a literary and heritage treasure to be saved | EUROtoday

Works which bear witness to Senghorian negritude and which are also essential for understanding the thought and journey of Léopold Sédar Senghor, a multidimensional man. “These works are essential and fascinating for academic researchers because they tell us about the thread of his writing and give us insights into his friendships and connections. It would be a huge loss if they were dispersed,” insists Mr. Diaw, who recalls that “there cannot be pan-Africanism without being based on the memory of the men who made Senegal.” The president-poet indeed played a crucial role from a political point of view as the first president of independent Senegal, but also as a literary figure, through the negritude movement, as well as in the world of art. . “If Senegal is here today, if we have been able to rise on the world stage, it is thanks to culture, to the arts with the creation of the Festival of Negro Arts (1966), but also diplomacy that we owe to Senghor,” underlines Oumy Régina Sambou, cultural journalist.

Already in October 2023, an auction in France offered 41 objects (military decorations, jewelry and diplomatic gifts) from the Senghor couple. A rescue made at the last minute thanks to former president Macky Sall, who had the sale canceled and bought back the lots for a total cost of 244,000 euros. Integrated into the Senegalese national heritage, the lots must be distributed between the Senghor Museum and the Museum of African Civilizations, in Dakar.

But this time, the seller refused a private sale. Considered the spiritual son of Senghor, the poet Amadou Lamine Fall was able to communicate with the entourage of the new elected president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, to “request a cancellation of the sale and negotiation for the purchase of the works”. But for lack of feedback – the new power was in the process of handing over and taking office – and given the time crunch, “the Senghor Foundation (based in Dakar), despite its limited means, scraped through its drawers to charge a person in Paris to buy as many books as possible during this sale and bring them back to Senegal,” explains the one who is a member of the board of directors of the Foundation.

Access to archives, a challenge for the future

Around thirty archives from and about Senghor have been identified by the international research group Léopold Sédar Senghor, mainly scattered between France and Senegal. “However, most of it is inaccessible to the Senegalese public,” informs the group, adding: “It is time that the Senegalese can freely access this heritage, without having to travel half the globe. » “Senegalese researchers are forced to travel abroad for their research on Senghor in the face of the few archives available locally. The largest archive on Senghor is in fact held by the French National Library,” explains Mr. Diaw. Several voices are therefore being raised to demand a return to Senegal of the lots on sale. The research group proposes that these works be preserved within the UCAD university library, which already has a René Maran collection. Beyond researchers, Mr. Diaw wants to believe that this will also allow “new generations, who tend to know him little, to better discover the first president of Senegal”. The professor of modern literature rejects the term “restitution”, arguing that there was no violence since it was Senghor himself who transported these works to France, but insists on the fact that this “heritage belongs to the Senegalese” and will due to this fact belong to them.