Simone Yoyotte ( – 1933), also known as Symone Monnerot, was a Martinican poet and intellectual. Born in Martinique, she settled in Paris, where she joined the literary scene. She was the only woman to participate in the literary journal ''Légitime Défense'', co-founded in 1932 by the Martinican writers

Étienne Léro Étienne Léro (1910–1939) was a French poet from region of Martinique, "the first person of African descent to publicly identify himself as a surrealist". In 1932 he helped found a literary journal ''Légitime Défense'' with Jules Monnerot and ...

, René Méril, and Jules Monnerot—who would later become her husband. ''Légitime Défense'' was considered foundational to the

Négritude ''Négritude'' (from French "Nègre" and "-itude" to denote a condition that can be translated as "Blackness") is a framework of critique and literary theory, developed mainly by francophone intellectuals, writers, and politicians of the African ...

movement, and its members also advocated for

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

revolution while condemning the French-speaking black bourgeoisie. She helped drive women's contributions to this literary movement, alongside other female writers such as

Yva Léro Yva Léro (4 July 1912 – 25 September 2007) was an Afro-Martiniquais writer and painter. She was one of the earliest Antillean writers in Paris preceding the Négritude movement. An ardent feminist, she participated in international congresses ...

; Paulette, Jeanne, and Andrée Nardal; and

Suzanne Césaire Suzanne Césaire (née Roussi; 11 August 1915 – 16 May 1966), born in Martinique, an overseas department of France, was a French writer, teacher, scholar, anti-colonial and feminist activist, and Surrealist. Her husband was the poet and politici ...

. Her brother Pierre Yoyotte was also a surrealist poet. She is recognized as the first woman of African descent to participate in the

Surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

movement, publishing her work in the Surrealist periodical '' Le Surrealisme au service de la revolution'' in the early 1930s. Yoyotte died very young in 1933, only a few months after her marriage to Jules Monnerot. Little is known about her life, but her work marks a significant turning point in

Caribbean literature Caribbean literature is the literature of the various territories of the Caribbean region. Literature in English from the former British West Indies may be referred to as Anglo-Caribbean or, in historical contexts, as West Indian literature. Most o ...

. It has also influenced the work of later writers including

China Miéville China Tom Miéville ( ; born 6 September 1972) is a British speculative fiction writer and Literary criticism, literary critic. He often describes his work as ''weird fiction'' and is allied to the loosely associated movement of writers called ...

''Légitime Défense''

''Légitime Défense,'' the literary journal written by Yoyotte and the other Martinican students, focused on anti-colonialism, especially in the context of French Imperialism. French authorities essentially banned the journal by suspending the students' grants. This ensured that no more copies could be printed and distributed, especially to the Caribbean. The journal has not been examined as extensively as some other Surrealist journals from this period and has been criticized by some for failing to advocate for the independence of Africa or the Caribbean, and on the grounds that its ideas are derived from Marxism. However, this early criticism mostly comes from scholarship that may be considered

Eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western wo ...

and may need reexamining.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoyotte, Simone 1910s births 1933 deaths Martiniquais women writers Surrealist writers Martiniquais writers 20th-century French women