From 20th century
Francophone Africa, the Caribbean, French Guiana, and Paris
Négritude was a literary and political movement that emerged among Black students in Paris during the 1930s. Initially seeking identity amid estrangement from African roots and French society, it celebrated African cultural forms and modes of thought in opposition to European ones. After the Second World War it acquired a political dimension linked to liberation, but it remained contested by African and Caribbean intellectuals who criticized its romanticism, elitism, and cultural essentialism.
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The Story
Négritude originated in the world of Black students in Paris during the 1930s. Its early purpose was a search for identity by individuals who felt alienated both from their ethnic roots and from French society. The movement sought forms of ideology and art presented as authentically African, exalting African culture and modes of thought against European models.
Its principal leaders included the Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, the French Guianese poet Léon Damas, and the Senegalese Léopold Sédar Senghor. Senghor later used his position as President of Senegal to provide powerful patronage, although the passage states that he eventually appeared to lose interest in the movement. Under négritude, a Francophone school of writers from Africa and the New World emerged, alongside the influential Paris-based magazine Présence Africaine.
After the Second World War, négritude acquired a political dimension through claims to be an ideology of liberation. Yet it was increasingly criticized, including by Frantz Fanon, Ezekiel Mphahlele, and Wole Soyinka. Critics argued that it romanticized African culture and society and spoke mainly to a small intellectual elite; Mphahlele’s attack at the 1963 Dakar Conference on Black Literature placed national culture before broader Pan-African goals.
From 20th century
Francophone Africa, the Caribbean, French Guiana, and Paris
Négritude was a literary and political movement that emerged among Black students in Paris during the 1930s. Initially seeking identity amid estrangement from African roots and French society, it celebrated African cultural forms and modes of thought in opposition to European ones. After the Second World War it acquired a political dimension linked to liberation, but it remained contested by African and Caribbean intellectuals who criticized its romanticism, elitism, and cultural essentialism.
Continue exploring
The Story
Négritude originated in the world of Black students in Paris during the 1930s. Its early purpose was a search for identity by individuals who felt alienated both from their ethnic roots and from French society. The movement sought forms of ideology and art presented as authentically African, exalting African culture and modes of thought against European models.
Its principal leaders included the Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, the French Guianese poet Léon Damas, and the Senegalese Léopold Sédar Senghor. Senghor later used his position as President of Senegal to provide powerful patronage, although the passage states that he eventually appeared to lose interest in the movement. Under négritude, a Francophone school of writers from Africa and the New World emerged, alongside the influential Paris-based magazine Présence Africaine.
After the Second World War, négritude acquired a political dimension through claims to be an ideology of liberation. Yet it was increasingly criticized, including by Frantz Fanon, Ezekiel Mphahlele, and Wole Soyinka. Critics argued that it romanticized African culture and society and spoke mainly to a small intellectual elite; Mphahlele’s attack at the 1963 Dakar Conference on Black Literature placed national culture before broader Pan-African goals.