Léopold (Sédar) Senghor
(1906-2001)
Source: query emory
Senegalese poet and statesman, founder of
the Senegalese Democratic Bloc. Senghor was elected president of Senegal
in the 1960s. He retired from office in 1980. He was one of the originators
of the concept of Négritude, defined as the
literary and artistic expression of the black African experience. In historical
context the term has been seen as a reaction against French colonialism
and a defence of African culture. It has deeply influenced the strengthening
of African identity in the French-speaking black world.
| Sayings: |
“L'èmotion est nègre,
la raision est héllène. [emotion is Negro, reason is Greek]”
“Negritude is the totality of the cultural values of
the Black world.” |
| Anthologie de la Nouvelle Poésie Négre et Mangache
(1948) |
| ”Yes, in one
way, the Negro today is richer in gifts than in works. But tree
thrusts its roots into the earth. The river runs deep, carrying
precious seeds. And, the Afro-American poet, Langston Hughes, says:
I have known rivers
ancient dark rivers
my soul has grown deep
like the deep rivers. |
The very nature of the Negro’s
emotion, his sensitivity, furthermore, explains his attitude toward
the object perceived with such basic intensity. It is an abandon
that becomes need, and active state of communion, indeed of identification,
however negligible the action - I almost said the personality -
of the object. A rhythmic attitude: The adjective should be kept
in mind.” |
| (“Ce que l'homme noir apporte”,
in L'Homme de couleur, ed. by Claude Nordey, 1939.) |
ENG312C2
- University of Ulster |