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The Great Camouflage: Writings of Dissent
A new and complete English translation
The Great Camouflage translates and assembles in one volume the seven articles Suzanne Césaire wrote for the cultural journal Tropiques. Césaire engages anthropology, esthetics, surrealism, history, and poetry as she grapples with questions of power and deception, self-deception, the economic slipknot of a post-slavery debt system, identity and inauthenticity, bad faith, psychological and affective aberration, and cultural zombification. All are caught in the web of "the great camouflage." The collection provides a multifaceted portrait of Césaire, and includes short writings from others who wrote passionately about her, including André Breton, André Masson, René Ménil, Daniel Maximin, and her husband Aimé Césaire and daughter,Ina Césaire.
Publication of this book is funded by the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
The Great Camouflage translates and assembles in one volume the seven articles Suzanne Césaire wrote for the cultural journal Tropiques. Césaire engages anthropology, esthetics, surrealism, history, and poetry as she grapples with questions of power and deception, self-deception, the economic slipknot of a post-slavery debt system, identity and inauthenticity, bad faith, psychological and affective aberration, and cultural zombification. All are caught in the web of "the great camouflage." The collection provides a multifaceted portrait of Césaire, and includes short writings from others who wrote passionately about her, including André Breton, André Masson, René Ménil, Daniel Maximin, and her husband Aimé Césaire and daughter,Ina Césaire.
Publication of this book is funded by the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
104 pages, Hardcover
First published June 8, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 1, 2022
5 stars for Césaires essays and then we will act as if that horrible foreword does not exist. I am in love bye.
September 24, 2012
Reading the intellectual musings of Suzanne Cesaire, one can’t help but envision her immersed daily in settings complete with Mauritian and Parisian aristocrats, dissecting life’s finer points over well-aged wine and croissants, exhaling elitism with each word uttered. This of course is a superficial summary. On closer inspection, one has to take into account the timeframe, geography and the very author in question. As a black woman living in Paris at the height of World War II, transplanted from her birth country of Martinique, the uniqueness of these previously published articles becomes apparent.
The Great Camouflage is anything but simple. It’s the type of book that would find a comfortable home on the book shelf of a professor of Art Theory or Philosophy. By no means does this make it inaccessible to the larger reading masses. But honestly speaking, most don’t sit around intellectualizing about the arts, culture and the world around them. In fairness though, we all have our moments of passionate discourse.
While grappling with the concept of civilization, Cesaire cites ethnologist and archeologist Leo Frobenius to round out her argument - “No, humankind does not create civilization, no, civilization is not the work of humankind. Quite the contrary, humankind is the instrument of civilization, a simple expression of a power which infinitely surpasses his understanding.”
Again on the matter of the arts, Cesaire references political scientist, economist and moralist Emile-Auguste Chartier to showcase her admiration of the painter - “The painter, through a slow process of strokes and touch-ups, manages to express life – life which itself is also slowness and patience, reversals, accumulations, and changes.”
At a mere 104 pages I feel guilty for not being compelled to plough through this tiny book in one sitting. I blame that squarely on the content. I found myself reading in increments of 5-10 pages every two days or so. It was simply impossible for me to get into any kind of rhythm.
Despite my molasses slow completion of this book, I’m left with great admiration for Suzanne Cesaire. She is indeed an example of one who refused to be defined by the limitations of her island nation of Martinique. As a journalist, intellect and educator, her passion for the cerebral realm lives on through these insightful articles. Both Martinique and France owe her a debt.
The Great Camouflage is anything but simple. It’s the type of book that would find a comfortable home on the book shelf of a professor of Art Theory or Philosophy. By no means does this make it inaccessible to the larger reading masses. But honestly speaking, most don’t sit around intellectualizing about the arts, culture and the world around them. In fairness though, we all have our moments of passionate discourse.
While grappling with the concept of civilization, Cesaire cites ethnologist and archeologist Leo Frobenius to round out her argument - “No, humankind does not create civilization, no, civilization is not the work of humankind. Quite the contrary, humankind is the instrument of civilization, a simple expression of a power which infinitely surpasses his understanding.”
Again on the matter of the arts, Cesaire references political scientist, economist and moralist Emile-Auguste Chartier to showcase her admiration of the painter - “The painter, through a slow process of strokes and touch-ups, manages to express life – life which itself is also slowness and patience, reversals, accumulations, and changes.”
At a mere 104 pages I feel guilty for not being compelled to plough through this tiny book in one sitting. I blame that squarely on the content. I found myself reading in increments of 5-10 pages every two days or so. It was simply impossible for me to get into any kind of rhythm.
Despite my molasses slow completion of this book, I’m left with great admiration for Suzanne Cesaire. She is indeed an example of one who refused to be defined by the limitations of her island nation of Martinique. As a journalist, intellect and educator, her passion for the cerebral realm lives on through these insightful articles. Both Martinique and France owe her a debt.
October 17, 2024
Pour ma part, écrits assez anecdotiques sur les éloges du surréalisme, l'esthétisme d'Alain et André Breton. Instructif sur les théories du très ambivalent Frobenius, tellement juste sur la misère d'une poésie et au final vibrant et poignant sur "Le grand camouflage" donnant son titre à ce recueil d'articles extraits de la revue littéraire martiniquaise "Tropiques" créée, entre autres avec son mari le très (re)connu Aimé Césaire, pendant la periode de "dissidence" (je renvoie, soit écrit en passant, au si peu connu documentaire d'Euzhan Palcy "Parcours de dissidents" relatant la trajectoire de ces résistants antillais pendant la 2nde guerre mondiale).
Au final (bis), on ne peut rester insensible face à ses écrits qui content tant les aspirations, la frustration, l'indignation et le dévoiement de cette "tâche antillaise" que la France s'évertue depuis tant d'années à camoufler.
Au final (bis), on ne peut rester insensible face à ses écrits qui content tant les aspirations, la frustration, l'indignation et le dévoiement de cette "tâche antillaise" que la France s'évertue depuis tant d'années à camoufler.
July 19, 2021
Dans mes rêves les plus fous, je serais capable d'écrire un demi-paragraphe avec la moitié de l'élégance de Suzanne Césaire.
January 5, 2017
Dans l'ensemble, j'ai beaucoup apprécié ce recueil, mais je me demande pourquoi l’éditeur n'as pas inclus un seul poème de Suzanne Césaire, alors que le recueil contient plusieurs poèmes écrits par d'autres poètes à son honneur.
April 4, 2016
This is a vital, beautiful, incredible discovery. I teach this book in my Global Black Literature class.
March 3, 2020
C'est définitivement une anthologie de textes importantes qui s'intéresse à cette figure intellectuelle, critique et co-fondatrice de la revue Tropiques qu'est Suzanne Césaire. C'est un livre à la fois recueil de tous ses écrits dans Tropiques (et on aurait aimé en voir davantage, je crains que ce sont les seuls textes toutefois) et un livre-hommage (toute la dernière partie sont des écrits, poèmes qui la célèbre, le dernier texte, celui de sa fille est particulièrement élégant et intéressant). L'introduction permet de bien replacer ces écrits dans un contexte historique et politique (deuxième guerre mondiale en Martinique).
Les textes de Césaire m'ont à la fois ébloui de par leur grand force littéraire (voir poétique parfois). Ses analyses de la condition de vie des Martiniquais ou encore sa réflexion sur l'adéquation qui ne devrait pas en être une liberté=assimilation sont vraiment brillantes et réfléchit. Je crains toutefois avoir été souvent déçu de voir des écrits de déterminisme nationaux (tous les Martiniquais sont X, une métaphore d'Homme-plante qui circule tout le long et une supposée âme éthiopienne puisqu'illes construisent leur maison de manière similaire [oui, oui]), métaphores et conceptions déterministes forgés notamment sur les croyances du début de son siècle (dont la Païdeuma) et des discussions dans ses milieux intellectuels (surréalistes et martiniquais).
Il y a de nombreuses analyses critiques d'intellectuels et de poète, pas de manière exhaustive, mais on retient surtout: Alain (Émile-Auguste Chartier), André Breton, John-Antoine Nau et Leo Frobenius pour qui sont consacrés un article complet.
Un must dans la pensée politique et intellectuelle de l'époque et une manière de mettre de l'avant des contributions marginalisées, mais certaines idées politiques datent manifestement. On aurait aimé, peut-être, voir un peu moins d'allusions constantes à Aimé Césaire pour lui laisser un peu plus de place.
Les textes de Césaire m'ont à la fois ébloui de par leur grand force littéraire (voir poétique parfois). Ses analyses de la condition de vie des Martiniquais ou encore sa réflexion sur l'adéquation qui ne devrait pas en être une liberté=assimilation sont vraiment brillantes et réfléchit. Je crains toutefois avoir été souvent déçu de voir des écrits de déterminisme nationaux (tous les Martiniquais sont X, une métaphore d'Homme-plante qui circule tout le long et une supposée âme éthiopienne puisqu'illes construisent leur maison de manière similaire [oui, oui]), métaphores et conceptions déterministes forgés notamment sur les croyances du début de son siècle (dont la Païdeuma) et des discussions dans ses milieux intellectuels (surréalistes et martiniquais).
Il y a de nombreuses analyses critiques d'intellectuels et de poète, pas de manière exhaustive, mais on retient surtout: Alain (Émile-Auguste Chartier), André Breton, John-Antoine Nau et Leo Frobenius pour qui sont consacrés un article complet.
Un must dans la pensée politique et intellectuelle de l'époque et une manière de mettre de l'avant des contributions marginalisées, mais certaines idées politiques datent manifestement. On aurait aimé, peut-être, voir un peu moins d'allusions constantes à Aimé Césaire pour lui laisser un peu plus de place.
August 3, 2025
The Great Camouflage is a revelatory collection that finally brings to light the incisive, poetic, and fiercely political writing of Suzanne Césaire, a thinker and writer long relegated to the margins of literary and intellectual history. This slim but potent volume offers an essential corrective to her historical erasure, showcasing the breadth of her thought and the singular clarity of her voice in wartime Martinique.
At the heart of this edition is the invaluable editorial work of Daniel Maximin, whose introduction does far more than contextualize Césaire’s writings. He situates them within a matrix of resistance, Surrealism, colonial critique, and Caribbean identity, while never losing sight of the deeply personal stakes of her intellectual project. He does not shy away from the painful recognition that Suzanne Césaire’s legacy was long overshadowed, indeed sacrificed, at the altar of her husband Aimé Césaire’s towering fame. And yet, the collection resists a narrative of simple erasure. It also givies space to the intimate partnership she shared with Aimé: a partnership of love, of children, of creative and political chemistry. Theirs was not a neat binary of oppression and glory, but a shared struggle that often came at unequal costs.
The essays themselves—written during the brief but crucial years of 1941 to 1945—are stunning in their stylistic range and polemical sharpness. From impassioned calls to dismantle colonial ideologies to meditations on Surrealism’s revolutionary potential in the Caribbean, Césaire’s voice is at once lyrical and cutting, grounded in place yet reaching toward liberation.
This volume is not only a long-overdue tribute, but refuses to extract Suzanne Césaire from the tangled legacies of gender, race, and colonialism without also honoring the complexity of her loves, her alliances, and her political hope.
At the heart of this edition is the invaluable editorial work of Daniel Maximin, whose introduction does far more than contextualize Césaire’s writings. He situates them within a matrix of resistance, Surrealism, colonial critique, and Caribbean identity, while never losing sight of the deeply personal stakes of her intellectual project. He does not shy away from the painful recognition that Suzanne Césaire’s legacy was long overshadowed, indeed sacrificed, at the altar of her husband Aimé Césaire’s towering fame. And yet, the collection resists a narrative of simple erasure. It also givies space to the intimate partnership she shared with Aimé: a partnership of love, of children, of creative and political chemistry. Theirs was not a neat binary of oppression and glory, but a shared struggle that often came at unequal costs.
The essays themselves—written during the brief but crucial years of 1941 to 1945—are stunning in their stylistic range and polemical sharpness. From impassioned calls to dismantle colonial ideologies to meditations on Surrealism’s revolutionary potential in the Caribbean, Césaire’s voice is at once lyrical and cutting, grounded in place yet reaching toward liberation.
This volume is not only a long-overdue tribute, but refuses to extract Suzanne Césaire from the tangled legacies of gender, race, and colonialism without also honoring the complexity of her loves, her alliances, and her political hope.
June 26, 2026
This provides invaluable insight to the context of art and intellectual history illuminating what Breton took from his relationship with both Suzanne and Aime. That being said the introduction and part three were the most moving and poignant. I know this isn’t a penguin’s or Oxford classic but part one could greatly benefit from more historical context between her intervals of writing. There are gaps between issues and her writing as well as events that impacted her opinion/stance. In her writing I sense passion, rage, reclaimation, & rebellion but it isn’t really delved into or acknowledged. It’s odd the assorted text without any supporting details or exposition making it feel clinical when Suzanne wasn’t it albeit an intellectual she felt deeply so I don’t feel this book really does her justice besides being a compilation of her writing in one place.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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March 29, 2023Unsure how to rate this one, so leaving it unrated.
Worth a read, especially if you're a fan of art criticism. The essays are great ("The Great Camouflage" is superb), but I do wonder if they would be better read within the context of the whole issue, rather than taken out.
Still, glad I read this!
Worth a read, especially if you're a fan of art criticism. The essays are great ("The Great Camouflage" is superb), but I do wonder if they would be better read within the context of the whole issue, rather than taken out.
Still, glad I read this!
April 2, 2025
Read for class. Thinking about the structure and how much of the work in here wasn't Cesaire's. Interesting and beautiful work on her end. My favorites were "The Great Camouflage," "The Malaise of a Civilization," and "Poetic Destitution." Should be more widely read, especially for those interested in decolonial theory and literature.
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August 9, 2024Finished in airport to cali. Surrealism and Us and The Grand Camouflage were goated
June 1, 2026
“La poésie martiniquaise sera cannibale ou ne sera pas”
July 12, 2026
Absolutely ahead of her time....
April 27, 2013
Less texts of her own writings than I would have preferred, but still largely informative and inspirational.
December 17, 2014
The title essay is so good. Cesaire's writing is gracefully deepened by the context of excerpts from other writers' works.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews