Contents
Édouard Glissant
Writing Poetics of Relation and exploring how cultures transform through contact.
La Lézarde · Caribbean Discourse
- Born
- 21 September 1928
- Birthplace
- Sainte-Marie, Martinique
- Died
- 3 February 2011
More people
Édouard Glissant
Martinican novelist, poet and thinker whose work connected Caribbean history with questions of language, identity and cultural exchange.
Early life
Martinican childhood
Grew up in Le Lamentin and attended the Lycée Schœlcher.
Study in Paris
Left Martinique in 1946 to study philosophy and ethnology in France.
Career
- 1950s
Literary emergence
Published poetry and won the Prix Renaudot for his first novel.
- 1960s–1970s
Work in Martinique
Developed educational and literary projects after restrictions on his return from France.
- 1980s–2000s
International teaching
Edited the UNESCO Courier and later taught in the United States while continuing to write.
Selected work
La Lézarde
A novel about young Martinicans confronting political and personal change.
Caribbean Discourse
Essays examining Caribbean history, culture and colonial inheritance.
Poetics of Relation
A study of identities shaped through encounters and relationships.
Beyond work
Anticolonial politics
Campained for greater autonomy for the French Caribbean.
Cultural institutions
Founded the Institut du Tout-Monde to encourage exchanges across languages and cultures.
Sources & photo credit
Biography and references ↗Biography and contributions ↗Photo: YEHKRI.COM A.C.C.. CC BY 3.0 · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
