French Literature Reviews - 2026

Simone Schwarz-Bart & André Schwarz-Bart, Hommage à la femme noire : héroïnes de l'esclavage, t. I
Francophone and Oral Literatures

More than thirty years ago, Simone and André Schwarz-Bart published a six-volume encyclopedia entitled Hommage à la femme noire, paying tribute to the most renowned Black women across the centuries and continents who fought for their freedom and independence. Simone Schwarz-Bart and Caraïbéditions have sought to republish the original texts of these six works, which were initially released in large format, illustrated with hundreds of period paintings and artworks, and have been out of print for decades. To make these texts accessible to the widest possible audience, it was decided to forego the encyclopedic format of the original editions—omitting their illustrations, appendices, and author citations—and to release them in a new format.

More than thirty years ago, Simone and André Schwarz-Bart published a six-volume encyclopedia entitled Hommage à la femme noire, paying tribute to renowned Black women across the centuries and continents who fought for their freedom and independence. Simone Schwarz-Bart and Caraïbéditions have sought to republish the original texts of these six works, which were initially released in large format, illustrated with hundreds of period paintings and artworks, and have been out of print for decades. To make these texts accessible to the widest possible audience, it was decided to forego the encyclopedic format of the original editions, omitting their illustrations, appendices, and author citations, and to release them in a new format.

Readers interested in feminist history, Caribbean literature, and biographical accounts of resistance may find this new edition relevant. The series forms part of a broader intellectual and literary tradition dedicated to documenting histories of liberation, particularly within the context of the transatlantic slave trade and its enduring legacies across the Francophone world and beyond.