Description: This classic work, first published in France in 1955, profoundly influenced the generation of scholars and activists at the forefront of liberation struggles in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Nearly twenty years later, when published for the first time in English, Discourse on Colonialism inspired a new generation engaged in the Civil Rights and Black Power and anti-war movements. Aimé Césaire eloquently describes the brutal impact of capitalism and colonialism on both the colonizer and colonized, exposing the contradictions and hypocrisy implicit in western notions of "progress" and "civilization" upon encountering the "savage", "uncultured," or "primitive."
Brief description: A celebrated poet, novelist, and philosopher, AIMÉ CÉSAIRE is the author of several books, volumes of poetry and numerous plays, including Return to My Native Land, A Season in the Congo and an African version of Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Review Quotes: CA(c)saire's essay stands as an important document in the development of third world consciousness--a process in which [he] played a prominent role. - "Library Journal"