Abstract
Damas was long considered one of three leading Negritude writers, along with cesaire and Senghor, but in recent years he has been increas - ingly, unjustifiably overlooked. His lyric masterpiece, long poem Black- Label, has never been thoroughly analyzed. After contrasting Damas's poetic vision to that of his peers, this article explains and illustrates his striking originality and esthetic complexity in using verbal repetitions— notably anaphora, local framing, and pervasive refrains—to depict col- lective emotional trauma of black diaspora, slavery, and racial prejudice. Damas's subtle modulation of anguish and sarcasm explains why Henry Louis Gates's and Anthony Appiah's authoritative Africana encyclopedia credits him with having elaborated most telling and universal rep - resentation of the rising international black consciousness after World War II. t he personal psychodrama of a ceaseless struggle against abjection alternates with a firm refusal to forget or forgive historical injustices, cur - rent persecutions by white racists, and economic exploitation inherent in capitalist globalization.
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