As soon as the post-colonial state was established, it fell short of its egalitarian aspirations as it limited domestic dissent, punished political opposition, and faced secessionist challenges that led to civil wars. During the 1960s, while politicians and intellectuals confronted the dilemmas of governance, several authors wrote major plays to dramatize the antinomies of autonomy. Long before the “tragedy of colonial enlightenment” was theorized, it appeared on the stage, placed in the era of the Haitian Revolution by Edouard Glissant, Derek Walcott, Lorraine Hansberry, Aimé Cesaire, Langston Hughes, C.L.R. James, Hénock Trouillot, and others. This was the topic of my hour-long talk in the series “Politics of Liberation” at the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung in Athens, Thursday, October 27, 2022, at 7pm.
Piano Poetry Pantelis Politics 