The Root of It: Deconstructing Creole Identity in Crossing the Mangrove“I like to repeat that I write neither in French nor in Creole. I write in Maryse Conde,”1 (“Liaison Dangereuse”, 2007) is a statement that could not be less accurate for the Guadeloupean writer. Writing in French is particularly problematic for postcolonialist francophone authors; using the language of the colonizer while attempting to dismantle the cultural and linguistic hierarchy seems to be a futile act. To be sure, Conde, the author of Crossing the Mangrove, ostensibly writes in French but skillfully deconstructs the concept that a language must necessarily be linked to the culture and history it traditionally represents. Through careful practice of intertextuality (the formation of a text's meaning through reference to or application of a previous text) and narrative experimentation in Crossing the Mangrove, Conde demonstrates that objectivity in any sense is impossible. Using the French language is not an act of capitulation to the colonizer and acceptance of all that is “French,” in the same way that a person's account of an event is not the ultimate truth. In Crossing the Mangrove, Conde presents the strange and dark story of Francis Sancher from multiple perspectives while simultaneously working on aspects of the Western literary canon (in particular, William Faulkner). This emphasis on literary and real-life inconsistency is repeated by the symbolic motif of trees and their roots throughout the novel. Analyzing Crossing the Mangrove, it is evident that the blending of intertextuality, shifting narrative perspectives, and the motif of trees and their roots contextualizes the fragmented nature of diasporic identity. Actually, it's... middle of the paper... about the problems of post-colonialism in Crossing the Mangrove. It is clear that Condé favors multiplicity when it comes to ideas of language, narrative, culture, and identity. The idea that anything can be understood through an objective lens is destroyed through his practice of intertextuality, the creation of a character's story through multiple perspectives, and his use of the motif of trees and roots. In the end, everything – the literary canon, the Creole identity, the narrative – is confusing, chaotic and rhizomic; in general, any decryption attempt requires the use of multiple methodologies (mentioned above). WORKS CITED Conde, Maryse. 'Liaison Dangereuse', Pour une littérature-monde, (eds.) M. Le Bris and J. Rouaud, Gallimard. 2007. Paris: 205–16. Condé, Maryse and Richard Philcox. Crossing the mangrove. New York: Anchor /Doubleday, 1995. Print.