Ethiopiques 69 (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Ethiopiques 69 Janice Spleth Ethiopiques 69 (2002): 1–259. Spec. issue dedicated to Léopold Sédar Senghor. To commemorate the poet's death, Ethiopiques pays tribute to Léopold Sédar Senghor with a series of well-chosen essays celebrating the breadth of his interests and the richness of his many cultural contributions. In his introduction, editor Bassirou Dieng notes that a second volume is planned to accommodate the rest of the many fine submissions received in response to the announcement of the issue. As it stands, this superb scholarly anthology provides a comprehensive introduction to various facets of Senghor's legacy. Contributors of many different national backgrounds lend their expertise from a diversity of academic fields to produce a study that is far more authoritative than could normally be expected of a text by a single author. Critical studies of the poetry are juxtaposed with insightful analyses of Senghor's philosophical writing and personal essays on his character and presidency. His rehabilitation of the fable and his relationship with art and artists are both subjects of well-researched [End Page 174] pieces. The collection concludes with two deeply moving poems inspired by the writer's death and his funeral. While not uniformly laudatory—there are some refreshingly objective perspectives here—the contributors are seemingly cognizant of the circumstances for which they write, and for some, this is clearly an opportunity to eulogize an African icon. The Senghorian concept most often invoked by this appropriately multicultural production is the ultimate evolution of Negritude within Teilhard's vision of the Universal Civilization with its corallary themes of unity and reconciliation. The French comparatist Pierre Brunel, placed in the initial position in the collection, examines literary echoes in "Le retour de l'enfant prodigue" from the Bible to André Gide and Rainer Marie Rilke, linking the learned Senghor to a wider community of Western writers. Lilyan Fongang-Kesteloot's ninetieth-birthday speech to UNESCO, "Sédar sans honte et sans limites: du terroir au 'tout monde,'" emphasizes the poet's repeated propensity to translate the rest of the world in relation to the kingdom of his Senegalese childhood. Writing from Italy, Antonella Emina similarly studies Senghorian space in order to show how the poet continually strives for unity and convergence. Alioune Diane and Oumar Sankharé, both of the University of Dakar, explicate Senghor's "Elégie pour Georges Pompidou" in the context of planetary Africa. From Tunisia, Saïd Ben Slimane uses "Femme noire" as a point of departure for reading the multiple symbolism of the Senghorian woman—"Du Nègre au Métis à l'Universel" (71). The philosophical essays similarly examine Senghor's Negritude and his socialism as they were gradually transformed by his desire for harmony among all peoples. Abiola Irele's comprehensive history of Negritude shows the debt that future philosophers from throughout the continent owe to Senghor's theoretical work. Elsewhere the statesman's elaboration of francophonie is likewise viewed as an outgrowth of this search for community wherever it might be found. In the final analysis, the intricate mosaic of international critical voices chosen to represent Senghor's achievement and the architectural unity of a volume constructed around his vision of cultural complementarity make this volume a fitting monument to a man whose genius was indeed Senegal's contribution to the world. Janice Spleth West Virginia University Copyright © 2004 The Indiana University Press