French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Lucrèce, Aimé Césaire - Liturgie et poésie charnelle
Francophone and Oral Literatures

André Lucrèce, Aimé Césaire - Liturgie et poésie charnelle

Paris: L'Harmattan, coll. "Espaces littéraires", 2013.

104 p.

EAN 9782343000442

12.00 EUR

Publisher's overview:

Césaire's poetics is a liturgy of flesh and poetry because, in contrast to classical sacredness, the poet proposes his own, rooted in a pagan and fertile approach that carries within its consciousness not only the poet's personal and intimate experience, but history itself. Césaire portrays the "Black man" no longer trapped in the neurosis of the post-slavery era, but standing tall at the helm, guided by the compass, upright and free, triumphant beneath the stars.

Sociologist, writer, and literary critic, André Lucrèce was born in Fort-de-France, Martinique. Holding a PhD in sociology from the University of Paris, his research focuses primarily on phenomena related to modernity in Caribbean societies.

This critical study examines the foundational role of Aimé Césaire within twentieth-century Caribbean literature and the broader Francophone literary tradition. André Lucrèce analyzes how Césaire moves beyond the psychological wounds of colonialism to articulate a triumphant, autonomous Black identity. By examining the interplay between sacred ritual, historical consciousness, and poetic form, the book illuminates the mechanisms through which anticolonial writers forge new cultural paradigms and reclaim historical agency.

The work will particularly interest students and scholars of Francophone literature, postcolonial studies, and Caribbean cultural history. It offers valuable perspectives for readers investigating the intersections of poetry, politics, and sociology in the French-speaking world. By focusing on the Martinican author's unique synthesis of personal experience and collective history, Lucrèce provides essential tools for understanding the enduring impact of Negritude and modern poetic theory.