Resolutely Black: Conversations with Francoise Verges(Critical South)

Aimé Césaire’s work is foundational for decolonial and postcolonial thought. His Discourse on Colonialism, first published in 1955, influenced generations of scholars and activists at the forefront of liberation struggles in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean and it remains a classic of anticolonial thought.  This unique volume takes the form of a series of interviews with Césaire that were conducted by Françoise Vergès in 2004, shortly before his death. Césaire’s responses to Vergès’ questions cover a wide range of topics, including the origins of his political activism, the legacies of slavery and colonialism, the question of reparation for slavery and the problems of marrying literature to politics. The book includes a substantial postface by Vergès in which she situates Césaire’s work in its intellectual and political context.  This timely book brings Césaire back into the present-day conversation on race, slavery and the legacy of colonialism. His penetrating insights on these matters should appeal to scholars and students throughout the humanities and social sciences as well as to the general public.

Table of Contents:
Note on the translation Preface by Françoise Vergès Interviews Postface by Françoise Vergès  Works by Aimé Césaire Notes

About the Author :
Aimé Césaire (1913-2008) was born in Basse-Pointe, Martinique, and was an anticolonial theorist, activist, writer and poet. Françoise Vergès has held the Global South(s) Professorship at the Maison des sciences de l’homme, Paris.

Review :
“Whether it be his poetry, plays, essays, or speeches, Aimé Césaire's writing has remained a canonical essential for over 50 years, but only with the arrival of Resolutely Black can we now enjoy the kinds of detailed insights and commentary worthy of his stature. The interviews with Françoise Vergès further underscore the unnerving prescience of Césaire when it comes to racial politics while also providing much-needed context, depth and texture. A ‘must’ for all students and scholars who study power, diaspora, culture, identity and belonging in the modern world.” Michelle Wright, Emory University “Resolutely Black offers English language readers a fascinating series of primarily political conversations [Françoise] Vergès had with Martinican poet, playwright, and politician Aimé Césaire late in his long life, just four years before he died at age ninety-four in 2008. […] Vergès’s framing of these interviews and the incisive writings around them in both her preface and postface to the book are crucial for getting at the complexities of Césaire’s legacies. […] The translator of Resolutely Black, Matthew B. Smith […] is an experienced translator who enables readers of this book to hear the source text in the translation, something only very talented translators can do.” Katerina Gonzalez Seligmann, Simone de Beauvoir Studies