- René Ménil
René Ménil (1907-2004) was a French
surrealist writer and philosopher who lived on the island ofMartinique . [cite web|url=http://www.autodidactproject.org/my/menil1.html|title=Ralph Dumain: "The Autodidact Project": Review: For Rene Menil, Caribbean Surrealist-Philosopher]Born and raised on the island of Martinique, Ménil was one of several of the island's natives who studied in
France and returned to influence the independence movement with the ideas ofMarxism , andSurrealism . He also began the "Antillanité " movement.In the early 1940s Ménil started a journal called "Tropiques" along with other notable Martinique writers such as
Aimé Césaire . The publication spoke very strongly against French colonialism in its essays. To avoid retaliation from their powerful critics, they portrayed the magazine as a journal of West Indian folklore. [cite web|url=http://www.monthlyreview.org/1199kell.htm|title=A Poetics of Anticolonialism by Robin D.G. Kelley]A professor and writer throughout his life, in 1981 Ménil published a book of essays entitled "Tracées" (ISBN 978-22-2100-633-7). [cite web|url=http://perso.orange.fr/case.pilote/BIOGRAPHIE/Menil.htm|title=Souvenirs de Case Pilote : René Ménil]
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