This book analyses French Caribbean writing from the point of view of its language and literary form - questions which until recently were somewhat neglected in postcolonial studies but are now becoming an important area of research. Britton supplements postcolonial theory with structuralism and poststructuralism to show how analysis of the textual illuminates the political and ideological positions of the writers. Topics including genre, intertextuality, narrative voice, discursive agency, orality, the 'creolization' of languages and the renewal of realism are discussed in relation to Glissant, C�saire, M�nil, Chamoiseau, Confiant, Depestre, Cond�, Schwarz-Bart, Pineau and Maximin.