“Always Changing, while Still Remaining”: A Tribute to Edouard Glissant

In this personal tribute to Glissant Britton describes some of the most resonant themes of his novels (the idea of changing while still remaining, the significance of place, and his exploration of madness) and the “opaque” poetic characteristics of his style, which extend from the novels and poetry into his theoretical discourse. Glissant's essays display not a linear evolution of thought but the same structure of “changing-remaining.” Also, all his work contains a great deal of autobiographical material; this close imbrication between life and writing is central to his project. Britton recounts some of her memories of time spent with Glissant and his wife, Sylvie, and attempts to give a picture of what he was like as a man: a man for whom the idea of Relation governed both his life and his writing.