Edouard Glissant and the framing of diaspora

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Abstract

The point of departure of this chapter is a desire to address a critical aporia in diaspora studies, namely the common omission of mention of Édouard Glissant’s work by scholars in this field. It has often been assumed that as Caribbean postcolonial communities have long been settled in their geo-cultural context, they do not fit the criteria commonly employed to define the ‘diasporic’ specifically. I argue that it is a rather technical definition of the diasporic derived in particular from the seminal conceptualisations of Safran which have led to this omission and that a broader and deeper engagement with African diasporic cultural productions points rather to Glissant’s preoccupation with ‘Caribbeanness’ as being part and an expression of an African diasporic inheritance. From here, the chapter proceeds to explore the ways in which the aestheticism which pervades all of Glissant’s writing – from his insistence on the imaginary to his long-standing interest in the fine arts, and to the spillage from his poetic writing into his theoretical writing – challenges the norms of Western thinking and ultimately culminates in a lauding of beauty as not just an aesthetic but also an ethical and, by implication, political ideal.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge Companion to African Diaspora Art History
EditorsEddie Chambers
Place of PublicationNew York
PublisherRoutledge
Chapter5
Number of pages9
Edition1st
ISBN (Electronic)9781003295129
ISBN (Print)9781032270319
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Oct 2024

Publication series

NameRoutledge Art History and Visual Studies Companions

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