A Season in the Congo
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Seagull Books London Ltd
Published:23rd Dec '10
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This play by renowned poet and political activist Aime Cesaire recounts the tragic death of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the Congo Republic and an African nationalist hero. "A Season in the Congo" follows Lumumba's efforts to free the Congolese from Belgian rule and the political struggles that led to his assassination in 1961. Cesaire powerfully depicts Lumumba as a sympathetic, Christ-like figure whose conscious martyrdom reflects his self-sacrificing humanity and commitment to pan-Africanism. Born in Martinique and educated in Paris, Cesaire was a revolutionary artist and lifelong political activist who founded the Martinique Independent Revolution Party. Cesaire's ardent personal opposition to Western imperialism and racism fuels both his profound sympathy for Lumumba and the emotional strength of "A Season in the Congo". Now rendered in a lyrical translation by distinguished scholar Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Cesaire's play will find a new audience of readers interested in world literature and the vestiges of European colonialism.
"Patrice Lumumba's tragically brief time in power, followed by his murder, is one of those pivotal, revelatory episodes of injustice that keeps echoing through the decades. Small wonder that it has inspired artwork, novels, films, and this haunting play, which it is splendid to have in a spirited new translation." - Adam Hochschild, author of The Mirror at Midnight: A South African Journey "One of the most powerful French poets of the century." - New York Times Book Review "Cesaire [was] the greatest living poet in the French language." - American Book Review"
ISBN: 9781905422944
Dimensions: 214mm x 140mm x 23mm
Weight: 262g
158 pages