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Senghor

Writings on Politics

Book

Pages: 224

Published: November 2025

Senghor: Writings on Politics brings Léopold Sédar Senghor’s most vital essays, speeches, and political writings to English-language readers for the first time. Spanning the colonial and postcolonial years between 1937 and 1971, this volume captures Senghor’s evolution from a pioneering poet and cofounder of Négritude to the president of Senegal as he grappled with the complexities of postcolonial identity, governance, and cultural hybridity. Senghor’s reflections on topics ranging from federalism and decolonization to Francophonie reveal his commitment to weaving African and European cultural threads into a vision of global solidarity in ways that resonate with contemporary debates on race, culture, and politics. Inviting readers to engage with a seminal figure whose legacy continues to inspire new ways of thinking about freedom, independence, and coexistence, this landmark book furthers our understanding of one of the twentieth century’s most influential cultural thinkers.

Praise

“Demonstrating the resilience and currency of Léopold Sédar Senghor’s singular genius, this important collection represents the key philosophical, poetic, and existential moments in the long life of the poet-president and pillar of the Négritude movement. The translation of these essays into English could not have come at a better time, when the challenges of democracy and sustainable development are at the center of debates in Africa.” - Manthia Diawara, author of African Film: New Forms of Aesthetics and Politics

“Léopold Sédar Senghor’s prose, political and philosophical essays, and social commentary have been long neglected. This volume provides insight into Senghor’s political thought and his political life as president of newly independent Senegal—the poet as statesman. Scholars of African and African Diaspora studies, colonialism and postcolonialism, and Francophone studies will overwhelming welcome this book.” - Donna Jones, author of The Racial Discourses of Life Philosophy: Négritude, Vitalism, and Modernity

"Ripert’s book not only honors the legacy of Senghor, but also attests to the enduring global interest he continues to inspire, particularly beyond the boundaries of the Francophone world and strictly cultural discourse." - Francois H. Manga, Contemporary Political Theory

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Author/Editor Bios

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Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906–2001) was a poet, philosopher, and the first president of Senegal.

Yohann C. Ripert is Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Stetson University.

Table Of Contents

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Translator's Introduction / Yohann C. Ripert  ix
1. The Problem of Culture in French West Africa  1
2. What the Black Man Brings  13
3. Marxism and Humanism  31
4. Negro-American Poetry  47
5. For a Federalist Solution  65
6. Like the Manatees Go Drink at the Source  77
7. Balkanization or Federation  87
8. The Fodéba Keita African Ballet  91
9. From Federation to the Civilization of the Universal  97
10. Negritude Is a Humanism of the Twentieth Century  105
11. Francophonie as Culture  115
12. For a Senegalese Tapestry  127
13. The Problematic of Negritude  131
Acknowledgments  151
Bibliography  153
Index  167

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Additional Information

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Paper ISBN: 978-1-4780-3284-7 / Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4780-2938-0 /