Negritude Agonistes, Assimilation against Nationalism...
(CHERRY HILL, NJ)––Historian and novelist Christian Filostrat has penned an authoritative historical analysis and literary criticism, Negritude Agonistes, Assimilation against Nationalism in the French-speaking Caribbean and Guyane. Through his effort, he has given researchers a priceless book with illustrations that are excerpts from the issue of L'Etudiant Noir Journal Mensuel de l'Association des Etudiants Martiniquais en France (The Black Student Journal ...) where Aimé Césaire first used the word Negritude. For years, scholars of Negritude and francophone studies had doubted that the issue—Volume 1, number 3 (May-June)—existed. Christopher L. Miller, Frederick Clifford Ford Professor of French and African and Afro-American Studies, Yale University, stated after seeing Negritude Agonistes, “Now thanks to you we all have it! I will tell my students about this with excitement …” and named the book "a must read."
In Negritude Agonistes, Filostrat has deftly assessed European and French colonialism in the French West Indies from the 16th to 20th centuries. His analysis of the racial and cultural movements of black and mixed-race people identified French West Indians who supported or opposed assimilation into France’s political and social structures in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. The literary review has another gem, excerpts of previously unpublished poetry of Léon Damas, another important negritude proponent. The appendix, also of interest, has Filostrat's compelling interview of Josie Fanon, Frantz Fanon’s wife.
Given Aimé Césaire's death on April 17, 2008, and the impending centennial celebrations of his birth (June 26, 1913), publication of Negritude Agonistes is timely. The author and publisher expect interest in this work to increase in parallel with the focus on Césaire. Filostrat's novel, The Beggars' Pursuit, includes the negritude proponents’ activities in Paris, circa 1936.
Published by Africana Homestead Legacy Publishers (AHLP), Negritude Agonistes, Assimilation against Nationalism in the French-speaking Caribbean and Guyane is available in two editions: ISBN 978-0-
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