SOURCE: Spleth, Janice. “The Philosophy of Negritude.” In Léopold Sédar Senghor, pp. 20-33. Boston, Mass.: Twayne Publishers, 1985.

In the following essay, Spleth explains Negritude as a literary and philosophical movement, placing it in the context of Senghor's work.

An outstanding characteristic of Senghor's poetry is its coherent and unifying substructure, for almost every poem, either in its theme or form, illustrates some aspect of the poet's concept of Negritude. Many of the major works of Senghorian criticism, as indicated by their titles, have chosen to focus specifically on this attribute: The Concept of Negritude in the Poetry of Léopold Sédar Senghor; Léopold Sédar Senghor et la défense et illustration de la civilisation noire; The African Image in the Work of Léopold Sédar Senghor; Léopold Sédar Senghor, l'Africain; L'Afrique dans l'univers poétique de Léopold Sédar...