Abstract

This article examines Aimé Césaire's career, his political and ideological activities and positions, in a West Indian context marked by many profound socio-political transformations, from the second half of the nineteenth century to the 1970s. The aim is to unravel the ambiguities of a major historical and anti-colonial figure working to integrate former slave territories into a French nation struggling to come to terms with the legacy of colonialism. The poet-turned-politician strove, not without contradictions, for ever greater assimilation –legislative, legal, social– while at the same time defending the unique identities and cultures of the West Indies. This article draws on recent academic research on the relations between these territories and the French state, the latest published biographies on Aimé Césaire and previously unexploited or unpublished archival documents. These sources make it possible to place Aimé Césaire's itinerary at the intersection of local, national and international levels.

Keywords Martinique; Guadeloupe; Negritude; politics; colonialism