Créolité and Theology: A Theology of Créolité in the French West Indies

Abstract

AbstractAdopting 'Négritude', the Negro cultural and spiritual values of Aimé Césaire, the recent emergence of 'Créolité' (French for Creolity or Creoleness), the Creole movement led by brilliant French West Indies intellectuals, can no longer be ignored by a Creole Christianity that is much too far removed from its own culture. Créolité and theology must, however, come to terms with a difficult inheritance — that of the past colonial slavery to which the church was an accessory. The Créolité movement, by intercepting and reinterpreting the whole of the Christian theological vocabulary and its Bible-based concepts, has overcome this obstacle in a truly remarkable way. Theological thought must now, however, take note of this and seek a dialogue. Given that their aims are ultimately identical this could only be fruitful and would enable a genuine Creole theology to become a reality.