Although I knew that he was ailing, I was still stunned to learn that another great mind of the 20th century was extinguished today. Philosopher/poet/novelist Edouard Glissant passed away today (February 3, 2011) in Paris at the age of 82. Many thanks to Kevin Meehan for this obituary from Le Monde. [The obituary is followed by a link to the original.]
Eloquent defender of diversity and métissage, the great Caribbean writer Edouard Glissant died on February 3 in Paris, at the age of 82. Poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, thinker, [and exponent of the concept of] creolization, he was born in Sainte-Marie (Martinique) on September 21, 1928 and conducted studies in Philosophy and Ethnology in Paris.
His success upon winning the Prix Renaudot in 1958 for his novel La Lézarde made the general public aware of this intellectual, who never separated his literary creation from a militant reflection. Influenced by the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, he construed the history and geography of the Caribbean politically, demonstrating his revolt against racisms of any type and evoking the indelible mark of slavery on the relationship between France and Africa and all overseas territories.
Opposing any imposed systems and any rejection of the other, Edouard Glissant has been champion of métissage and exchange, formulating in his essays gathered in the “Poétique” series his theses on Philosophie de la relation [philosophy of relation] and Poétique du divers the [poetics of the diverse]. He refused to be constrained by single genre, moving constantly between the novel, essay, and poetry, even within a single work.
Novels Directed towards the Imaginary
Edouard Glissant, who shared at once a respectful and conflicting relationship with Aimé Césaire, the other great personality of the Caribbean world, also expressed his concern for literary parentage, through writers and “disciples” [I would rather translate this as supporting scholars] such as Patrick Chamoiseau, Raphaël Confiant, or Ernest Pépin.
His novels, from Quatrième siècle (Seuil 1965) to Ormerod (Gallimard 2003), are geared towards a mythical and imaginary world, far from any naturalism, but also imbued with picturesque elements specific to certain Caribbean novelists.
After having created a center for research and teaching in Martinique, as well as a review named Acoma, Edouard Glissant founded in Paris the Institut du Tout-monde, aimed at putting into practice his humanistic principles and to allowing for the dissemination of “the extraordinary diversity of the imaginaries of the people.”
Photo: Edouard Glissant in 1958 (Le Monde)
For the original obituary (in French), see http://www.lemonde.fr/carnet/article/2011/02/03/l-ecrivain-edouard-glissant-est-mort_1474457_3382.html
Read a beautiful tribute (in French) here: http://www.lepoint.fr/culture/la-mort-d-edouard-glissant-03-02-2011-1291602_3.php
For another wonderful tribute article (in Spanish), see http://vidatraducida.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/edouard-glissant-ha-pasado-a-traduccion/
For full biography, see http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/ile.en.ile/paroles/glissant.html
See more on the Glissant’s poetics at http://thefunambulist.net/2010/12/17/philosophy-poetics-of-relation-by-edouard-glissant/
Thank you for publishing this notice. He will be missed. He opened the path to many other great Caribbean thinkers, and he showed so many of us to embrace our own spiral. Forever errant…forever walking the burning beach.
By: Raquel on February 3, 2011
at 12:57 pm
I later added comments in Spanish in Vida Traducida (blog): http://wp.me/pXfGU-2N
By: Raquel on February 4, 2011
at 11:41 am
¡Excelente! Voy a añadir el enlace al artículo. IR
By: ivetteromero on February 4, 2011
at 1:38 pm
[...] bloggers pay tribute to the life and work of “the great Caribbean writer Edouard Glissant”, who passed away [...]
By: Martinique: RIP Glissant · Global Voices on February 3, 2011
at 2:08 pm
[...] For more information in English, see this Repeating Islands post. [...]
By: Edouard Glissant (1928-2011) – The Caribbean Commons on February 4, 2011
at 9:07 am
[...] Glissant (1928-2011), Poetics of Relation LikeBe the first to like this [...]
By: For opacity-and more tributes « Claire Laville on February 5, 2011
at 11:39 pm
This is truly sad news, Glissant was (and will continue to be) an incredibly important writer, poet, critic, theoretician an, and individual!!!!! A profound loss to the Caribbean and the world! I am in mourning. “Thanks” for posting this profoundly sad news.
By: Davd J. Labiosa on February 6, 2011
at 9:00 pm
[...] been hardly forty-eight hours since Édouard Glissant died. His death was not unexpected, but it was uncharacteristic. On the Internet, a torrent of homage [...]
By: Toujours Tout-monde: For Édouard Glissant on February 8, 2011
at 1:49 pm
He was and will always be my most revered role model.
By: Rebecca Theodore on September 24, 2011
at 12:15 pm
[...] Edouard Glissant [...]
By: (An Incomplete) List of Writers Who Died in 2011 | biblioklept on December 16, 2011
at 9:40 am
[...] that a year has passed since Edouard Glissant passed away on February 3, 2011. [See previous post Edouard Glissant Passed Away Today and Guardian Obituary: Edouard Glissant.] Yesterday, at the opening of the Festival des [...]
By: Festival des Résistances: Patrick Chamoiseau Renders Tribute to Edouard Glissant « Repeating Islands on February 3, 2012
at 8:52 pm