Aime Cesaire’s poem entitled
‘Lost Body’ (Corps Perdu) succeeds in
providing the reader with an emotionally enticing piece of literature which,
with its surrealist qualities, portrays the negritude movement co-founded by
Cesaire himself. This analysis gives two readings of ‘Lost Body.’ On one hand,
Cesaire uses his poetic voice in service of and in solidarity with the African
community. ‘Lost Body’s’ surrealist expression of nature captures the
Afro-Martinican poet’s oneness with the African people. On the other hand, the
poem reveals the inherent opposition between the demands of modernism and of
negritude, and considering Cesaire’s role in Martinican society, between the
demands of politics and poetry.
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| Aime Cesaire |
From the outset, Cesaire
immediately uses strong natural images (e.g. Krakatoa, Laelaps, monsoon, etc)
to exhibit his surrealist poetic expression; further, the first seven lines are
delivered in a straightforward manner (i.e. ‘I who...’). The poem’s opening
reminds the reader, therefore, to heed a certain call, given the impactful and
forthright annunciation of one’s identity as a body one with nature. This
unification and identification of Cesaire’s body with nature is symbolic of
living harmoniously with the cosmos. Of course, the term cosmos refers to the
universe as a beautifully arranged system, which makes the images such as the
Krakatoa, the eruption of which killed 30, 000, or the Laelaps, a canine-like
hurricane, sort of misplaced given their cataclysmic nature. But this only
supports Cesaire’s surrealist style and words which,
‘although mask-like, are sharp as knives.’ The message of which is perceived
well by the intended audience, ‘despite the terms that might escape them or the
phrases that are troublesome. The audience grasps perfectly [Cesaire’s] polemic
and his call to action’ (Kesteloot and Mitsch 170). Further, Cesaire, in the next lines, creates a beautiful
transition, ‘I would like to be more and more humble and more lowly/ always
more serious without vertigo or vestige,’ which allows for the containment of
the aforementioned natural images of destruction. The chaos turns to cosmos.
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| Krakatoa |
This call of just rage which
Cesaire presents is, one can safely assume, the negritude movement, which the
author himself co-founded. In Cesaire’s terms, this movement is a simple
recognition of the historical struggle of the African community. It is, in a
way, projecting a sense of hope for the advancement of the African people, for
the creation of a society defined by universal justice. ‘Lost Body’ recognizes
that, when the rage of the African race (comparable to the eruption of a
volcano, the winds of a hurricane, or the strong current of a river) is
controlled or supervised by a movement such as negritude, an alternative world
is possible. Cesaire dreams of, or even anticipates, falling ‘into the live
semolina of a well-opened earth,’ a just world ‘whose name the same for all
things,’ which he considers, again appealing to senses and emotions, a
‘DELICIOUS TOTAL ENCOUNTER.’ The surrealist style, which claims that poetry is
related to prophecy, makes such an anticipation by Cesaire all the more
appropriate. Other natural images also support this communal African dream of universal justice,
‘a star or a hope’ for a future where ‘life
would flood my whole being’ and the revival of a damaged culture (symbolized by
a tree with its branches torn to shreds), that is, of a common black identity
that will ‘splatter the whole sky.’
But beyond the recognition
of the need for solidarity exhibited by oneness with nature, a second reading
of the poem also calls for the advancement of the African race and the
rejection of oppressive colonizing structures. This reading of ‘Lost Body,’
which focuses on the inherent tension between European modernism and the
negritude movement, proves Cesaire’s vehement rejection of Western ideals. As
already mentioned, the theme of African solidarity in Cesaire’s writing style
‘allows the poetic voice of the poem to articulate a definition of negritude--a
dynamic concept, rooted in emphasizing the values of community and living in
harmony with the cosmos’ which is directly opposed to ‘the technological
advances of colonizing Europeans, whose inventions only serve the destructive
ends of domination and exploitation.’ Therefore, Cesaire, one can assume, sees
his poems of negritude as ‘a valid critique of, and alternatives to, ideologies
of colonial hegemony’ brought about by European culture (Davis 5). Also, on an
interesting note, such tension also seems to be present within Cesaire himself,
given his role as both a surrealist poet-activist seeking to topple established
norms and a parliamentarian trying to work within the system.
To understand this tension, one has
to look at how the poem presents the violence being inflicted on the African
community by the colonizing powers of the West. For starters, Cesaire mentions
how the alternative world he perceives has an atmosphere where ‘there’d be a
beautiful haze no dirt in it.’ The mere mention of the word ‘dirt’ suggests
that although the author has established solidarity with nature, he desires to
leap from a certain position of filth and suffering. The will to disentangle
the body, the whole African community, from ‘dirt’ suggests that another force
has subjected the body to exploitation and suffering. Although this seems
overstretching the meaning behind a single line in ‘Lost Body,’ it nonetheless
provides a foundation for other images in the poem which Cesaire uses to
connote suffering at the hands of Western colonial powers.
The lines ‘my frightening crest of
anchor-like roots/ looking for a place to take hold/ Things I probe I probe/ me
the street-porter I am root-porter/ and I bear down and I force and I arcane/ I
omphale/ Ah who leads/ me back toward the harpoons/ I am very weak’ emphasize
the body being lost, looking for a place of refuge (perhaps found in the
movement of negritude) after being led back toward heavy toiling which has
rendered it fragile. One also notices Cesaire using the image of omphale, a
neologism which could refer to the act of ‘taking root’ or, in line with the
exploitation brought by colonialism, the character in Greek mythology to whom
Heracles is enslaved. ‘I omphale’ perhaps also suggests a submission to the
‘telluric female principle preceding the phallic rebirth of the final lines
(‘and with the arrogant jet of my wounded and solemn bole / I shall command the
islands to be’)’ in relation to the first reading of the poem concerning
oneness with nature, the fusion with and a return to Mother Earth (Eshleman and
Smith 107). In any case, the aforementioned lines indicate the antagonisms
between recovering the African identity and the European ideals which continue
to impose its superiority over such movement.
This continuous imposition is again seen
in the following lines: ‘The wind alas I will continue to hear it/ nigger
nigger nigger from the depths/ of the timeless sky/ a little less loud than
today/ but still too loud/ and this crazed howling of dogs and horses/ which it
thrusts at our forever fugitive heels.’ These lines capture the severity of the
colonial power of the West which, although ‘a little less loud than today,’
continues to tear apart the African body, with its demented hounds and horses.
Again, the suffering of the black man is evident, a continuous anguish which
makes him an eternal fugitive.
This eternal opposition between
negritude and colonial ideas creates a dilemma which revolves around the idea
that perhaps true humanity can only be achieved in madness and cataclysm,
pursuant to the strong natural images mentioned earlier. The imposition of
modernism, with the exploitation and suffering it entails, thus makes the body
of the African lost, with its only refuge provided by negritude, a return to
nature.
This dilemma is further deepened when
one considers the context in which Cesaire found himself. On one hand, Cesaire
was a poet-activist, whose principal
task ‘was… to communicate to his compatriots hard-won perceptions of the
vicious after-effects of imperialism and New World slavery, the urgent need for
decolonization, and the inner necessity of negritude as a counter to the
regnant ideology of racial supremacy’ (Davis 6). With his surrealist style, as
shown in the earlier reading, Cesaire is successful in fulfilling the ‘task of being the authentic interpreter of
the colonized Negro's deep sentiments. And so powerful was his word and so
sincere his heart, that all recognized themselves in him’ (Kesteloot and Mitsch
169). However, Cesaire was also a politician. As the Mayor of Fort de France
and the deputy to the French National Assembly for Martinique, he supported the
departmentalization of Martinique. Thus the tension mentioned earlier between
negritude and modernism seems to occur within Cesaire himself, who was
obligated to fulfil the mandates of a poet and a politician.
Cesaire seems conflicted with how he will successfully
free Africa from the chauvinistic elements of European culture while at the
same time be part of the fully established world of politics. Hence, Cesaire
humbly admits in this poem that he is weak; he himself is a lost body. The
lines ‘I am very weak/ I hiss yes I hiss very ancient things/ as serpents do as
do cavernous things/ I whoa lie down wind/ and against my unstable and fresh
muzzle/ against my eroded face’ may of course refer to the African community’s
struggle to be recognized by the world but may very well symbolize the constant
struggle of Cesaire in terms of fighting for the independence of Martinique
which eventually evolved into voting for the assimilation of his country,
leading to some people’s disillusionment with the poet. While Cesaire’s
contemporaries, particularly Senghor, were successful in winning back their
adversaries, Cesaire was unskilled in
defending his actions as a politician, at least in terms of appeasing his
critics. As Kesteloot notes, ‘he suffers, sulks, reacts by silence and scorn’
(172). However, even if Cesaire failed to win over
those disillusioned by him, ‘Lost Body’ suggests that his task of policy-making
remains: ‘with the insolent jet of my wounded and solemn shaft/ I shall command
the islands to be.’ He must abide by the rules of politics, of conscious
decision-making: ‘I would like to be more and more humble and more lowly/
always more serious without vertigo or vestige’ The fact that these lines are
delivered in accordance with surrealism, which gives privilege to the
unconscious, but indicate Cesaire’s desire to be part of the conscious realm of
politics suggests that perhaps Cesaire sees himself as a lost body, trying to
unite his rebellious side with his role as a parliamentarian.
In
conclusion, ‘Lost Body,’ being read as a surrealist poem dedicated to Mother
Africa, presents oneness with nature as a way of stirring up the emotions of
its readers. The idea of a world free from the unjust practices of the
colonizers, for Cesaire, can only be achieved through the negritude movement.
On another reading, this poem also shows the tension between negritude and
European modernism, with the former recognizing the need to free the black race
from the shackles of the latter. This tension is further seen in Cesaire
himself, who struggles to unify the call of negritude and the mandate of the
establishment.
WORKS
CITED
Davis, Gregson.
Introduction to Non-Vicious Circle:
Twenty Poems of Aime Cesaire. Stanford University Press, 1984. Print.
Eshleman,
Clayton and Annette Smith. “The Poetry of Aime Cesaire: Introductory Notes.” Callaloo 17 (1983): 104-110. Print.
Kesteloot,
Lilyan and Ruthmarie Mitsch. “Cesaire: Poet and Politician.” Research in African Literature 26.2
(1995): 169-173. Print.
