Clarence (bpb) Négritude is a term muchused after World War II in Europe and Africa. It embraces the revoltagainst colonialist values, glorification of the African past, andnostalgia for the beauty and harmony of traditional Africansociety.
It became most popular by the engagement ofLeopold Sedar Senghor, the president of the African Republicof Senegal (1960-1980). He was a boy of Senegal, educated in France,involved in Euro-African culture and intellectually able to make acarrier on both continents.
As a writer and poet, Senghor was able to explainthe traditions of Africa and describe the value of the Africanculture of the Negros. The term Négritude owes a great deal toits French intellectual origin. Beside Senghor, the main exponentshave been Aimé Césaire and FrantzFanon.
A useful discussion of the various issues involvedis to be found in Orphée noir, in Sartre's introduction toSenghor's ANTHOLOGIE DE LA NOUVELLE POÉSIE NÉGRE ETMANGACHE (1948). Senghor's philosophy and the concept of Negritudehave received wide attention and criticism. The concept is defined incontradistinction to Europe.
According to Senghor, the Negro is intuitive,whereas the European is more Cartesian. Senghor's statement aboutreason and intuition has led to numerous protests. Among others,Sartre has declared that the Negritude is "an antiracistracism".
Senghor said: "Emotion is Negro--Reason is Greek.Négritude is the totality of the cultural values of the blackworld".
(BJZ, Prometheus 82/2002)