Allen-Paisant, J orcid.org/0000-0002-5705-0522 (2022) Aimé Césaire: Possession as paradigm of consciousness. Cultural Critique, 117. pp. 1-27. ISSN 0882-4371
Abstract
This essay particularizes Césaire's poetic project through the lens of spirit possession, showing how spirit possession offers a philosophical paradigm through which Césaire challenges the narrative of European humanism, anchoring Négritude in an alternative, decolonial sense of what it means to be human. Articulating a view of humanness that connects the world of ancient Greece to that of Haitian Vodou, Césaire's theorization of "poetry" (as a mode of knowledge, engagement, and production that involves energy exchanges and human participation in the living world) brings useful perspectives to current debates surrounding capitalist crises, ecological collapse, and epistemic freedom. Through the links made between "spirit," "poiesis," and "animism" here, this essay expands understandings of Césaire's work and Négritude. From a weak iteration of Pan-Africanism or strong senses of diaspora, the latter is reframed as a deep poetic sensibility with its own metaphysics and ethical commitment to earth and land and their entanglement with Being.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This item is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This is an author produced version of an article published in Cultural Critique. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Languages Cultures & Societies (Leeds) > French (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Leverhulme Trust ECF-2016-536 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 27 Oct 2020 15:51 |
Last Modified: | 14 Oct 2023 00:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | University of Minnesota Press |
Identification Number: | 10.1353/cul.2022.0046 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:167217 |