This historical study examines the black experience in Metropolitan France from the 1600s to 1960. Shelby T. McCloy explores the literary and cultural contributions of people of color to French society -- from Alexandre Dumas to Rene Maran -- and charts their political ascension.

This historical study examines the black experience in Metropolitan France from the 1600s to 1960. Shelby T. McCloy explores the literary and cultural contributions of people of color to French society—from Alexandre Dumas to Rene Maran—and charts their political ascension.

"[W]ithout a doubt one of the most important studies so far completed on literature in French grounded in the experiences of migrants of sub-Saharan African origin." —Alec Hargreaves, Florida State University France has always hosted a rich and vibrant black presence within its borders. But recent violent events have raised questions about France's treatment of ethnic minorities. Challenging the identity politics that have set immigrants against the mainstream, Black France explores how black expressive culture has been reformulated as global culture in the multicultural and multinational spaces of France. Thomas brings forward questions such as—Why is France a privileged site of civilization? Who is French? Who is an immigrant? Who controls the networks of production? Black France poses an urgently needed reassessment of the French colonial legacy.

In Black France / France Noire, scholars, activists, and novelists address the paradox of race in France: the state does not acknowledge race as a meaningful category, but experiences of antiblack racism belie claims of color-blindness.