Suzanne Césaire

Suzanne Césaire (born Suzanne Roussi, 11 August 1915, Martinique – 16 May 1966) was a theorist affiliated with the négritude movement and with surrealism. She was one of the first theorists to emphasise the potential of the multi-ethnic and multi-natural composition of the Caribbean and called for an experimental cultural appropriation rather than a return to essences or assimilation. [1]

Publications

(in French unless noted otherwise)

• co-editor, Tropiques, 14 numbers, Fort de France (Martinique), 1941-1945; repr. as Tropiques 1941-1945: collection complète, Paris: Jean-Michel Place, 1978. Journal. TOC. [2]

• "Léo Frobenius et le problème des civilisations", Tropiques 1, Apr 1941, pp 27-36.
  • "Leo Frobenius and the Problem of Civilizations", trans. Krzysztof Fijalkowski and Michael Richardson, in Refusal of the Shadow: Surrealism and the Caribbean, ed. Michael Richardson, London: Verso, 1997, pp 82-87. (English)
  • "Leo Frobenius and the Problem of Civilizations", trans. Keith L. Walker, in Césaire, The Great Camouflage, 2012, pp 3-10. (English)

• "Alain et l'esthétique", Tropiques' 2', Jul 1941, pp 53-61.
  • "Alain and Esthetics", trans. Keith L. Walker, in Césaire, The Great Camouflage, 2012, pp 11-18. (English)

• "André Breton, poète", Tropiques 3, Oct 1941, pp 31-37.
  • "André Breton, Poet", trans. Guy Ducornet and Franklin Rosemont, in Surrealist Women: An International Anthology, ed. Penelope Rosemont, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998, pp 127-129. (English)
  • "André Breton, Poet", trans. Keith L. Walker, in Césaire, The Great Camouflage, 2012, pp 19-24. (English)

• "Misère d'une poésie: John Antoinue-Nau", Tropiques 4, Jan 1942, pp 48-50.
  • "Poetic Destitution", trans. Keith L. Walker, in Césaire, The Great Camouflage, 2012, pp 25-27. (English)

• "Malaise d'une civilization", Tropiques 5, Apr 1942, pp 43-49.
  • "A Civilization’s Discontent", trans. Krzysztof Fijalkowski and Michael Richardson, in Refusal of the Shadow: Surrealism and the Caribbean, ed. Michael Richardson, London: Verso, 1997, pp 96-100. (English)
  • "Discontent of a Civilization", trans. Penelope Rosemont, in Surrealist Women: An International Anthology, ed. Penelope Rosemont, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998, pp 129-133. (English)
  • "The Malaise of a Civilization", trans. T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, in Negritude Women, ed. T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, University of Minnesota, 2002, pp 130-134. (English)
  • "The Malaise of a Civilization", trans. Keith L. Walker, in Césaire, The Great Camouflage, 2012, pp 28-33. (English)

• "1943: Le surréalisme et nous", Tropiques 8-9, Oct 1943, pp 14-18.
  • "1943: Surrealism and Us", trans. Krzysztof Fijalkowski and Michael Richardson, in Refusal of the Shadow: Surrealism and the Caribbean, ed. Michael Richardson, London: Verso, 1997, pp 123-126. (English)
  • "1943: Surrealism and Us", trans. Erin Gibson, in Surrealist Women: An International Anthology, ed. Penelope Rosemont, Austin: University of Texas Press, 1998, pp 133-137; repr. in Manifesto: A Century of Isms, ed. Mary Ann Caws, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001. (English)
  • "1943: Surrealism and Us", trans. Keith L. Walker, in Césaire, The Great Camouflage, 2012, pp 34-38. (English)

• "Le Grand camouflage", Tropiques 13-14, Sep 1945, pp 267-273.
  • "The Great Camouflage", trans. Krzysztof Fijalkowski and Michael Richardson, in Refusal of the Shadow: Surrealism and the Caribbean, ed. Michael Richardson, London: Verso, 1997, pp 156-161. (English)
  • "The Great Camouflage", trans. T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, in Negritude Women, ed. T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting, University of Minnesota, 2002, pp 135-140. (English)
  • "The Great Camouflage", trans. Keith L. Walker, in Césaire, The Great Camouflage, 2012, pp 39-46. (English)

• Suzanne Césaire: le grand camouflage. Écrits de dissidence (1941-1945), ed. Daniel Maximin, Paris: Seuil, 2009.
  • The Great Camouflage: Writings of Dissent (1941-1945), ed. Daniel Maximin, trans. Keith L. Walker, Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2012, xxxvi+67 pp. Excerpt (essays "Surrealism and Us" and "The Great Camouflage"). Review: Gil (NWIG). (English)

Literature

• M. Condé, "Suzanne Césaire and the Construct of a Caribbean Identity" in Winds of Change: The Transforming Voices of Caribbean Women Writers and Scholars, eds. A. S. Newson and L. Strong-Leek, New York: P. Lang, 1998. (English)

• R. D. G. Kelley, "A Poetics of Anti-Colonialism", Monthly Review 51:6, 1999. (English)

• Kara Rabbitt, "Suzanne Césaire", Île en île, 2006.

• Angela Last, "Césaire, Suzanne", Global Social Theory, n.d. (English)

Links

• Wikipedia