Césaire, Aimé (ĕmā` sāzĕr`), 1913–, West Indian poet and essayist who writes in French. After studying in Paris he became concerned with the plight of blacks in what he considers a decadent Western society. With Léopold Senghor Senghor, Léopold Sédar (lāôpôld` sādär` säNgôr`)
..... Click the link for more information. and Léon Damas Damas, Léon (lāôN` dämä`) (Léon-Gentran Damas), 1912–78, French poet, b. French Guiana.
..... Click the link for more information. he formulated the concept of négritude, which urged blacks to reject assimilation and cultivate consciousness of their own racial qualities and heritage. Césaire voiced this idea through poetry, collected in such volumes as Les armes miraculeuses (1946) and Ferrements (1960) and in the essay Discours sur le colonialisme (1950, tr. 1972). In addition to his literary output, which comprises poetry, plays, and historical essays on black leaders, Césaire has held a number of government positions in his native Martinique, including that of mayor of Fort-de-France.

Bibliography

See study by S. Frutkin (1973).

Césaire, Aimé (-Fernand)

(born June 25, 1913, Basse-Pointe, Mart.) Martinican poet and playwright. Educated in Paris, Césaire returned to Martinique to be elected to the National Assembly as a Communist. A cofounder with Léopold Senghor of the Negritude movement, he ardently supported the decolonization of French colonies of Africa, a view expressed in the fiery poems of Return to My Native Land (1939) and Soleil cou-coupé (1948, “Sun's Slashed Throat”). Discarding Negritude for black militancy, he turned to the theatre and wrote the political dramas The Tragedy of King Christophe (1963) and A Season in the Congo (1966).