René Maran

Susan Isabelle Allen (University of Newcastle)

Ed. by Maeve McCusker, Queen's University Belfast
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 4.1.2: Francophone Writing and Culture of Central America and the Caribbean.
Vol. editors: Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Maeve McCusker (Queen's University Belfast), David Murphy (University of Strathclyde)

Dates

Born 8 Nov 1887
Died 9 May 1960
Activity 1909-1960

Places

Born in Martinique
Active in France; Equatorial Guinea; Gabon

Activities

Primary

Novelist
Poet

Resources

Poet and author René Maran (1887-1960) rose to fame as the first black recipient of the Prix Goncourt for his inaugural novel, Batouala (1921). Its unprecedented exposé of the conflict and contradictions inherent in France’s civilising mission in French Equatorial Africa [note 1] paved the way for a new sense of self among French speakers of African descent and established René Maran as the founding father of black literature in French.

Born 5 November 1887 in Fort-de-France (Martinique), to French Guyanese parents, René Maran’s African childhood began at age three when his father, a colonial officer, took up a commission in Gabon. At age six he was enrolled at boarding school in Talence, Bordeaux. He …

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2797 words

Citation: Allen, Susan Isabelle. "René Maran". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 July 2016 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13400, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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