The Fight for Independence of Congo and Patrice Lumumba from Aime Cesaire's Perspective: “A Season in Congo”

Abstract

After the expeditions in the late 19th century to Africa, Africa became a new destination for the colonists. In this period, the King of Belgium Léopold II started to colonize Congo which is situated in the heart of Africa. Later, in the beginning of the 20th century, Congo was fully conquered by Belgium. Patrice Lumumba, who was the president of Congo for a while, fought with his colleagues for the independence of their country. After such a long struggle, Congo gained its independence on June 30th, 1960. This idea of independence did not satisfy the new colonialists (neo-colonialists) who made major economic investments in Congo, and they wanted to end this independence. In this study, we will refer to the recent history of Congo, to Lumumba's fight for independence and his plan for the unification of African people against the colonialists in the play entitled Une saison au Congo by the Martinican writer Aimé Césaire.

Keywords

• Kongo
• Yeni Sömürgecilik
• Patrice Lumumba
• Aimé Césaire