threatening principles and devastating history of
colonial invasion and African cultural suppres-
sion. Césaire’s use of the term also insisted upon
the alienating effects of colonial experience and
charted the efforts of black subjects to reclaim
their identity.
Writers of the Harlem Renaissance embraced
the principles of Negritude in their work and
philosophies. CLAUDEMCKAY, a Jamaican whose
experience of British colonialism informed his
views on black society, has been regarded by some
as a powerful representative of the rich scope of
Negritude. His works, which include vivid ac-
counts of peoples of African descent in postcolo-
nial worlds and critiques of colonial ideology,
underscore the ways in which blackness and
racial identity evolve in and beyond the original
contexts of African origin. Like McKay,
LANGSTONHUGHES,JAMESWELDONJOHNSON
and COUNTEECULLENalso explored the notions
of cultural dispersion, racial assimilation, and
racial identity. Other figures such as MARCUS
GARVEYembodied, and even enacted, principles
of Negritude before Césaire’s articulation began
to circulate. Garvey’s unwavering and insistent
race pride informed his international movement
to reclaim a powerful and profitable African iden-
tity and homeland.
White European artists and scholars such as
Jean Cocteau, André Gide, Pablo Picasso, and
Jean-Paul Sartre also invested and explored con-
cepts of Negritude.
Bibliography
Davis, Gregson. Aimé Césaire.Cambridge; New York,
N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Jack, Belinda Elizabeth. Negritude and Literary Criticism:
The History and Theory of “Negro-African” Literature
in French. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press,
1996.
Popeau, Jean Baptiste. Dialogues of Negritude: An Analy-
sis of the Cultural Context of Black Writing.Durham,
N.C.: Carolina Academic Press, 2003.
Negro, TheW. E. B. DuBois(1915)
The first English-language history of peoples of
African descent. Written by W. E. B. DUBOIS, the
volume offered a comprehensive overview of con-
temporary scholarship and emerging theories of
African history and culture.
In his preface to the volume, DuBois noted
that new and emerging scholarship in African his-
tory, archaeology, and anthropology indicated that
“the time has not yet come for a complete history
of the Negro peoples.” DuBois noted the need for
“intensive monographic work in history and sci-
ence... to clear mooted points and quiet the con-
troversialist who mistakes personal desire for
scientific proof.” Yet, in the absence of such sub-
stantial literature, he ventured to provide an initial
history of Negro peoples. “I have not been able to
withstand the temptation to essay such short gen-
eral statements of the main known facts and their
fair interpretation,” he confessed.
The volume included 12 chapters that in-
cluded subjects such as “The Coming of Black
Ben,” “The War of Races at Land’s End,” and
“The Negro Problems.” In addition to the chap-
ters, The Negroincluded relevant maps and sugges-
tions for further reading. British and American
editions appeared in May 1915.
Reviewers generally praised this DuBois vol-
ume, an essential contribution to Afrocentric
scholarship. The Negrorepresented an ambitious
and masterful reinterpretation of African history
and culture.Bibliography
Lewis, David Levering. W. E. B. DuBois: Biography of a
Race, 1868–1919.New York: Henry Holt and Com-
pany, 1993.Negro Americans: What Now?James
Weldon Johnson(1934)
A pamphlet by JAMESWELDONJOHNSONthat at-
tempted to assess the state of African Americans.
Its forceful theses influenced the work of Gunnar
Myrdal as he completed his epic sociological study,
An American Dilemma.
Johnson published the work in the wake of
suggestions by W. E. B. DUBOISthat segregation
could be an empowering and protective state for
African Americans. In the essay, published by
Viking Press, Johnson considered five main options
before African Americans: exodus, physical force,
revolution, isolation, or integration. He endorsed370 Negro, The