Freedom Time: Negritude, Decolonization, and the Future of the World

401 Pages·2015·1.629 MB·English

by  Gary Wilder

FREEDOM TIME

F REEDOM TIME
Negritude, Decolonization,
and the Future of the World
Gary Wilder
Duke University Press Durham and London 2015
© 2015 Duke University Press All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid- free paper ∞
Designed by Courtney Leigh Baker
Typeset in Univers by Westchester Book Group
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilder, Gary.
Freedom time : Negritude, decolonization, and the future of the world / Gary Wilder.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8223-5839-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8223-5850-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8223-7579-1 (e-book)
1. Césaire, Aimé. 2. Senghor, Léopold Sédar, 1906–2001.
3. France—Colonies—Africa—20th century.
4. France—Colonies—America—20th century.
5. Negritude (Literary movement). I. Title.
jv1818.w553 2015
325'.3—dc23
2014040365
Cover art: (top) Léopold Senghor. Felix Man/Picture Post/Getty Images; (bottom) Aimé
Césaire. © Mario Dondero.
For Rachel & Isabel
In memoriam Marilyn Wilder & Fernando Coronil

NON- TIME IMPOSES ON TIME THE TYRANNY OF ITS SPATIALITY.
—Aimé Césaire

CONTENTS
Preface xi Ac know ledg ments xv
1 Unthinking France, Rethinking Decolonization 1
2 Situating Césaire 17
Antillean Awakening and Global Redemption
3 Situating Senghor 49
African Hospitality and Human Solidarity
4 Freedom, Time, Territory 74
5 Departmentalization and the Spirit of Schoelcher 106
6 Federalism and the Future of France 133
7 Antillean Autonomy and the Legacy of Louverture 167
8 African Socialism and the Fate of the World 206
9 Decolonization and Postnational Democracy 241
Chronology 261 Notes 275
Works Cited 333 Index 373