Negritude - Leon Damas

7/26/2019 Negritude - Leon Damas

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Negritude

and

Leon-Gontran

Damas


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Born March 28, 1912

in Cayenne, FrenchGuiana

from a comfortablemiddle-class mulattofamily


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He met Aime Cesaire and eo!old "edar"en#hor

$hile studyin# in %aris&

'n 19() they founded the *ournal+tudiant oir

or .he Blac/ "tudent&

't e0!lored American-deried ideas of a

e#ro renaissance&


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%i#ments, his rst

collection of!oems, $as!ublished in 19(3&

4't is an attac/, acry of !ain, anan#uishedinentory of the

!ersonal loss ofAfrica, of Blac/identity, ofdiscomfort andreolt at the

.hrou#h his !oetry,

6amas refused the4blac/5 title #ien bythe French andclaimed his o$n

identity7 #re&


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My friends Ive waltzed

waltzed

more than any

of my ancestors

the Gauls

to such a point my bloodstill beats

to the Viennese

Sleepless Night


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waltzed my childhood through

wandering on

some blue Danube

white Danubered Danube

green Danube

pin Danubered green pin or blue

whichever


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Madly

!altzed

to such a point that often

I thought I had an arm around the waist

of "ncle Gobineau

or of #ousin $itleror of that good %ryan that gums his years

on some par bench


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uit Blanche as a !hrasemeans 4"lee!less i#ht5

But it literally means 4hitei#ht5

.he $alt: is a uro!ean dancethat $ould hae been tau#ht to

6amas from a ery early a#e&

't symboli:es the !rocess ofcultural assimilation that manycolonials $ent throu h&


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Sleepless Night

4my ancestors /the Gauls5 is an ironicstatement&

African children in theFrench colonies are nottau#ht of their o$nherita#e&

'nstead they are tau#hturo!ean history andculture&


waltzed

more than any

of my ancestors

the Gauls

to such a point my blood

still beats

to the Viennese


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waltzed my childhood through

wandering on

some blue Danubewhite Danube

red Danube

green Danube

pin Danube

red green pin or bluewhichever

4Blue 6anube5 refers tothe famous $alt:com!osed by ;ohann"trauss ''

blue


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Madly

!altzed

to such a point that oftenI thought I had an arm around the waist

of "ncle Gobineau

or of #ousin $itler

or of that good %ryan that gums his yearson some par bench

Arthur de Gobineau $rote 4An ssayon the 'ne>uality of the Human ?aces5and deelo!ed the theory of the4Aryan master race&5


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'n a blunt, dry, iid style,unashamedly !lain lan#ua#e, staccatorhythms and acridly $itty !uns,6amas+ short !oems lay bare their his

often iolent re*ection of $hiteuro!ean 4ci-i-li-:a-tion&5

46amas is e#ro and insistson his e#ro-ness and on hiscondition as a e#ro&5

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Negritude - Leon Damas