Cesaire- Michelle Wolff

In Amie Cesaire’s Notebook of a Return to the Native Land, the connection between surrealism and political tensions during this time are vividly apparent. A certain passage from this text greatly exemplifies this.

“What is mine, these few thousand deathbearers who mill in the calabash of an island and mine too, the archipelago arched with an anguished desire to negate itself, as if from maternal anxiety to protect this impossibly delicate tenuity separating one America from another;” (Cesaire 47).

Cesaire employs a few different techniques to show this connection between surrealism and political tensions. The negative wordings of “these few thousand deathbearers who mill in the calabash of an island…” show the serious political tensions that arose during this period of time. Also, another idea that Cesaire is using in this sentence is he is contrasting negative and positive ideas. A “calabash,” which is a tree and should be probably regarded as beautiful or at least have a positive connotation attached to it, is put in the same sentence as the word phrase, “deathbearers” which just by the sound of the word, one could conclude that it has a negative connotation.

Cesaire also employs the use of personification in his passages. In this same passage he states, “the archipelago arched with an anguished desire to negate itself, as if from maternal anxiety to protect the impossibly delicate tenuity separating one America from another…” Not only does this excerpt illustrate Cesaire’s use of personification, it also exemplifies the surrealism similarities and political tensions showcased in his work. Cesaire gives the environment, such as the “archipelago” human-like qualities such as “maternal anxiety.” There are a few connections to make here. First off, I think that by giving nature human-like qualities, Cesaire finds a way to illustrate his feelings and priorities toward nature, and how important surroundings are. They are on the same level as people, as they are able to be compared to human beings and possess the same qualities. Also, the idea that Cesaire chose to use motherly like characteristics to describe the archipelago is unique in its significance. He is possibly trying to hint that during this time of political tensions during colonialism, the water is acting like a mother, just trying to help and conserve what there environment was as it is in the time of constant change. The word choice with the use of “tenuity” is interesting to note as well. According to New Oxford American Dictionary, “tenuity” is defined as “lack of solidity or substance; thinness.” By Cesaire choosing to use this word, it illustrates people’s lacking in agreement and overall attitudes in reaction to what was going on at the time. This whole passage reflects the ideas of surrealism with Cesaire’s use of personification and elaborate imagery greatly ties into the surrealist movement.

When writing this piece, it can be concluded that Cesaire perhaps wanted to make a subtle statement about what he thought about the recent colonialism and his thoughts on the importance of nature and his surroundings.