Landmarks of French Culture: Aimé Césaire: Postcolonial Poetry, Theatre, Critique

This course will study a selection of the writings of Aimé Césaire, a towering figure of the 20th century in poetry, theatre, and postcolonial critique and politics. Césaire's poetry is arguably the most accomplished oeuvre of any anticolonial poet of the century, and a pinnacle of modernist French poetry tout court. Similarly, Césaire's theatrical works are outstanding moments in the creation of a theatre of decolonization, while his celebrated critical pieces, such as the "Discours sur le colonialisme", articulate the ethical and political grounds for the struggle to end colonialism.