Book Report: Aimé Césaire- Elizebeth Walcott-Hackshaw

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"Don't mind my black skin; it's the sun that burned it." -Notebook of the Return to the

Native Land. The biography of Aimé Césaire was written by Trinidadian author and professor at

the University of the West Indies, Elizabeth Walcott-Hackshaw. It is based on the life of the late

poet, author, and politician who was born in Basse-Pointe, Martinique, on June 26th, 1913, a

place where volcanic eruptions had ravaged the area some time before his birth. Aimé-Fernand

David Césaire died in Fort-de-France, Martinique, on April 17th, 2008. Furthermore, this book

examines the influences on both his personal and diplomatic notions, which he was passionate

about, as well as his patriotic fight for autonomy in his homeland of Martinique under French

colonial rule during the twentieth century. The abolishment of chattel slavery in the Caribbean

came not too long before Césaire’s time; therefore, colonized people such as himself now had the

right to an education. Césaire’s family came from a poor rural economic status, and thus they

believed that education was the escape from poverty. Henceforth, his family made education a

priority and thus moved to the capital city, Fort-de-France, where Césaire would attend

Martinique’s most prestigious secondary school, Lycée Victor Schoelcher. There he would prove

himself a diligent and ambitious student, and in 1931, upon his graduation, he would receive a

scholarship to further his studies in Paris, France. In this essay, an analysis of the extent to which

Césaire’s life and work influenced the understanding(s) of Caribbean post-colonial identity will

be done through an examination of his literary and political campaigns, which he orchestrated

throughout his lifespan.

When eighteen-year-old Aimé-Fernand Césaire began his studies in the capital city of

France, a feeling of cultural alienation overcame him. This could be better termed "diasporic

double consciousness," which was also caused by his exposure to the writers of the Harlem

Renaissance who fled to Paris in order to escape racism and the feeling of exclusion that they
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experienced tremendously in the United States. As a result of this struggle that Césaire felt, he

returned to his homeland of Martinique in 1939, where he would become a teacher at his old

high school. Simultaneously, he would begin the production of his most famous work, Notebook

of the Return to the Native Land, which would explore slavery and colonization through the

rebellious nature of poetry. Subsequently, he founded the literary movement of Negritude along

with two of his old schoolmates, Léon Damas and Léopold Senghor. This movement represented

the response of the diasporic double consciousness that black, colonized people endured due to

the cultural assimilation inflicted on them by their host nation’s majority group. Negritude

challenged the notion that European civilizations were superior to other cultures and stressed the

warmth and humanism of African life as an alternative to the technical materialism of Europe,

insisting that black people realize and embrace their own values and traditions.

As was previously indicated, Césaire's most well-known literary work, Notebook of the

Return to the Native Land, was first published in 1939 but has since undergone numerous

revisions, with the most notable alterations being made by Césaire to the 1947 and 1956 editions.

The rebellion that young Césaire experienced at the time is reflected in Notebook of the Return

to the Native Land, which was profoundly influenced by surrealism, which would later be

recognized by French writer and surrealist André Robert Breton. The poem served as a turning

point in French modern poetry as well as the foundational work of the negritude movement. The

poem would also serve as a record of Césaire's own awakening process and a declaration of his

negritude. It is obvious from the outset that Césaire was indulging in self-hatred, but by the

poem's conclusion, he has fully accepted and is even proud of his negritude.
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Moreover, Walcott-Hackshaw takes the time to discuss another one of Césaire’s most

famous works, like Une Tempête, published in 1969, which was a dramatic theater production

heavily influenced by William Shakespeare’s noteworthy, controversial play, "The Tempest". In

this rewrite, Césaire attempts to retell the story of colonialism and is successful in doing so by

changing the point of view in the story. He is able to transpose the characters to reveal Prospero

as the exploitive European power and Ariel and Caliban as the exploited natives. In his revision,

the story is told from the colonized perspective rather than the colonizer’s point of view as in

Shakespeare’s version of the play. Speech serves to both shatter and strengthen the identities of

Césaire's protagonists in the colonial system. By merging speech theory with politics, Césaire

highlights the conflicting possibilities of dialogue between the colonizers and colonized in his

play. Une Tempête transcends the confines of a straightforward revision by depicting colonial

power relations as disputable, negotiable, and provisional. It engages with Shakespeare’s "The

Tempest" to show how language can be used to effect change.

Walcott-Hackshaw not only narrated Césaire as a world-renowned literary figure but also

outlined his time in the political arena. In 1945, Aimé Césaire was elected mayor of Fort-de-

France. A title he would retain until 2001. Additionally, in 1946, he would join the Communist

Party, recognizing that the misery of black people was just one aspect of the proletariat struggle,

as well as become a member of the French National Assembly in this same year. A vehement

anti-colonist, he published the essay "Discourse on Colonialism" in 1950 and soon later dropped

out of the Communist Party and established the Martiniquan Socialist Party, Partie Progressiste

Martiniquais (PPM), only six months after his revolt. He believed that the communist party was

not serving the ideals intended but instead was contradicting his beliefs, in addition to its

inability to prioritize decolonization. He also believed that the class battle shouldn't be allowed to
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stifle the race struggle of the African diaspora, which was in fact happening under the

Communist regime. Cesaire additionally supported notions of decolonization throughout his

political career. He wanted it to expand throughout the French Caribbean and all of the French

colonies. He believed that departmentalization would benefit society and the economy. With

time, he quickly discovered that departmentalization had not been as beneficial as he had

anticipated.

In the book by Walcott-Hackshaw, the illustrious Martinican literary figure would be

steadfast in his fight to gain autonomy from the mother country and abolish colonialism,

especially since British colonies were advancing towards greater autonomy and independence

but repressive measures continued in Martinique in the early 1960s. Nonetheless, he hoped to

achieve autonomy without falling into the trap of hollow national autocracy, since there would

be no political agency attached to this independence. He was strongly convinced that "rational

dependence" on France would eventually raise the standard of living in Martinique. In 1982,

under the rule of the interior minister at the time, Gaston Deferre, a response for greater

autonomy came in the form of the Gaston Deferre Law. This would be the first vital reform

under the rule of the new president, François Mitterrand. However, even though this may have

raised the standard of living, the cost of living was also increased, and as a result, a dependency

syndrome was created due to the illusion of wealth in Martinique when compared to their

neighboring independent territories. This defeated the purpose of local cultural identity since the

island was heavily relying on its host nation in order to survive. Subsequently, this would result

in harsh criticism from the advocates of independence.

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The book is an excellent resource for learning about Caribbean culture overall. It puts the

Caribbean's post-colonial context into perspective and emphasizes the positive contributions that

elements like culture and education can make to the community. It refers to the distinctiveness of

the Caribbean people and the necessity for perspectives like Cesaire's to assist in reshaping their

conceptions of themselves so that they may embrace their true selves. Many Francophones or

Black people in the Caribbean might identify with Cesaire's journey since they have also traveled

and seen that the world is full of ethnocentrism, where others condemn you if your culture is

different from theirs. When traveling outside of the Caribbean, individuals regularly endure this

difficulty.

In conclusion, the biography of Aimé-Fernand David Césaire that was written by

Elizebeth Walcott-Hackshaw was successful in highlighting the inspiring life of the Martinican

poet, essayist, author, dramatist, and politician. The book emphasized key points in

understanding the post-colonial Caribbean identity through slavery, education, identity, and the

development of the Afro-Caribbean through time, in particular the twentieth century. This text

strongly reflected his convictions on race and equality, and I am compelled by his writings and

the causes he advocated for throughout his lifetime.

(1445 words)
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Bibliography

African American Registry. “Aimé Césaire, Writer, and Politican Born - African

American Registry.” African American Registry, 10 Mar. 2023,

aaregistry.org/story/aime-cesaire-writer-and-politican-born.

“Aimé Césaire’s Notebook of a Return to the Native Land.” Fiction and Film for

Scholars of France, 19 Aug. 2021, h-france.net/fffh/reviews/aime-cesaires-notebook-of-

a-return-to-the-native-land.

Desai, Kaushal. Analysis of ‘a Tempest’ by Aime Cesaire. 9 Feb. 2015,

desaikaushal1315.blogspot.com/2014/10/analysis-of-tempest-by-aime-cesaire.html.

Micklin, Anna. Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) &Bull; 26 June 2021,

www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/cesaire-aime-1913-2008/#:~:text=C

%C3%A9saire%20then%20founded%20the%20Martinican.

---. Negritude Movement &Bull; 9 Jan. 2023,

www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/negritude-movement.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Aimé Césaire | Martinican Author and

Politician.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 July 1998,

www.britannica.com/biography/Aime-Cesaire.
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Walcott-Hackshaw, Elizabeth. Aimé Césaire. Caribbean Biography, 2021.

Wilder, Gary. “How Césaire and Senghor Saw the Decolonised World | Aeon Essays.”

Aeon, 3 Aug. 2020, aeon.co/essays/how-cesaire-and-senghor-saw-the-decolonised-world.

The Work of Man Has Only Just Begun » Thinking With Aimé Césaire.

cesairelegacies.cdrs.columbia.edu/political-legacy/thinking-with-aime-cesaire.