Nka

I'

I'

AIM E CESAI RE
(1913-2008)

ARCHITECT
OF NEGRITUDE
I'

Locksley Edmondson

n his death (April 17, 2008) at th e age

of ninet y-four in hi s n a ti ve land ,
Martinique, Airne Cesaire was espe cially
rem embered and revered as th e founding fath er of
"Neg ritude," a Black cultural mo vement develop ed in the 1930s by Fran cop hone literary pioneers (and dissidents) from Car ibbean and
African components of th e French empire, then
resid ent in Pari s. Two of Cesaire's prominent collaborators were Leop old Seng ho r (who eventually
became independent Seneg al's first President in
1960 ) and Leon Dam as from French Guiana .
It has ofte n been sa id th at th e term
"Negritude" first appeared in print in Cesa ire's
epic book-length poem , Cahier d 'un retou r all

pays natal (Notebook of a Return to /IlY Native

Landi, published in 1939. Whe ther o r not that
claim is accurate, it is beyond di spute that it was
th rough Cesaire's arti cul ati on that Negritude ini ti all y acq uired intern ati onal reco gnit ion and
legitimacy as a schoo l of thought representing
on e of the most significa nt cultural movem ents
for Black World dignity and liberation . From his
Car ibbean island native land of Martiniqu e,
where he lived for mo st of his life and wh ere he

EI::lm!I

di ed , Cesaire felt co m pe lled to em br ace not o nly

his ancestra l "land" of Africa, but also the wid er
lands o f th e Africa n di aspor a and indeed th e
world of Global Afric a.
What was there in Martinique, a very sma ll
island of 425 sq uare mil es with an estimated 2007
popu latio n of 439 ,000, that prod uced a giant like
Aime Cesaire (or, for that matter, Frantz Fanon,
who was taught by Cesaire in his earlier care er as a
high school teach er )? A critical fact or is th at th e
modern (post-fifteenth century) Ca ribbean was
essentially an invented region, primaril y through
th e cu m ulative a nd rein fo rcing impositions
of th e tr an satl antic enslaveme nt of Africa ns and
en tre nc h ing patterns of Europea n imperi alist
expa nsion/ do m ination, whic h for th e mo st part
obliterated th e o rigina l indi gen ou s inhabit ants.
Co nseque ntly, sm all Ca ribbea n islands such as
Ma rtinique, far from bein g insul ar, were in th eir
modern invention part and parcel of a globalizing
Europea n imperialist enterprise and were, as well,
fund am entally connected to th e African continent
at th e outset.
Martinique is at times rem embered as th e
birthplace of Napoleon's Em press Josephine, but

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Aime Cesaire: A Voice for the 21st Century, 2006. Courtesy California Newsreel

that intimate c o n n e c t i o n invites attention to the

long-established ties b e t w e e n M a r t i n i q u e a n d
France, b e g i n n i n g in 1635 w h e n M a r t i n i q u e first
fell u n d e r French colonial control. M a r t i n i q u e
thereafter b e c a m e a d o m a i n of the French C r o w n
in 1673 a n d eventually an overseas d e p a r t m e n t of
France in 1946.
T h a t French presence lasted for 373 years
(1635-2008), a very long time. This longevity was
not only structured by French political a n d econ o m i c power b u t also u n d e r p i n n e d by the cultural imperialism that informed the French colonial
mission. T h e French colonialist cultural n o t i o n of
"assimilation" o n the surface a p p e a r e d to c o n t r a dict the typical British colonialist practice of racial
differentiation a n d separation. But the reality was
that French "assimilation" was a one-sided affair,
based o n African assimilation to a " s u p e r i o r "
French culture, a n inherently racist n o t i o n .
Such French imperialist cultural a r r o g a n c e
explains the cultural resistance (indeed, cultural
warfare) waged by F r a n c o p h o n e colonized intellectuals involved in t h e f o r m a t i o n of t h e
Negritude m o v e m e n t . W h e n Blaise D i a g n e t h e
first African to be elected to the French National

Parliament as Senegal's representative from 1914

t o 1 9 3 4 o n c e p r o c l a i m e d t h a t "I a m a
F r e n c h m a n first a n d an African second," such an
e l o q u e n t t e s t i m o n y to the t r i u m p h of the French
cultural h e g e m o n i c enterprise h a d to b e resisted
a n d fought by Cesaire a n d others of his ilk.
Beyond t h e historical French c o n n e c t i o n , it is
also w o r t h w h i l e to situate Cesaire's life in a
b r o a d e r global context of critical t r a n s i t i o n s . He
was b o r n in 1913, o n e year before t h e o u t b r e a k of
World War I a n d in the same year of W o o d r o w
Wilson's election as P r e s i d e n t of t h e U n i t e d
States. Cesaire lived t h r o u g h the t i m e span of sixteen U.S. presidents (including George W. Bush at
the t i m e of this w r i t i n g ) . He was b o r n four years
before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 a n d lived
to see t h e disintegration of the Soviet U n i o n formalized in 1991.
Cesaire was b o r n t w e n t y - e i g h t years after t h e
Berlin C o n f e r e n c e ( 1 8 8 4 - 8 5 ) w h e n Africa was
p a r t i t i o n e d by E u r o p e a n imperialists, a n d less
t h a n a d e c a d e after African resistance t o the c o l o nial o c c u p a t i o n was effectively quelled. He was
b o r n t h r e e years after t h e creation of the explicitly w h i t e - c o n t r o l l e d U n i o n of S o u t h Africa in
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1910 a n d o n e year after the f o u n d i n g in 1912 of

t h e S o u t h African Native N a t i o n a l C o n g r e s s
( s u b s e q u e n t l y r e n a m e d t h e African N a t i o n a l
Congress). While b o r n shortly after Africa was
effectively colonized, he lived to see the formal
d e c o l o n i z a t i o n of Africa m o s t l y by the 1960s, a n d
the formal e n d of the S o u t h African a p a r t h e i d
system in the 1990s.
At the time of Cesaire's birth, seventeen years
after the United States S u p r e m e Court's 1896
Plessy v. Ferguson "separate b u t equal" decision in
effect legalizing racial s e g r e g a t i o n , African
A m e r i c a n s were e x p e r i e n c i n g w h a t has b e e n
appropriately characterized as the "nadir." But he
also was able to w i t n e s s m o u n t i n g African
American challenges to the racist status q u o , s o m e
of which (such as the H a r l e m Renaissance of the
1920s a n d the Garvey m o v e m e n t ) came to influence his outlook.
At Cesaire's birth in 1913 there were only three
independent Caribbean countriesCuba, the
D o m i n i c a n Republic, a n d H a i t i i n stark contrast
to the sixteen such entities at the present time. But
these three countries h a d at o n e t i m e or a n o t h e r
e x p e r i e n c e d l i m i t a t i o n s to t h e i r s o v e r e i g n t y
i m p o s e d by the United States. For example, the
U n i t e d States m i l i t a r y o c c u p i e d H a i t i from
1915-1934 a n d the D o m i n i c a n Republic from
1916-1924. Cuba, which n o m i n a l l y acquired full
i n d e p e n d e n c e in 1902, h a d this status c i r c u m scribed by the Piatt A m e n d m e n t of 1901 (eventually abrogated in 1934), giving the United States
the right to intervene (as it did from 1906 to 1909)
a n d to m a i n t a i n military installations.
Thirteen years before Cesaire's birth, the First
1900 Pan-African Conference was convened in
L o n d o n , spearheaded by the T r i n i d a d i a n - b o r n
H e n r y Sylvester Williams. T h e Universal Negro
I m p r o v e m e n t A s s o c i a t i o n was c o f o u n d e d by
Marcus a n d A m y Ashwood Garvey in Jamaica in
1914, d u r i n g the first year of Cesaire's life. Five
years later, in 1919, the First Pan-African Congress
was convened in Paris u n d e r the leadership of the
African A m e r i c a n scholar-activist W. E. B. D u
Bois, a n o t h e r a c k n o w l e d g e d influence o n the
founders of the N e g r i t u d e m o v e m e n t .
T h e foregoing selective historical reflections
shed light o n s o m e critical epochs of a r r o g a n t
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E u r o p e a n a n d A m e r i c a n imperialist a n d white
racist d o m i n a t i o n w h i c h , in t u r n , catalyzed
the rising salience of the Pan-African challenge
a n d struggle in which Cesaire b e c a m e a significant actor.
As p r e v i o u s l y m e n t i o n e d , Cesaire's P a n African r e p u t a t i o n a n d wider international recognition was essentially l a u n c h e d with the 1939 p u b lication of his surrealist book-length p o e m , Return
to My Native Land, which legitimized the terminology a n d n o t i o n of "Negritude."
Perhaps the m o s t frequently cited a n d certainly the m o s t controversial aspect of this p o e m is
his s e e m i n g celebration of African/Black life in
these t e r m s :
H o o r a h for t h o s e w h o never invented a n y t h i n g
for t h o s e w h o never explored a n y t h i n g
for t h o s e w h o never m a s t e r e d a n y t h i n g
b u t w h o , possessed, give themselves u p
to t h e essence of each t h i n g
i g n o r a n t of t h e coverings b u t possessed
by t h e pulse of t h i n g s
indifferent to m a s t e r i n g b u t taking t h e
chances of t h e w o r l d . . . '

T h a t statement has led two analysts to conclude that "Cesaire accepts the white man's myths
a b o u t the Negro a n d glories in t h e m " a view
shared by a n u m b e r of other critics. However, m y
alternative interpretation is that Cesaire's formulation s h o u l d n o t be taken literally b u t should
instead be considered as a "tongue-in-cheek" defiant assertion that he cares little or n o t h i n g a b o u t
W h i t e World distortions of Black World achievem e n t s a n d potential. To buttress m y claim, attention should b e d r a w n to Cesaire's sarcastic f o r m u lation in an earlier part of the p o e m :
2

N o , we have never been a m a z o n s of

t h e king of D a h o m e y , n o r princes of
G h a n a w i t h eight h u n d r e d camels,
n o r wise m e n in T i m b u c t o o u n d e r Askia
t h e Great; n o r architects in Djene,
nor mahdis nor warriors.

F u r t h e r m o r e , as implied by C. L. R. James, it
can be m a i n t a i n e d that Cesaire's statement seem-

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ingly celebrating "those w h o never invented anything . . . " is deliberately c o n s t r u c t e d to place in

starker contrast (in Cesaire's words) "the h o r r i b l e
exhaustion," the "vainglorious c o n q u e s t s " or t h e
"grandiose alibis" of the W h i t e World's "pitiful
floundering." Cesaire proceeds to insist that in the
final analysis:
... no race possesses the monopoly of
beauty, of intelligence, of force, and
there is place for all at the
rendezvous of victory.
4

Over the passage of t i m e the N e g r i t u d e m o v e m e n t has experienced a range of critiques a n d

challenges, the m o r e so w h e n African c o u n t r i e s
transitioned from the colonial to the postcolonial
era. Such attacks o n N e g r i t u d e have been based o n
charges that it exaggerates Black world cultural
c o m m o n a l i t i e s w i t h insufficient sensitivity t o
national specificities; focuses m o r e o n c u s t o m s
a n d traditions t h a n o n d y n a m i c transformative
values; is m o r e confined to the intellectual class
(especially those Western-trained) t h a n to the
masses; resides too m u c h in the realm of the m e t a physical; and is limited by elements of racial essentialism-this latter critique was directed especially at Leopold Senghor.
Despite such criticisms, there are m a n y others
w h o w o u l d e n d o r s e this 1970 a s s e s s m e n t of
Negritude's historical i m p o r t a n c e :
To be sure, as a mobilizing cultural and political
manifesto, Negritude shaped the socio-cultural
identity of the black peoples into a weapon for
achieving emancipation and a programme of
cultural rebirth. It fought Eurocentrism, racism
and the prejudices, lack of understanding and
arrogance of the triumphant colonial powers. It
rejected acculturation, assimilation and alienation. It demystified the Western cultural paradigm taken as a universal frame of reference....
As a result, Negritude made it possible to weld
the consciousness of the black peoples together
and to immobilize them for the struggle against
colonialism and for liberation.^
Cesaire in 1970 a d m i t t e d a w i d e n i n g of ideo-

logical differences with S e n g h o r with respect to

N e g r i t u d e , s u b s e q u e n t to their initial collaboration in the early 1930s:
Later on things changed somewhat and there is
one point on which I no longer agreed at all
with Senghor
it seemed to me that Senghor
made a kind of metaphysics out of negritude;
there we parted company. He tended rather to
construct negritude into an essentialism as
though there were a black essence, a black soul,
... but I never accepted this point of view.
6

This statement, according to Arnold, reflected

Cesaire's "exasperation at the repeated a t t e m p t s to
lock h i m into a closed system of N e g r i t u d e .
Cesaire's intellectual a n d ideological o u t l o o k
a n d c o n t r i b u t i o n s should t h u s n o t be confined
only to his p i o n e e r i n g role in t h e N e g r i t u d e m o v e m e n t ; they s h o u l d also include his relentless critique of "decadent" E u r o p e a n a n d wider Western
civilization w i t h respect to relations w i t h n o n E u r o p e a n peoples, including his w a r n i n g s o n the
" d a n g e r s " of A m e r i c a n imperialism. Such is the
t h r u s t of his Discours sur le colonialisme published
in 1955, subsequently translated into English with
t h e title Discourse on
Colonialism.
7

Cesaire's m a i n p o i n t of d e p a r t u r e is c a p t u r e d
in this sentence in Discourse on Colonialism:
... I make no secret of my opinion that at the
present time [mid-1950's] the barbarism of
Western Europe has reached an incredibly high
level, being surpassedfar surpassed, it is
trueby the barbarism of the United States.
9

His attack o n m o d e r n Western World n o r m s

a n d m o r e s is primarily based o n the experiences of
Western colonialist/imperialist e n c o u n t e r s with
o t h e r peoples a n d civilizations, u n d e r p i n n e d by
racism. W i t h respect to the latter, he advances the
view that "Hitler a n d Hitlerism" were n a t u r a l o u t c o m e s of E u r o p e a n "colonialist p r o c e d u r e s which
until t h e n h a d been reserved exclusively for the
Arabs of Algeria, the coolies of India, a n d the
blacks of Africa."
However, Discourse on Colonialism
is m o r e
t h a n a polemical critique of m o d e r n Western
10

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World civilization in its attitudes a n d behavior

with respect to peoples of color. A major strength
of this publication is the holistic functional, spatial, a n d t e m p o r a l p e r s p e c t i v e u n d e r p i n n i n g
Cesaire's extended statement.
Functionally, Cesaire interrogates the interplay
of political, e c o n o m i c , a n d sociocultural factors in
evolving i n t e r n a t i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s of t h e
Western a n d n o n - W e s t e r n worlds. In so doing, he
incorporates b r o a d spatial a n d t e m p o r a l insights
from ancient to m o d e r n times, including references to early Aztec, Inca, Assyrian, Arab, Islamic,
Greek, and R o m a n civilizations, a n d n o t least to
precolonial African inventions a n d achievements,
including those of ancient E g y p t .
11

First p u b l i s h e d in 1955, Discourse

on
Colonialism has m u c h to d o with e n t r e n c h e d patterns of European colonialism prevailing in t h e
early p o s t - W o r l d War II era in parts of Asia a n d in
m u c h of Africa a n d the C a r i b b e a n . But in t h e following assertion emerges Cesaire's futuristic perspective and w a r n i n g (to those looking forward to
America as "a possible liberator" from European
d o m i n a t i o n ) a warning which would
be
endorsed in s o m e circles at t h e present t i m e (over
fifty years later):

a n d socioeconomic hegemony. M o r e significantly,

his w r i t i n g s s h a r e in c o m m o n a r t i c u l a t i o n s
of u s h e r i n g in a n e w genuinely h u m a n i t a r i a n
world order.
14

Cesaire also played a d o m i n a n t political role in

M a r t i n i q u e , b e i n g elected M a y o r of F o r t - d e France from 1945-2001 (with o n e brief i n t e r r u p tion in 1983-1984) a n d also serving as a D e p u t y in
the French National Assembly from 1946-1993.
Indeed, Cesaire:
played a pivotal role in the formation of the policy of departmentalization, which integrated
Martinique into metropolitan France as one of a
number of newly founded DOMS (departments
d'ontre mers/overseas departments).
15

Apparently Cesaire considered t h e o p t i o n of

" d e p a r t m e n t a l i z a t i o n " as being preferable to c o n ventional colonialism:
by giving France's overseas colonies parity with
departments in metropolitan France, but with
decision-making still centered in Paris, it was
subsequently considered highly controversial
and many came to feel that it worked to the
detriment of Martinique.
16

A m e r i c a n d o m i n a t i o n t h e only d o m i n a t i o n
from which o n e never recovers. I m e a n from
which o n e never recovers u n s c a r r e d .

1 2

It m a y b e s u r m i s e d t h a t this c o u n s e l is
addressed especially to Cesaire's Caribbean c o m patriots, given the fact that n o world region has
been as regularly subjected to American interventionism o r has constantly experienced America's
controlling presence
While I have c h o s e n to focus o n two of
Cesaire's m o s t recognized writings, it is necessary
to acknowledge his p r o d i g i o u s o u t p u t as a poet,
playwright, biographer, novelist, a n d essayist
hallmarks of his creativity, originality, a n d independent thinking.
While often differing in focus a n d form, w i t h
varying points of d e p a r t u r e , his writings c u m u l a tively share a consistency in constantly challenging
a n d demystifying n o t i o n s of E u r o p e a n / W e s t e r n
World cultural s u p e r i o r i t y linked to political
13

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O n t h e surface, there seem to be p r o f o u n d cont r a d i c t i o n s b e t w e e n Cesaire's stance in his

Discourse on Colonialism a n d his s u p p o r t for integ r a t i n g M a r t i n i q u e as a F r e n c h
department.
However, c o n t r a d i c t i o n s , w h i c h
frequently
a b o u n d in political arenas, should be evaluated
n o t only in t e r m s of individual stances b u t also in
t h e context of systemic circumstances.
To m y knowledge, there has never been a significant g r o u n d s w e l l of political s u p p o r t in
M a r t i n i q u e for the full political i n d e p e n d e n c e
o p t i o n . W h e t h e r o r not this is t h e situation, future
historians will be better situated to evaluate realistically t h e pros a n d cons of d e p a r t m e n t a l i z a t i o n or
full i n d e p e n d e n c e , as well as Cesaire's political
p e r f o r m a n c e s (while in offices as M a y o r a n d
D e p u t y ) in helping to advance the interests of t h e
underprivileged, which preoccupied his writings
a n d intellectual stance.
W i t h Cesaire's passing at t h e advanced age of

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ninety-four, it is w o r t h w h i l e to engage in s o m e
reflections on age a n d a c h i e v e m e n t in t h e P a n -

neously translated version of Cahier D'Un Retour An Pays

Natal published in 1971 (Paris: Presence Africaine), p. 96.
The translated version of Cesaire's words in this paragraph
is derived from James, op. cit, pp. 400-401
Alpha Sow, "Prolegomena" in UNESCO, Introduction to
African Culture (Paris: UNESCO, 1970) pp. 13-14.
Quoted in A. J. Arnold, Modernism and Negritude: The
Poetry and Poetics of Aime Cesaire (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1981), p. 44.
Ibid.
Aime Cesaire, Discourse on Colonialism, trans, by Joan
Pinkham (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1982); originally
published in 1955.
Ibid., p. 26.
Ibid., p. 14.
' For example, he mentions with obvious pride African historical achievements such as "the Sudanese empires ... the
bronzes of Benin ... Shango sculpture ... African music"
(Ibid., p.32). Elsewhere on pages 35-36, he critiques the fact
that "almost all the Western scholars have deliberately set out
to tear Egypt away from Africa," and later on page 52 mentions "the invention of arithmetic and geometry by the
Egyptians."
' 2 Ibid., p. 60.
'^ In addition to several volumes of poetry, Cesaire's other
publications include the biography, Toussaint Louverture: la
revolution francaise et le problem colonial (1960), covering the
life and achievements of this first leader of the revolutionary
struggle culminating in Haiti's independence in 1804, and the
plays La T agedie du rot Christophe, ruler of Northern Haiti in
the early postrevolutionary period; line saison ait Congo
(1967) interrogating the tragic demise in 1961 of Patrice
Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the recently independent Belgian Congo; and Une Tempete (1969), adapting
William Shakespeare's The Tempest to the colonial situation.
' An excellent range of excerpts from various analyses of
Cesaire's body of writings is contained in "Aime Cesaire
1913-", published in Black Literature Criticism, vol. 1, ed.
James P. Draper (Detroit/London: Gale Research Inc, 1992),
pp. 355-373.
John Thieme, "Aime Cesaire: Founding Father of
Negritude," April 19, 2008 (http://www.independent.co.uk,
accessed April 21, 2008).
Ibid.
David Lewis, "Martinique poet Aime Cesaire dies at 94
big loss of a great Caribbean mind"; e-mail from
DavidLewis@ManchesterTrade.com, April 17, 2008.
4

African context. O n t h e o n e h a n d t h e r e are t h o s e

w h o u n t i m e l y passed away, s u c h as F r a n t z F a n o n ,
Martin

Luther

King, Jr., Bob

Marley,

Walter

Rodney, a n d M a l c o l m Xall of w h o m died in

their thirties. It is really e x t r a o r d i n a r y h o w m u c h
t h o s e Black/Pan-African activists achieved d u r i n g

their relatively s h o r t life s p a n s . O n

the

other

h a n d , t h e r e are t h o s e like C. L. R. James, w h o d i e d

at t h e age of eighty-eight; W. E. B. D u Bois, w h o
died at ninety-five; a n d A i m e Cesaire, w h o died at

1 0

ninety-four.

O n e life lesson t h a t emerges is t h a t it is never

t o o early t o engage in liberation struggles a n d it is
never t o o late t o c a r r y o n . I n d e e d , u p t o the e n d of
his life, Cesaire was engaged in political dissent
a n d challenge. It was r e p o r t e d t h a t Cesaire refused
to m e e t c u r r e n t French President Nicolas Sarkozy
d u r i n g his c a m p a i g n for t h e p r e s i d e n c y in 2007,
for this reason:
Cesaire c o m p l a i n e d t h a t Sarkozy h a d e n d o r s e d
a 2005 French bill citing t h e "positive r o l e " of
colonialism. Cesaire spoke a r d e n t l y against t h e

Measure's language, a n d it was later r e m o v e d

after c o m p l a i n t s from f o r m e r French colonies
a n d France's overseas t e r r i t o r i e s .

17

It is a p p r o p r i a t e t o c o n c l u d e this essay w i t h
Cesaire's e x p l a n a t i o n of his p o s i t i o n o n this issue
in 2007, t h e year before his d e a t h : "I r e m a i n faithful

to m y beliefs a n d

remain

inflexibly

anti-

is Professor

of African

and

colonialist."
Locksley
Caribbean
Africana

Edmondson
Politics
Studies

and
and

International
Research

Center,

Relations,
Cornell

University,

1 6

1 7

Notes
' The following translated version of Cesaire's words appears
in the Appendix titled "From Toussaint L'Ouverture to Fidel
Castro" in C. L. R. James, The Black Jacobins: Toussaint
UOuverture and the San Domingo Revolution, 2nd edition,
revised (New York: Vintage Books, 1963), p. 400.
2 John Reed and Give Wake, Senghor Prose and Poetry
(London: Oxford University Press, 1965), p.10.
^ This translation of Cesaire's words appears in the simulta-

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Published by Duke University Press