Donnisa Edmonds
on translating Léopold Sédar Senghor
This poem is deeply rooted in the principles of Négritude that Senghor helped establish in France in the 1930s. The idea of celebrating and finding pride in blackness is evident in the way this poem conceptualizes a “Black Woman” as an almost otherworldly being, one that demands respect for simply her way of existing. As American society today is at a crossroads in terms of representations of Black women in media and in literature, I decided to translate this poem as a way to bring attention to the way poetry discusses Black women and to the fact that Black women are often absent in mainstream poetry.
about the author
Léopald Sédar Senghor was born in Joal, Senegal in 1906 and died in 2001 in Verson, France. At the age of eight, Senghor began his studies at a Christian boarding school. He later went onto to attend seminary but decided to leave the religious life behind to attend a secular university. After he completed his Baccalaureate, he continued his studies in France where formed a group with other intellectuals from the African diaspora. This group would eventually begin the Négritude movement in response to the racism present in France. This movement became a strong foundation for the rest of his literary work. The majority of his poetry addresses his opinions on Blackness and the complex relationship between France and its former colonies. The idea of Négritude also served as the basis for his political thought as he later advocated for Senegal’s independence from France. After the separation, he became the first president of Senegal. When he took his leave from politics he retired to France to publish more poetry and he was inducted into the French Academy as their first African member. He remains well-known as one of the most important twentieth-century African intellectuals.
about the translator
Donnisa Edmonds is a sophomore at Penn currently majoring in Biological Basis of Behavior with a minor in French and Francophone studies. She was born in the Bronx, but she grew up in a small college town in Ohio. She was inspired to try translation for the first time by her roommates.
