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ABSTRACT
In 1979, Léopold Sédar Senghor published his last book of poetry, Élégies Majeures (Major Elegies), a work that includes a tribute to the great American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. The “Elegy for Martin Luther King” consists of five distinct parts set off by roman numerals. The first three parts of the poem, with their allusions to Africa, the French Revolution, colonization, independence, and both the domestic and international perils facing the new nation of Senegal, might seem at first glance to be a digression from the subject announced by the title, but a reading of the elegy as a dialogue between Senghor and King as two men of ideas and action, whose writing shares common themes and whose battles were informed by similar challenges, allows us to see the unity of the work through the many ways that the African-American humanist's principles are confirmed and illustrated in the imagination of the Senegalese poet.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Citations for Senghor's poetry in both English and French are from Melvin Dixon's bilingual edition of Senghor's collected works (1991), and page numbers for both are given in parentheses.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Janice Spleth
Janice Spleth is professor of French and African Literature at West Virginia University. She has published two volumes on Léopold Sédar Senghor, has authored numerous articles and book chapters on Francophone African literature, and is co-editor of two ALA Annuals. She has served on the editorial board for Research in African Literatures, as president of the African Literature Association, and as chair of the Executive Committee of the African Literature Division of the Modern Language Association.