The Liberating Power of Words: An Interview with Poet Aime Cesaire (Interview)

Aime Cesaire (1913-2008) was born in Martinique. In his poetry, plays and political activities he waged a lifelong struggle to restore dignity to colonized peoples. First and foremost a poet, here he talks to Annick Thebia Melsan about his faith in the power of words. The following interview is from the May 1997 issue of UNESCO Courier published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (www.unesco.org), reproduced here in honor of his contribution to human culture and the articulation of Negritude as a state or condition of being African that incorporates a consciousness of pride in the cultural and physical aspects of being a person of African descent in the world. ATM: The usual way of trying to place you is by reference to various things such as time and place, writing, poetry and its different categories, political action and so on, but how would you place yourself?