Discours sur le colonialisme

I read Cesaire's 'discours sur le colonialisme' in one afternoon at a coffe place and it was captivating in how intellectually he wrote, with tinges of attitude in the words. A lot of the things he wrote about I already knew from studying a lot about Africa before and what ethnocentricism vs. ethno relativism means when applying yourself and perceptions of other cultures. This book is as applicable in the 1950's as today,... Read Full Review

This book was written before Fanon's "Black Skins, White Masks". Much of what Fanon did in his great debut is elaborate on Cesaire's work, add psychiatric aspects to it, and further explore the ideas of Cesaire.Cesaire's denounciation of the West (both Europe and the US) is based on two pillars - one is the Western deeply racist and violent attitude towards the then colonized world, and the second is Cesaire's Marxist leanings.He... Read Full Review

As the previous reviewer (American) has stated this book is a powerful indictment of European colonialism. However, the author wrote this book in 1950s, the heyday of the independence movement against the 19th century European empires, i.e. Britain, France, Portugal, etc. and therefore that is its focus.What is condemned here has also the epitome of U.S. policy and economic activity in the Third World for the last half century,... Read Full Review

While best known as a poet, Aime Cesaire proves himself in this work to be a first-rate political and cultural critic. His *Discourse on Colonialism*, along with Frantz Fanon's *Wretched of the Earth* are the seminal consciousness-raising works for colonialized peoples. Although Fanon and his book are the more famous, it is not obvious that this is justified. Cesaire brings his immense linguistic and poetic talents to his... Read Full Review