1001Philosophers

Edouard Glissant 1928 – 2011

Edouard Glissant (1928 – 2011) was a Martinican philosopher of the Contemporary era, associated with Postcolonial Philosophy and Continental Philosophy.

Edouard Glissant was a Martinican philosopher, novelist, and poet, one of the founding figures of Caribbean philosophy, and the most original theorist of creolization in late-twentieth-century thought. The Poetics of Relation reframed the modern history of the Atlantic as the long emergence of a relational consciousness in which the singular and the multiple, the rooted and the errant, are no longer in opposition. Caribbean Discourse and Treatise on the Whole-World extended his analysis to the political and aesthetic implications of creole identity, and made him one of the most influential voices in contemporary postcolonial and decolonial thought.

Key facts

Nationality
Martinican
Era
Contemporary
Movements
Postcolonial Philosophy, Continental Philosophy

Selected quotes

  • Attributed to Edouard Glissant:

    “I write to you from a place where the world has always already been creolized.”

  • Attributed to Edouard Glissant:

    “Identity is not a root but a relation.”

  • Attributed to Edouard Glissant:

    “The right to opacity is the right not to be reduced to the categories of the other.”

  • Attributed to Edouard Glissant:

    “Creolization is not the loss of identity; it is the discovery that identity is born in encounter.”

  • Attributed to Edouard Glissant:

    “Whole-world thinking is what comes after empire.”

Read all Edouard Glissant quotes

Frequently asked about Edouard Glissant

When did Edouard Glissant live?
Edouard Glissant was born in 1928 and died in 2011.
Where was Edouard Glissant from?
Edouard Glissant was a Martinican philosopher of the Contemporary era.
What philosophical movements is Edouard Glissant associated with?
Edouard Glissant was associated with Postcolonial Philosophy and Continental Philosophy.
What was Edouard Glissant known for?
Edouard Glissant was a Martinican philosopher, novelist, and poet, one of the founding figures of Caribbean philosophy, and the most original theorist of creolization in late-twentieth-century thought.
How many quotes are attributed to Edouard Glissant?
There are 15 attributed quotations from Edouard Glissant in the 1001Philosophers collection, organized by topic.