The Convict and the Colonel

by Richard Price, Deborah Chasman (Editor)

The life of Medard Aribot of Martinique óartist, convict, madman, legend óspans much of the twentieth century. Born in 1901 when slavery was a living memory, Medard was allegedly sent to a French penal colony for carving a bust of a colonial official that rioters hoisted overhead during a 1925 massacre. Today, the peculiar house he built for himself late in life is a major tourist attraction in Martinique.

With an exciting combination of scholarship and storytelling, award-winning anthropologist Richard Price takes us on a search for the real Medard. Using the Diamant massacre and the life of Aribot as emblems of Martinique's transition from a colonial society to a modern society, the author shows how the fishing village he encountered on his first trip to Martinique in 1962 has been transformed by a heavily assisted welfare-based consumer economy. And Medard, whose life was once a subversive symbol of anticolonial sentiment, has been silenced by contemporary myths . . . or has he?

Part historical mystery, part biography, part cultural studies, The Convict and the Colonel is a fascinating story of a society in transition and the role of the prophetic figure in historical memory.


"Price quotes a phrase from colleague Sidney Mintz about the kind of anthropology that is 'at the fault line between the large and the little.' In this intellectually daring book, he gets as close to the fault line as possible."

--Publishers Weekly

Genres: Anthropology, History, College

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

https://www.richandsally.net
and Inside/Outside: Adventures in Caribbean History and Anthropology

Reviews

[Emily S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give the first two chapters of this book a 4. I would give the last chapter maybe a 2-2.5. But with the Afterword, it balances out to a 3 or so.

[Neal Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has at least three major strengths. One is the story of Médard Aribot, Martiniquan “artist, convict, madman, legend”, and even a magician in some accounts, due to his ability to appropriate hefty and valuable goods and transport them infeasible distances overnight.

The second strength is its description of how cultural arbiters turn elements of Martiniquan life into objects of nostalgia, even when they are still present in reality. For example a “creole cabin” is set up as an historic attraction in a town square, when people still lived in them on the outskirts of town. And, of course, Médard Aribot was turned into a quaint folk tale without, for example, any mention of how he was permanently scarred by his imprisonment in French Guiana.

The third strength is the acknowledgement and inclusion of a North American couple - - the selfsame author and his wife - - when describing the community being observed.

On the other hand, the author uses some techniques which might be suited to a postgrad anthropology seminar but go beyond what most lay readers sign up for. For example, placing two conflicting accounts of a massacre side by side (literally), and asking the reader to come to their own conclusions. Or, presenting copious extracts of his field notes from 30 years ago, and asking the reader how his past attitudes hold up.

Fascinating overall, but occasionally annoying.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an innovative way to write a historical ethnography! Bringing together decades of experience and archival research, Price recounts Martinique's history and modernization through the story of artist, convict, and "madman" Médard Aribot. Particularly interesting are the materials he uses to recount Martinique's history, notably letters to his wife and fellow anthropologist, Sally Price. In Part I, he uses two columns to tell the story of the 'Guerre du Diamant' from the side of the socialists and the side of the conservatives, leaving the analysis up to the readers. Price gives no indication as to which is "right", demonstrating the interpretive nature and partial truth of historical research and writing.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Price's perspective on Carribean slavery and colonialism leaves a lot to be desired. There are some obvious gaps in his stories, and he hardly mentions them. Perhaps there are just not enough primary documents that have survived, perhaps research in the tropics is a little difficult to maintain, whatever the case, the pictures say more than his narration. That's a fact.

[Monica Bond-Lamberty]

Fascinating anthropological/historical examination of events and attitudes in Francophone West Indies.