PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

This contribution examines ‘race’ in George Sand’s novel Indiana through comparisons to plants and slavery. French abolitionism of the time develops specific practices to observe, narrate and compare. Sand’s novel presents a comparative social analysis of French aristocratic society and plantation society on La Réunion, formerly known as Île Bourbon. Through a narrative of conjugal love, the narration examines the continuity of colonial power in gender relations. Comparisons to plants as well as to slavery are closely tied to colonialism: not only do they explore the erotic and exoticizing aspects, but rather they speak to the social and ethnic dimensions of colonial ties that culminate in a ‘race’ struggle. George Sand’s narration can be understood as a social experiment. Comparing is used as a counter-practice against hegemonic power. However, it is a practice that is hardly un-biased and can be reappropriated by hegemonic forces and thus the abolition of power relation fails.