René Ménil (1907,

Gros-Morne, Martinique Gros-Morne (; ) is a town and commune in the French overseas department of Martinique, and one of the least-developed on the island. Population See also *Communes of the Martinique department The following is a list of the 34 communes of t ...

– 29 August 2004,

Sainte-Luce, Martinique Sainte-Luce () is a fishing town and commune in the French overseas department of Martinique. It contains the village of Trois-Rivières and its rhum factory. Located in the touristic south of the country, it is famous for its beautiful beaches ...

) was a French

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

writer and philosopher who lived on the island of

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

. Born and raised on the island of Martinique, Ménil was one of several of the island's natives who studied in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and returned to influence the independence movement with the ideas of

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

, and

Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

. He was involved in helping to publish a literary journal in 1932 with

Étienne Léro Étienne Léro (1910–1939) was a French poet from region of Martinique, "the first person of African descent to publicly identify himself as a surrealist". In 1932 he helped found a literary journal ''Légitime Défense'' with Jules Monnerot and R ...

called '' Légitime Défense.'' He also began the '' Antillanité'' movement. In the early 1940s Ménil started a journal called '' Tropiques'' along with other notable Martinique writers such as

Suzanne Césaire Suzanne Césaire (; ; née Roussi; 11 August 1915, Poterie des Trois-Ilets, Martinique – 16 May 1966, Yvelines) was a French writer, teacher, scholar, anti-colonial and feminist activist, and Surrealist. She co-founded the Martinique cultural j ...

and

Aimé Césaire Aimé Fernand David Césaire (; ; 26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French poet, author, and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature" and coined the word in French. He ...

. The publication spoke very strongly against French colonialism in its essays. To avoid retaliation from their powerful critics, they portrayed the magazine as a journal of West Indian folklore. A professor and writer throughout his life, in 1981 Ménil published a book of essays entitled ''Tracées'' ().

References

1907 births 2004 deaths People from Gros-Morne, Martinique Martinican Communist Party politicians French surrealist writers Martiniquais philosophers French male writers 20th-century French male writers {{Martinique-writer-stub