Prayer to the Masks | Suggested Reading

Prayer to the Masks What Do I Read Next?

Senghor's On African Socialism collects three important essays outlining his vision of nationhood and the special nature of African societies on the road to national development and socialism. These works are considered classics of modern African political philosophy.

Ujaama: Essays on Socialism, by the Tanzanian leader Julius Nyerere, is a useful point of comparison to Senghor's political thought.

Janet G. Vaillant's biography of Senghor, Black, French, and African: A Life of Léopold Sédar Senghor, offers extensive context for Senghor's education, political activities, and friendships with writers and statesmen. It is clearly and accessibly written.

Aimé Césaire's Notebook of a Return to the Native Land is a book-length poem, partially in prose and partially in verse, that recounts the homecoming to Martinique of this poet, friend of Senghor, and comrade in the negritude movement. Symbolically, it enacts the rebirth of the black poet beyond the partial, damaged selfimages...
(read more)