FROM HARLEM TO PARIS: Black American Writers in France, 1840-1980 [Paperback]

Michel Fabre (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This plodding, academic study uses accounts from more than 60 African American writers--Countee Cullen, James Baldwin, Chester Himes et al.--to explain why they were more readily accepted socially in Paris than in America. Fabre ( The Unfinished Quest of Richard Wright ) shows that French/black American affinity started in pre-Civil War New Orleans (and not, as the title suggests, in Harlem), when illegitimate mulattos with inheritances from French slave-owners sent their children to Paris to be educated. The book concludes that acceptance and appreciation of black Americans were based largely of French distaste both for white Americans, whom the French found egotistical, and for black Africans, with whom the French had a bitter "mutual colonial history." Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

This book breaks new ground in social and literary history. Fabre re-creates an important moment of African American literary history and sheds new light on the historical origin of the atmosphere that peaked during the Harlem Renaissance in France. Beautifully documented and comprehensive in size and scope, it tracks down every possible source. Essentially, we see here the writers we expect to see from W.E.B. DuBois to James Baldwin, along with many other largely forgotten authors. Essential for academic libraries.
- Gayle S. Leach, Wayne State Univ., Detroit
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (August 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252063643
• ISBN-13: 978-0252063640
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #188,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EX-PATRIATE BLACK AMERICAN WRITERS, August 29, 2000

By 

Bonita L. Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Harlem to Paris: Black American Writers in France, 1840-1980 (Hardcover)

Any mention of ex-patriate American writers in France evokes the images of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fritzgerald, John Steinbback and other white literary luminaries. Seldom are African-American names mentioned or acknowledged in terms of their presence as well as literary output from France. Michael Fabre, author of "The Unfinished Quest of Richard Wright", who was a Black expatriate from the United States, provides us with a history of Black writers who from 1840 to 1980 came to France as expatriates. Most people are unaware that Blacks from Louisiana were the first handful from the States to come to France for education, freedom and to write. From this small group the tradition continued with Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Du Bois and other great Black intellectuals.

Why did they come? France's tradition of liberty, equality and brotherhood was an attraction. Throughout the early 20th century, Blacks came to escape the racism of America and have the opportunity to work in their craft which was denied them in Europe. France's "lack" of racism was a breath of fresh air to African Americans under the mantle of segregation. France enabled them as writers to be artistically free. Each generation of Black writers who came to France were inspired by its so called liberalism. Yet even in its liberalism Black writers in the 60's began to scrutinize the racism of France that was articulated in its treatment of those colonials from Algeria and Senegal.

Fabre critiques each individual writer who came and gives us a historical context in which we can understand the unique spell that France had over attracting Black writers. The text concentrates on Black males since few Black female writers stayed over for any length of time. Those that did are given an even treatment. From Harlem to Paris gives one an appreciation for the contributions of Black writers in France. It is a book to have in one's library for literary studies of African Americans and expatriate writers.