(Re)Reading Contacts of civilizations in Martinique and Guadeloupe, by Michel Leiris.Text excerpts presented by Jean-Luc Bonniol and Ary Gordi

Abstract

On this first issue of Appartenances & Alterites, we have decided to present excerpts from Michel Leiris' book, Contacts de civilisations en Martinique et en Guadeloupe, published in 1955 under the aegis of UNESCO. This text seems remarkable to us for the finesse and acuity of its analysis of societies that are historically structured by racial criteria, and for its theoretical intuitions, which were far ahead of their time, at least for French research, in the field of race relations. This ...