Fesman - Général

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Fesman2009

Literature
litteraturePublication of black African literature written in French, English, Spanish and Portuguese began in the first quarter of the last century.

The francophone father of these literary works, writing in French from a black perspective, is the Guyanese novelist René Maran. In 1921, his seminal novel “Batouala”, with its markedly black quality, earned him the Prix Goncourt and signalled the emergence of negritude. The aims of this cultural movement, which originated in Paris, were to reassert cultural values, affirm identity, condemn colonialism and set straight the historical record. Negritude authors excelled in various literary genres and include traditionalists who drew inspiration from the oral tradition (Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Ousmane Socé Diop, etc.), social critique novelists who focused on the class struggle (Ousmane Sembène, Mongo Beti, etc.), numerous outraged negritude poets, who encouraged the struggle against racial domination (Senghor, Césaire, Damas, Jacques Rabémananjara, Bernard Dadié, Martial Sinda, etc.), researchers and essayists (Cheikh Anta Diop, Frantz Fanon, etc.).

At the same time, literary movements akin to francophone negritude developed in the African Diaspora. They were known as the Harlem Renaissance in the United States (Langston Hugues, Countee Cullen, Claude Mc Kay, etc.), Indigenism in Haiti (Jacques Roumain, Jacques-Stephen Alexis, etc.), and Negrism in Cuba (Nicolas Guillén, Emilio Ballagas, Waltério Carbonell, etc.) and in Brazil (Paulo de Carvalho-Neto, etc.). Prior to the emergence of these modern black literary movements in the 20th century, there were a few precursors in the 18th century, including the Afro-American poetess Phillis Wheatley, and the Afro-Brazilian poets Joâo Da Cruz e Souza and Luis Gama in the 19th century.

The FESMAN is the heir to this founding period in modern, global black literature. The 1966 and 1977 events were artistic and theoretical catalysts, meeting places, points of convergence – and divergence too – between established authors and young talent from across the world. In Dakar in 1966, the first Theatre Prize was awarded to a man in his thirties named Wole Soyinka. Some 20 years later, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, like Derek Walcott and Toni Morrison after him.

The Fesman 2009

The FESMAN 2009 competition will make it possible to sound out young literary creativity from Africa and the Diaspora. Authors proposed by their editors will compete in the novel, novella, poetry and essay categories. This should notably contribute to the emergence of talented African authors from the continent, despite the still limited number of publishers. Authors writing in African languages will also be presented.

In addition, the invited artists at Fesman 2009 will provide a basis for readings, conferences, book signings, exhibitions and debates. Their participants will include leading figures from black literature, along with young hopefuls who have either detached themselves from the identity anchorage established by the pioneers, or lay claim to it through neo-negritude. Particular attention will be devoted to black African and Brazilian authors writing in Portuguese. Early African language texts will also be exhibited.