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  4. ^ "Cheynet, Anne". The New Oxford companion to literature in French. France, Peter, 1935-. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1995. ISBN 978-0-19-173500-4. OCLC 223174819.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ^ "La clé dans zot poche - Histoires semées depuis le Grand Sentier". La Réunion des Livres (in French). Retrieved 2024-04-23.