Topic > The Negritude Movement in France

Negritude was both a literary and ideological movement led by intellectuals of French-speaking black writers from France's colonies in Africa and the Caribbean. The movement is characterized by its rejection of European colonization and its domination of the African diaspora, pride in “blackness,” and traditional African values ​​and culture mixed with an undercurrent of Marxist ideals. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Negritude was born out of a shared experience of discrimination and oppression and an attempt to dispel stereotypes and create a new black consciousness. The movement drew inspiration from the Harlem Renaissance, which was beginning its decline. The Harlem Renaissance, also called the “new Negro Renaissance,” promoted black artists and leaders who aroused a sense of pride and advocacy in the black community and a refusal to submit to injustice. Negritude is the simple recognition of the fact that one is black, the acceptance of this fact and of our destiny as blacks, of our history and culture. Fundamentally, the Negritude movement arose from the context of French-speaking Africans responding to the rigid, dehumanizing, and culturally and religiously disorienting policy of French assimilation: this is a term used to describe French colonial policy in Africa. The policy aimed to transform Africa into “French” through the educational process. This policy was intended to make Africans culturally French. The French proclaimed that Africans could assimilate French culture and that those who did so could be accepted under full social equality by all Frenchmen. Social equality, however, was not realistic. Importantly, "assimilation was not aimed at elevating the African but at devaluing his culture, and that is why it was deemed necessary to strip him of his true cultural self and cover him with a foreigner against whom he would later rebel ". of black pride on the part of members of the negritude movement was accompanied by a cry against this assimilation. In their view, colonization had robbed their culture not only of its uniqueness but also of the means to express it, through the transportation of a foreign language. Writers used French and other languages ​​in new ways, using them to symbolically express their connection to traditional African culture, rituals, and symbols. According to Senghor, negritude defined the best means to express the essence of black identity and often underlined the existence of a black psychology, this is the acceptance and pride of being black. They were also troubled by world wars in which they saw their countrymen not only dying for a cause that was not theirs, but being treated as inferiors on the battlefield. They became increasingly aware through their study of the history of black suffering and humiliation. First under the slavery of slavery and then under colonial rule. In this poem Diop talks about how blacks are mistreated by whites. In the poem he talks about being proud of Africa, this was before the colonizers arrived, but the situation changed when the whites arrived and conquered the continent; in the poem he says "the sweat of your labor, the labor of your slavery", meaning that [blacks] were enslaved. He goes ahead and says in the poem “this trembling back with red scars” this is the humiliation they receive from the whip they receive on their back when they work but they are believed to work slowly. But there is hope that this will come when" thenegritude movement is formed at the end of the poem in which he talks about salvation when he says "which is your Africa that is reborn new, reborn patiently". This means that freedom is coming slowly and that they will soon be free from the colonizers, he goes on to say “whose fruits little by little we acquire the bitter taste of freedom”. At the end of the poem there is liberation. These visions inspired many of the fundamental ideas behind negritude. First, the mystical warmth of African life, which draws strength from closeness to nature and constant contact with ancestors, should constantly be placed in proper perspective compared to the materialism of Western culture. Secondly, Africans must look to their cultural heritage to determine values ​​and traditions. which are more useful in the modern world. Third, committed writers should use African poetic topics and traditions and should arouse the desire for political freedom. Fourth, negritude itself encompasses all African cultural, economic, social and political values. Fifth: it is necessary to affirm the values ​​and dignity of African traditions and peoples. “We lived in an atmosphere of rejection and developed an inferiority complex. I have always thought that the black man was in search of his identity and it seemed to me that if what we want is to establish this identity, then we must have a concrete awareness of what we are, that is, of the first fact of our lives: that we are black, that we were black and have a history that contains cultural elements of great value, and that blacks were not as you say, born yesterday, because there have been beautiful and important black civilizations." Denouncing the evils of colonization, another tenet of the Negritude movement was therefore advocated outside the context of the above quote. Against the slave trade, colonialism, neocolonialism and above all prejudices against the black race and blacks, but before the affirmation and subsequent ascertainment of the historical relevance of Africa, its heritage and its values, the blacks they had to strip off the chains and constricting tendencies of assimilation. “To set up our effective revolution, we first had to strip off the borrowed clothes, those of assimilation, and affirm our being, that is, negritude. To truly be ourselves, we should embody the Negro-African culture. For our negritude to be effective we had to shake off the dust. This movement was a call to reject assimilation and reclaim one's racial heritage and qualities. Senghor advocates the emergence of “cultural workers” who will reveal black specificity to the world by articulating their experiences, fortunes and misfortunes. It is only black people who will write about their history and validate their achievements. This will restore the lost humility, dignity, integrity and subjectivity of black identity needed to confront Western racism and imperialism. Damas in his pigment provides an ideological perspective, for him negritude is a categorical rejection of an assimilation that also denies black spontaneity. as a defense of his black status. In his poem "Limbe" Damas expresses negritude. In this poem damas criticizes the racial division, he uses a black doll to show that he is African, meaning black in the poem. He says "in the darkness of his laws once I have recovered my courage and my boldness and become myself again" this underlines that he probably did something that got him into trouble and that's why he had his hands taken away her dolls. He's trying to feel like himself and feel brave, like he did before this happened. Negritude was formed by.