According to the author this is a true story about the whalerCharles Melville Scammon (1825–1911).[1] In December 1857, Charles Scammon, in the brig Boston, along with his schooner-tender Marin, entered Laguna Ojo de Liebre (Jack-Rabbit Spring Lagoon), later known as Scammon's Lagoon, and found one of the Gray Whale's last refuges. The story resembles the tale of Captain Ahab in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, who was also on the deck of a wooden ship searching for a white whale.
Pawana is about the discovery of a lagoon in Mexico at the end of the 19th century where gray whales went to reproduce. After Captain Scammon mistakenly decided to exterminate the whales, he realized that he had made a mistake so terrible it could become irreparable. Captain Scammon then set about dedicating his life's work to saving these whales (and was helped by a Mexican revolutionary in doing so).[2]
Meaning of "Awaité Pawana"
"Awaité Pawana" is the cry uttered by the lookout when he spies the whales.
Narrative
Araceli, the old Indian slave from Nantucket tells a young cabin boy about the exploits of the Indians of the past through mime and gesture. John, the eighteen-year-old cabin boy and Captain Scammon alternate in recounting a journey.
Read a ten page review of "Awaite Pawana" online [4]
These two narrative voices, which present two contrasting perspectives of the same event, possess a certain theatrical quality
Publication history
First French edition
Le Clézio, J. M. G (1992). Awaité Pawana (in French). Paris: Gallimard. p. 54. ISBN978-2-07-072806-0.
Second French edition
Le Clézio, J. M. G; Illustrated by Georges Lemoine (1995). Awaité Pawana (in French). Paris: Gallimard-Jeunesse (1995:Lecture junior, 52;1999 Folio junior, 1001)). p. 87. ISBN978-2-07-058777-3.
Third French edition
Le Clézio, J. M. G (2003). Awaité Pawana (in French). Illustrated by Georges Lemoine; lecture accompagnée par Bruno Doucey. Paris: Gallimard :La bibliothèque Gallimard. pp. 127/144. ISBN978-2-07-042842-7.
First English translation
"Awaité Pawana" was translated into English as "Pawana" by Christophe Brunski
(AGNI Magazine:published at Boston University (2008). There is a translation available online.[5]
^"RÉSUMÉ :" (in French). Archived from the original on 25 January 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2009. "C'est une histoire authentique, celle d'un baleinier, Charles-Melville Scammon, précise Le Clézio. Cet homme aussi fabuleux et légendaire que le capitaine Achab, de Moby Dick de Melville, après avoir découvert au Mexique à la fin du siècle dernier une lagune où se reproduisaient les baleines grises, décida de les exterminer..." Puis, se rendant compte qu'il commettait une erreur irréparable, il consacra sa vie leur sauvegarde, aidé par les révolutionnaires mexicains.
^Thibault, Bruno (2008) [1997]. ""Awaité Pawana": J. M. G. Le Clézio's Vision of the Sacred". Journal Article:, Cengage Learning, 2008 Gale. University of Oklahoma /World Literature Today. Retrieved 2008-11-20. These two narrative voices, which present two contrasting perspectives of the same event, possess a certain theatrical quality.[dead link]
