Richard Wright and African francophone intellectuals: a reassessment of the 1956 Congress of Black Writers in Paris

Abstract

This study examines the ambivalent relationships that Richard Wright had with African francophone intellectuals such as Léopold Sédar Senghor and Alioune Diop, who were involved in African anti-colonial struggles in France during the 1930s and 1950s when he was committed to African American struggle for equality, justice, and freedom. In an attempt to re-evaluate the African American writer's participation in the 1956 Congress of Black Writers in Paris, this essay explores Wright's views on the Pan-Africanist ideas and concepts of culture and race that Senghor and Diop expressed in their convention speeches and analyzes the pivotal role that Wright had in the development of Présence Africaine and Negritude despite his condescending views about Africans.

Keywords:

• Negritude
• Pan-Africanism
• cosmopolitanism
• metropolis
• Présence Africaine

Notes

1. (Wright 1968, p. 70–71).

2. See Alioune Diop, “La culture moderne et notre destin. ” Présence Africaine. VIII-IX-X (juin–novembre 1956): 5.

3. See Alioune Diop, “Le Discours D'Ouverture de Alioune Diop.” Présence Africaine. VIII-IX-X, juin–novembre 1956. 13.

4. See Alioune Diop, “Le Discours D'Ouverture de Alioune Diop.” Présence Africaine. VIII-IX-X, juin–novembre 1956. 17–18.

5. Quoted in Ball (2004, p. 3).

6. See Senghor (2004, p. 96).

7. See Guillaume (1979, p. 846).

8. Senghor's statement is quoted in Kesteloot (1974, p. 103).

9. See Richard Wright. “Intervention” (June-November 1956, p. 67).