Aimé Césaire was one of the great poet-statesmen of the twentieth century. Co-founder of the Négritude movement and ardent anti-colonialist, he also authored some of the most powerful poetry in the French language, including the Cahier d'un retour au pays natal, which has become a classic of world literature. He served as mayor of Fort-de-France for 56 years and Deputy to the French national assembly for 48 years. He is a beloved figure in his native Martinique, where he is commonly referred to as Papa Césaire. But his legacy has not been without controversy. Notably, his theory of Négritude has been criticized as essentialist, and his role as the principal architect of the 1946 law on the "Departmentalization" of France's colonies has made him a target for independentists who believe that it exacerbated the neocolonial domination of the French Overseas Departments. This conference seeks to celebrate Césaire's multi-faceted legacy by paying it that most meaningful of tributes: a critical re-evaluation of his many accomplishments in light of their shifting meanings over time.

Co-sponsored by the Global & International Studies Program

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