Paris: The Édouard Glissant promenade inaugurated on the banks of the Seine

On Tuesday, September 21, the city of Paris inaugurated the Édouard Glissant promenade ten years after his death, on the banks of the Seine, on his birthday, in the district where he lived at the foot of the museum, facing the Aimé quay and linked by the Léopold Sédar Senghor footbridge and the Pont Royal.

Under a radiant sun this Tuesday, were gathered, among others, his editor Antoine Gallimard, his son Mathieu, Jacques Martial, Greg Germain, Victorin Lurel, Christiane Taubira, Viktor Lazlo, Rachida Dati mayor of the arrondissement, Claude Ribbe, Thiery Roustan , elected officials of the city, around the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and the author’s widow, Sylvie Séma-Glissant.

The ceremony began with a reading of the author’s poems, one that featured actor Greg Germain in particular. Sylvie Glissant then paid tribute to her late husband, recalling the thought that characterized the spirit of the Martinican author. She did not fail to let it be known that this walk « would have pleased » the poet, before adding that this place was also « a new triangle, a new trade is opening here, that of shared memories ».

The mayor of the 7th arrondissement, Rachida Dati, « it was natural that the memory of the poet should come to be inscribed on these banks ».

Facing the Seine and the public, Anne Hidalgo, found the words to describe this magnificent place. « It is obvious that we find here, under the sun, in the wind, by the river, to commemorate, celebrate, the memory of Édouard Glissant and give this walk on the Seine a magnificent walk, we are on one of the most beautiful landscape in the world, also recognized as such by Unesco, to give the name of Édouard Glissant to this walk. It’s more than a symbol. This is a message that we want to carry, promote and inscribe in the history and in the fabric of Paris « . Anne Hidalgo saw in Édouard Glissant, a « scout », adding: « What Glissant has taught us is that the French language cannot exist by crushing others, but by feeding on others ».

Christiane Taubira did not make a speech, but participated in the ceremony by unveiling the plaque in the name of the poet. She then indicated that the chosen place revealed « an intention, a sensitivity, a respect for Edouard Glissant ».

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Gabriel MIHAI

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