A Voice for Surrealism: Suzanne Césaire and the Tropiques Group

Abstract: In the mid-1940s, Martinican writer Suzanne Césaire published her text “1943 Le Surréalisme et nous” in the cultural journal Tropiques . In it, she addressed the potential of the avant-garde movement as a weapon in the Caribbean intellectuals struggle for freedom. Her arguments were developed in other articles published in the same journal where she encouraged the use of poetry to reveal the ambiguous reality of colonialism. However, her role in the exchange between local and European intellectuals has been overshadowed by the studies of the more prominent part her husband Aimé Césaire had. This article aims to place Suzanne Césaire at center stage in the exchange between Surrealism and the Tropiques group. It documents the impact of her ideas and writings on Surrealism’s support for decolonization during and after World War II, as well as the influence of her thought in contemporary discussions about decolonial culture.