Twenty years have passed since the death of Léopold Sédar Senghor. This great ”poet of negritude” as he liked to call himself, was also a pioneer in the development of African art and literature. From an early age, the Francophonie was both his essential tool and his target in the world of language and written discourse. And this is how, in addition to his high political functions, LS Senghor became this sacred poet with more than 300,000 copies printed.
Elected President of the Republic of Senegal in 1960, just after independence, Senghor left power of his own free will in 1980, preferring the kingdom of poetry to the kingdom of politics. He was the only African politician to do so and to escape the whim of authority and money, so easy and constant for those who hold the reins of power. He thus refused to remain possessor of power and the honors that follow, adopting the French proverb ”You must know how to leave things before they leave you”.
This kingdom of poetry opened the doors to him of the French Academy, of which he was elected a member from 1983 until his death to perpetuate the name of Senegal in one of the greatest linguistic institutions in the world. An institution that brings together what the centuries of France have produced best in the field of culture and literature. No honor in his life has brought him more joy and no pride has had such a price in his eyes as that of joining this institution.
”The prince” of Negro literature was to live twice in exile: estrangement from the homeland and estrangement from oneself. And at the heart of this labyrinth, the labyrinth of alienations, he led a unique and rare fight to escape this uprooting which throws him out of life. He sought to probe the depth of the racist experience resulting from a historical wall of misunderstanding between the West and Africa, the roots of which go back to centuries of accumulation of prejudice, blindness and deafness. This is why he attached great importance to history and spent his life denouncing what drives humanity to suicide.
This great man of letters and poetry never failed to highlight the importance of learning the word of the other in the field of creativity as in life. Poetry, whatever the cloak it puts on, is woven for a single being, and the poems made by man in the East or in the West are inhabited by the same desire to revive the exchange between peoples. ”There is no civilization without a mixture of cultures”, he kept repeating.
the poetic works of LSSenghor, including ”Songs of shadow followed by black hosts”, ”Let’s launch freedom in the colonies”, ”The rose of peace and other poems”, ”Night of Africa ma nuit noire” and others…, have played a key role in establishing bridges of exchange and convergence between East and West. This West blinded by the law of the market and the savagery of globalization. A reality that devours creativity at every moment.
Being the founder of the Negro movement in the company of literary luminaries such as Césaire and Damas, Senghor remained a source of inspiration for politicians and intellectuals in his country and around the world.
To honor him is also to pay homage to the Negroes of Africa and to the Negro literary movement associated with the fight against colonialism and embodying black identity and its culture while digging into the memory of Negro literatures with a view to perpetuating the African identity and its literatures even if they were written in French, English or other reference languages.
Assiduous, attentive, concerned with clarity, Senghor gave soul to words, he exalted the word. His poetic work carries in its depth this African seal that is at the same time happy, ambitious and fulfilled. To improve, to grow, to understand, to question oneself… these are the words that our poet had skilfully associated with the work of introspection which had guided him on the path to success and fame.