July 24, 2005
On Baldwin's Paris
By Monique Y. Wells
James Baldwin and Richard Wright may well be the two most famous African-American expatriates to have lived in Paris in the post-World War II era. But despite the fact that they were both black men who critically examined social issues in the U.S. and abroad, their lives in France contrasted sharply. Wright was a central figure in the African-American community in Paris, while Baldwin was peripheral to it. Wright achieved fame prior to moving to Paris while Baldwin did so afterward. Whereas Wright became increasingly disillusioned and bitter during his years in Paris, Baldwin evolved as a writer and a man in embracing aspects of his nationality and sexuality that eluded him in America. And while Wright maintained a self-imposed exile from the U.S. during the civil rights era, Baldwin returned home to “pay his dues” during those turbulent times.
James Baldwin moved to Paris in the winter of 1948 at the age of 24. Never swayed by the myth of a colorblind France that attracted many African-American expatriates of that time, his life and his writing were profoundly influenced by his experiences there nonetheless. Upon his arrival, he spoke almost no French, had few friends, and very little money. His first acquaintances (besides Wright) were white American students and artists. He befriended African students and frequented Arab cafés before he enlarged his circle of African-American acquaintances, and wrote essays invoking these encounters to earn money to support both himself and his New York family. He reworked his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953), in the upper room of the Café de Flore – one of Paris’ most famous literary cafés. And he transformed the ground floor apartment of a French friend into the suffocating abode that he describes in Giovanni’s Room (1956).
Baldwin’s coverage of the 1st Congress of Black Writers and Artists for Encounter magazine in 1956 was a watershed moment in his career – it inspired him to return to the U.S. to contribute to the struggle for racial equality. He became a passionate and eloquent spokesperson for the movement, roused by the injustices that he witnessed firsthand in his travels throughout the South. He brought this passion back to France, staging a march on the American Embassy in Paris in support of the March on Washington just one week prior to Dr. King’s historic event. He filled the void created by Richard Wright’s untimely demise, achieving renown as the leading African American that the French press sought out for comment on racial issues around the world.
Though Baldwin was often critical of France and its citizens in his prose, he frequently depicted their land – and particularly their capital – romantically in his fiction. Giovanni’s Room (1956), Another Country (1962) and Just Above My Head (1979) among other works, all feature Paris as a setting. Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Montparnasse, and Les Halles figured prominently in Baldwin’s own life, his own self-awakening in Paris. So it is not surprising that many of his characters find themselves in these localities as they grapple with the issues Baldwin has given them to resolve. These narratives are perhaps the best tribute that he left to the City of Light.
Monique Y. Wells is a freelance writer and editor, co-founder of the travel planning service Discover Paris! (www.discoverparis.net) and author of the award-winning soul food cookbook Food for the Soul (www.parisfoodforthesoul.com)
Posted at July 24, 2005 09:20 PM