Storytelling throughout generations and with others is a powerful method that keeps our ancestors, their stories, and their wisdom alive today. From drawing on cave walls to our current social media platforms, humans have always found importance in sharing knowledge with others. Humans have always found a strength in knowledge and a weakness in ignorance that has allowed us to grow and thrive based on what we have learned over time. Going off the common phrase “knowledge is power” it can be concluded, “knowledge is not itself a power, although it is the magnetic field of power. Ignorance and opacity collude or compete with it in mobilizing the flows of energy, desire, goods, meanings, persons” (Sedgwick 1). In the novel Texaco, author Patrick Chamoiseau acts as the storytelling in which he is telling the tale that has been told to him by the character Marie-Sophie, which was told to her by her father, Esternome. Chamoiseau recites this strong magnetic field of information that has been passed to him, to now share this power with the readers by telling the tale of how the community of Texaco came to be. Chamoiseau consistently works to resist ignorance blocking, which is blocking the magnetic field Sedgwick describes by sharing the stream of powerful knowledge that creates the novel Texaco.
Strong Knowledge
The influential characters in this novel find strength in the flow of knowledge through storytelling and writing. Chamoiseau has the novel tell Esternome’s story, which was told to Marie-Sophie, then recited to the urban planner. Because of the strength that storytelling holds to this story, it is often described as “an oral history of epic proportions” (Silenieks 877). The Urban Planner is aware of this epic power Esternome’s story holds for the future and even comments, “We have to understand this future, knotted like a poem before our illiterate eyes” (Chamoiseau 115). Hearing Esternome’s story from Marie-Sophie provided the urban planner with a lifetime of lessons learned and he is left with the major decision on what to do with this highly influential information. He says, “In its old heart: a clear, regulated, normalized order. Around it: a boiling, indecipherable, impossible crown, buried under misery and History’s obscured burden… set in disorder” (Chamoiseau 184). The Urban Planner began to realize that Texaco is more than just a place. Marie-Sophie helped him realize that they needed to be globalized to get where Texaco needed to be as a community.
Helpful Knowledge
Chamoiseau allows knowledge to exist geographically, and in this story, information lies in the city which is why it is so desirable. In the novel, Chamoiseau describes three main geographical indicators of the island of Martinique: the city, the farmland, and the hills. These three areas are quite different, and one main reason is the availability of information. For instance, in the hills, there were many formerly enslaved people still working after they were freed because the knowledge of their freedom was not accessible to them. Ignorance “is a powerful agent in the maintenance of oppression” (Logue 2). Esternome found a powerful desire to flee to the city after he was free because of the power that exists there within the people due to the knowledge and joy of their newfound freedom. It was also often found that the city did not end up living up to the hopes the newly freed enslaved people had. While the city did seem to be a hub for political information, it lacked essential information that the farmland and hills had, such as the use of certain plants and herbs for household purposes. Chamoiseau displayed that as people move from the country to the city and vice versa, useful knowledge travels with them.
Not only is land geographically rich with knowledge, but itself land also is an entity in which the characters have advantageous knowledge. After the enslaved people were freed, there is a major shift in power between the békés, the owners of the enslaved people, and the former enslaved people. “My Esternome was astonished to discover that his woman possessed a vast know-how. A knowledge of the land and of survival. Without it, they would have been lost in these motherless heights” (Chamoiseau 135). This shift is the direct result of the former enslaved people, such as Ninon, having the knowledge of the land that the békés lost when they lost their enslaved people.
In Texaco, having more knowledge about the French language would help the residents out, Marie-Sophie knows that she cannot speak the language as she goes, “the written words, my poor French words,.. betrayal upon my memory” (Chamoiseau 322). Marie- Sophie is being criticized for their language for not having a deep knowledge of French. There are many levels to the language and Ti-Cirique is one of the most sophisticated characters, so he wants Marie-Sophie to be as knowledgeable as him. Ti-Cirique has more book-smart knowledge than Marie-Sophie, but his knowledge about building a home was very minimal. In an article about book smarts and street smarts, “A child with high EQ can also handle more complex social situations and build meaningful friendships, relate to, and empathize with peers. They may be labeled as ‘Street Smarts’” (Kaur). Marie-Sophie can get around better than Ti-Cirique and has more knowledge about Texaco, which he is not as knowledgeable about. Having more knowledge about more languages can help anyone when they are traveling, as it could help Marie-Sophie. Everyone goes to see Marie-Sophie because she is the most knowledgeable and she guides everyone to where they need to go.
Conclusion
As seen in Texaco knowledge can get you many places. In Texaco, it says Marie-Sophie is saying about her and the slave, “we reinvented everything: laws, urban codes, neighborhood relations, settlement, and construction rules” (Chamoiseau 317). Without knowledge, the slaves cannot complete the things they need to further progress as a community. They come together and use all their knowledge to make it the best they can. In an article about knowledge, it states, “knowledge about what might be possible new forms and patterns of objects and phenomena in our lifeworld’s and social institutions” (Sannino and Engestrüm 5). We are always to progress as a society and being complacent is not what is going to get us there. Marie-Sophie thought the same about Texaco as they are a community trying to develop and get to where they need to survive. We are always trying to progress as a society, and we need as much power and knowledge as we can to get where we want to go as a society. We would want people that can use their strengths to the best of their ability, working at what they are good at. If everyone can come together and connect with each other and practice globalization, then the world can be a beautiful place.
Works Cited
Chamoiseau, Patrick. Texaco. Trans. Rose-Myriam Réjouis & Val Vinokurov. NY: Vintage, 1997.
Kaur, Kulpreet. “Which Is Better, Book Smart or Street Smart?” Which Is Better, Book Smart, or Street Smart?, 8 Aug. 2020.
Logue, Jennifer. “TEACHING IGNORANCE: ON THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING PSYCHOANALYTIC SENSIBILITIES IN EDUCATION.” Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, 2019
Sannino, Annalisa, and Yrjö Engeström. “Co-Generation of Societally Impactful Knowledge in Change Laboratories.” Management Learning, vol. 48, no. 1, 2017, pp. 80–96, https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507616671285.
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. “Privilege of Unknowing.” University of Texas Press, vol. 1, Spring 1988.
Silenieks, Juris. “WORLD LITERATURE IN REVIEW: MARTINIQUE,” World Literature Today, vol.67, no. 4.
Editorial Collective
Megan Haug, Dhruv Gheewala, Dominik Kayser, Julia Nimmer, Erin Gheen, Asha Sangoi
