Maran, René (1887-1960). Poet and novelist, born of Guyanais stock in Martinique. His father was in the Colonial Service and moved to Gabon, whence the young child was sent at 7 years of age to be educated in Bordeaux. Life for the black schoolboy was not easy (see his novel Le Cœur serré, 1931), but he developed well and mixed with the young literati, publishing in 1909 his first volume of poetry, La Maison du bonheur, which reveals a debt to Henri de égnier. During his 13 years in Africa from 1910 he wrote Batouala, which won the Prix Goncourt in 1921. The book created a rumpus and roused strong criticism of Maran for his description of conditions in Ubangui Chari and his plea for African culture. Acclaimed as the father of négritude, he has been condemned by others for being more a ‘Frenchman with a black mask’ (his own conflict is reflected in Un homme pareil aux autres, 1947). A lifelong and unflinching worker for the African cause, he contributed to the bimonthly Les Continents, wrote documentaries on Africa (e.g. Le Tchad, 1931), animal novels with an African setting written in a highly poetic style (e.g. Bacouya le Cynocéphale, 1953), biographies (e.g. Livingstone, 1938), and a number of collections of poetry. During the 1920s and 1930s his Paris home became a meeting-place for Afro-Caribbean writers. Maran kept a low profile, but his influence was considerable.
— Keith Cameron
