Discourse on Colonialism by Aim Csaire

Discourse on Colonialism by Aim Csaire

"Césaire'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

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, Black Power, and anti-war movements and has sold more than 75,000 copies to date.

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." Here, Césaire reaffirms African values, identity, and culture, and their relevance, reminding us that "the relationship between consciousness and reality are extremely complex. . . . It is equally necessary to decolonize our minds, our inner life, at the same time that we decolonize society." An interview with Césaire by the poet René Depestre is also included.

Aime Césaire (1913-2008)was born in Basse-Pointe, Martinique. Though educated in Paris, he was deeply involved in the struggle for French West Indian rights. He is the author of several volumes of poetry and plays, including Putting in Fetters; Lost Bodies, Decapitated Sun; and The Tragedy of King Christophe. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is University Professor in the humanities and director of the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society at Columbia University.