When the Walls Fall

This essay, which introduces part 2 of the special section "Eulogizing Creoleness? Rereading Éloge de la créolité," considers the Éloge's relationship with time, specifically the idea that it was before its time or that it was published in advance of the existence of an appropriately prepared reading public. Referring to some recent global events, and drawing on a largely neglected pamphlet by Edouard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau, the author wonders if the time for the Éloge and the broader, related Caribbean theories of history and culture may have arrived and argues that Caribbean thought needs to rediscover and reengage with its radical foundations.