History of Madagascar
Europe knew of Madagascar through Arab sources; based on them "The Travels of Marco Polo" claimed that "the inhabitants are Saracens, or followers of the law of Mohammed", without mentioning other inhabitants. Other than its size and location, everything about the island in the book describes southeastern Africa, not Madagascar. European contact began on 10 August 1500, when the Portuguese sea captain Diogo Dias sighted the island after his ship separated from a fleet going to India. The Portuguese continued trading with the islanders and named the island "São Lourenço" (Saint Lawrence). In 1666, François Caron, the director general of the newly formed French East India Company, sailed to Madagascar. The company failed to establish a colony on Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon (now Réunion) and Isle de France (now Mauritius). In the late 17th century, the French established trading posts along the east coast. On Île Sainte-Marie, a small island off the northeastern coast of Madagascar, Captain Misson and his pirate crew allegedly founded the famous pirate utopia of Libertatia in the late 17th century. From about 1774 to 1824, Madagascar was a favorite haunt for pirates. Many European sailors were shipwrecked on the coasts of the island, among them Robert Drury, whose journal is one of the few written depictions of life in southern Madagascar during the 18th century. Sailors sometimes called Madagascar "Island of the Moon".
Literature of Madagascar
The first modern African poet, a Merina named Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (1901 or 1903–1937), gained celebrity for blending surrealist, romantic and modernist poetic forms with elements of traditional Malagasy oratory, as well as his suicide by cyanide in 1937. Rabearivelo was also among the first to publish historical novels and wrote Madagascar's only Western-style opera. This blending of Western and traditional influence in the literary arts was carried on by such artists as Elie Rajaonarison, an exemplar of the new wave of Malagasy poetry. Other notable poets include Jacques Rabemananjara, Pierre Randrianarisoa, Georges Andriamanantena (Rado), Jean Verdi Salomon Razakandraina (Dox) and others. Leading authors include Jean-Luc Raharimanana, Michèle Rakotoson, Clarisse Ratsifandrihamanana, David Jaomanoro, Solofo Randrianja, Emilson Daniel Andriamalala and Celestin Andriamanantena. A number of comic books have also been created by Malagasy authors such as Anselme Razafindrainibe (1956–2011).