[S]
Comme
Leopold Sédar Senghor
(1906-2001)

QR code: Le Mythe Saint-Germain : un lexique amoureux - RATP

Le «climat poétique» de la Rive gauche de l’entre-deux-guerres: dans un entretien pour RFI, Léopold Sédar Senghor se souvient. Élève de prestigieux établissements du Quartier latin, le Sénégalais rencontre Aimé Césaire et Léon-Gontran Damas. Avec ses compagnons, il crée, en 1934, le journal L’Etudiant noir, qui contribuera à forger le concept de «négritude». Les jeunes hommes échangent, se lisent, se conseillent. Ils trouvent dans la littérature une possibilité d’affirmation de leur identité et du combat anticolonialiste. Cette expérience commune marquera durablement l’œuvre de Senghor: pour lui, la poésie est un pouvoir partagé. À l’encontre du poète solitaire, il envisage l’écriture comme «publique et collective». Chantant autant son amour de la lanque française que celui des rythmes africains, ses mots sont affaire de fraternité, à l’image de ses débuts parisiens.

© Micheline PELLETIER, Gamma-Rapho, Getty Images

The myth of Saint-Germain" - personalities who contributed to the history of the neighborhood, an exhibition on display at the metro station of Saint-Germain. For more details, see the following sign Click for sign's details

The letter displayed at the top of the sign indicates the letter in the name of the station dedicated to the current personality, as can be seen in the following photo taken on the same day, which also includes the photo of Leopold Sédar Senghor Click for a larger image Click for a larger image

Léopold Sédar Senghor (1906-2001) was the first president of Senegal. He was also a poet, and a thinker, and one of the leaders of the movement to fight against colonialism.
Sangor lived in Paris for 16 years starting in 1928 for studies, then he was in the French Parliament and was the first African elected to the French Academy

Translation of the text on the sign:
[S]
As
Leopold Sédar Senghor
(1906-2001)

The “poetic climate” of the Left Bank between the wars: in an interview for RFI, Léopold Sédar Senghor remembers. A student of prestigious establishments in the Latin Quarter, the Senegalese met Aimé Césaire and Léon-Gontran Damas. With his companions, in 1934 he created the newspaper L’Etudiant noir, which helped to forge the concept of "negritude". The young men exchange, read, advise each other. They find in literature a possibility of asserting their identity and the anti-colonialist fight. This common experience will have a lasting impact on Senghor’s work: for him, poetry is a shared power. Unlike the solitary poet, he considers writing as “public and collective”. Singing as much about his love of French language as that of African rhythms, his words are a matter of fraternity, like his Parisian beginnings.

© Micheline PELLETIER, Gamma-Rapho, Getty Images