Finding Monte Cristo

During his lifetime, Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870)—grandson of a Caribbean slave and author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo—faced racial prejudice in his homeland of France and constantly strove to find a sense of belonging. For him, “Monte Cristo” was a symbol of this elusive quest.
It proved equally elusive for those struggling to overcome slavery and its legacy in the former French colonies. Exiled to the margins of society, 19th and 20th century black intellectuals from the Caribbean and Africa drew on Dumas’ work and celebrity to renegotiate their full acceptance as French citizens. Their efforts were influenced by earlier struggles of African Americans in the decades after the Civil War, who celebrated Dumas as a black American hero.

Eric Martone is dean of the School of Education and professor of history/social studies education at Mercy College in New York.

Eric Martone
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 214
Bibliographic Info: 22 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7320-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3339-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments viii
Preface 1
Introduction 3
1. “Black Skin, White Masks” in ­Nineteenth-Century France: Alexandre Dumas and His Experiences as an Exotic Other, 1829–1870 13
2. A Hero of Assimilation: Alexandre Dumas and the French Caribbean, 1848–1930 50
3. Creating a Local Black Identity in a Global Context: Alexandre Dumas as an African American Lieu de Mémoire, 1840–1930 67
4. Forgetting Alexandre Dumas: Négritude and the French Caribbean and Africa in the ­Mid-Twentieth Century, 1930–1970 94
5. Alexandre Dumas Métissé: Celebrating Dumas as a Symbol of a Diverse France, 1946–2002 111
Chapter Notes 151
Bibliography 180
Index 201

Silver Medalist, Independent Publisher Book Award