Aime Cesaire et les independances Africaines: vers une politisation de l'esthetique dramatique

Abstract

The year 1960 is a crucial watershed in the History and Politics of Africa In that year, Ghana, Nigeria and, indeed, the near-totality of the former French African Colonies have attained and/or are in the process of attaining Independence. The dynamic of Decolonisation appears to be irreversible by the year 1963 as hope and fidelity in the "African Dream" become resonant and recurrent literary and political themes^ The composition by Aime' Cesaire in 1963 of The Tragedy of King Christopher reflects, not so much the generalised African political euphoria over the dawn ef independence, but the solicitude of this Martinican man-of-letters and Poli¬tician for the Politics of Decolonisation in Africa. in this play, Cesaire seeks to focus the search-light on the newly indepen-dent African States and, through the example, and mythologisation of the 19th century Haitian King Christopher, to, as it were, highlight some of the pitfalls and impedimenta that are the off-spring of every Decolonisation process The objective here is therefore to charter novel and more meaningful pers-pectives for the "African Revolution" and to offer a dispassionate,rational and sober Kaleidoscope of the "African Dream" in the dialectics of her History and Politics.