In Poetics of Relation, Édouard Glissant turns the Caribbean of his birth into an energetic, multi-layered vision of a world in transformation. We come to see that relation in all its senses – telling, listening, connecting, and the parallel consciousness of self and surroundings – is the key to revolutionising mentalities and societies. We are not rooted, but ever-changing; we have a right to difference, wherever we are. Blending dreamlike prose with philosophical brilliance, this unique exploration of language, colonialism, slavery and freedom narrates an Antillean identity, but also that of the whole world, where ‘the poetics of Relation senses, assumes, opens, gathers, scatters, continues, and transforms.’

Translated by Betsy Wing