The Great Camouflage: Writings of Dissent (1941-1945)

In the words of translator Walker, this new collection of Suzanne C%C3%A9saire's WWII-era contributions to the cultural journal Tropiques (of which she was a cofounder) "teases out questions emanating from the nodal concept of camouflage" as a metaphor for the condition of the relationship between ruler and ruled, self and other, land and soul. C%C3%A9saire was a renowned intellectual who, along with her husband, Aim%C3%A9, founded the N%C3%A9gritude movement, and whose fiery prose called openly, yet subtly, for rebellion against the Vichy rule of her native Martinique. Allying herself with the surrealism of Andr%C3%A9 Breton (whose own prose poem dedicated to C%C3%A9saire can also be found in this slim volume), she voiced a passionate, unique, and still resonant call to fellow islanders to break free of the chains binding them to a fallen Europe, opining that her fellow Martinican was "unaware of his true nature, which nonetheless does exist." Though Martinique technically remains a holding of the French Republic, C%C3%A9saire's writings are no less moving and pertinent to ongoing struggles around the world for political and cultural autonomy. (May)