Suzanne Césaire's Significance for the Forging of a New Caribbean Literature

Although literature on the 1940s theorist Suzanne Césaire often focuses on her later essays, this article suggests that the significance of Césaire's work in Tropiques can be further illuminated by examining rather than ignoring the apparent tension between her early and later texts. In her ess...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The French review 2006-02, Vol.79 (3), p.538-548
Main Author: Rabbitt, Kara M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African American literature
Anonymous writers. Authors
English speaking literatures
Ethnography
French literature
French speaking and English speaking literatures
History and sciences of litterature
History of literature
Latin American literature
Literary criticism
Literary history
Literature
Negritude poetry
Philippine islands
Surrealism
Surrealist poetry
Writers
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Summary:Although literature on the 1940s theorist Suzanne Césaire often focuses on her later essays, this article suggests that the significance of Césaire's work in Tropiques can be further illuminated by examining rather than ignoring the apparent tension between her early and later texts. In her essays on European inspirations Césaire builds toward an interrelationship that her later theoretical texts will elaborate for Martinican cultural identity. Césaire calls for a functional poetics to be built from but not limited to a critical engagement with French and other sources. She thus actively welds traditions in order to strengthen an emerging literature.
ISSN:0016-111X
2329-7131