This book analyses the work of six francophone intellectuals writing in the lead-up to the decolonisation of many of France's colonies in the 1950s and 60s. While figures such as Senghor, Césaire, Fanon, Amrouche, Feraoun and Kateb were all educated, indeed immersed, in French culture and language, they intervened in political debates surrounding decolonisation and sought to contribute to the reinvention of local cultures in a gesture of resistance to the ongoing French presence. Despite their pivotal role during this period of upheaval, however, their project was fraught with tensions that fo ... More

This book analyses the work of six francophone intellectuals writing in the lead-up to the decolonisation of many of France's colonies in the 1950s and 60s. While figures such as Senghor, Césaire, Fanon, Amrouche, Feraoun and Kateb were all educated, indeed immersed, in French culture and language, they intervened in political debates surrounding decolonisation and sought to contribute to the reinvention of local cultures in a gesture of resistance to the ongoing French presence. Despite their pivotal role during this period of upheaval, however, their project was fraught with tensions that form the focus of this study. In particular, these writers reflect on the relation between universalism and particularism in intellectual work, and struggle to avoid the traps associated with an over-investment in either perspective. They also all learn from metropolitan French humanist thought but strive continually to reinvent that humanism so as to account for colonised experience and culture. Finally, their work readdresses the ongoing question of the relation between literature or culture and politics, and testifies to a moment of intense dialogue, and potential conflict, between contrasting but complementary spheres of activity.