Men kontre, lyen kreye

Jodi a ane 2011 lan prale. Nan dènye semenn sa yo, gen anpil aktivite  ki montre enpòtans lyen Ayiti ak lòt peyi, lyen ayisyen ak lòt pèp. Nan sezon fèt la, nou vle soulinye lyen sa yo paske kilti ayisyen pat janm yon kilti ki te fèmen sou tèt li.

L.J. Janvier/ foto achiv CIDIHCA

A. Firmin/ foto achiv CIDIHCA

2011 te make san lane depi de kokenn chenn entelktyèl ayisyen mouri : Anténor Firmin ak Louis-Joseph Janvier. Si de pansè sa yo te travay anpil sou idantite ayisyen, sou kilti ak istwa peyi nou, yo te toujou pran anpil swen pou plase idantite ayisyen sa a nan yon kontèks ki pi laj toujou, pou montre plas Ayiti nan lemonn, jan sa kap fèt lòt kote gen yon enpak sou Ayiti epi kijan Ayiti kapab enfliyanse lòt peyi, lòt pèp.  Se domaj pat gen plis promosyon ki te fèt pou kòlòk ki te òganize sou Anténor Firmin nan Inivèsite Kiskeya pandan mwa desanm lan. Paske li enpòtan pou lide ni Anténor Firmin ni Louis-Joseph Janvier kontinye diskite nan sosyete pa nou epi nan espas entelektyèl an jeneral.

Nan mwa novanm ki sot pase a, Asosyasyon pou Etid Ayisyen te òganize 23zyèm kòlòk anyèl li nan vil Kingston nan peyi Jamayik. Anpil entevenan te pale sou lyen ki egziste ant Ayiti ak Jamayik – depi Boukmann rive nan fay ki travesè toulède peyi yo. Similarite ant de peyi yo pa rete nan nivo istorik oubyen jeyografik. Gen anpil similarite nan de sosyete yo jounen jodi a tou. Ekriven Velma Pollard te pale sou sitiyasyon lengwistik  jamayiken an ki sanble anpil ak sa k genyen Ayiti a. Si souvan pa bò isit nou kritike atitid anpil ayisyen – leta a tou – genyen parapò lang kreyòl la, entèvansyon Pollard la montre nou sitiyasyon pa nou miyò pase pa anpil lòt pèp. Fòk mwen sinyale tou, gen plizyè entèvansyon nan kòlòk la ki te fèt an kreyòl, pami yo, prezantasyon Jocelyne Trouillot-Lévy te fè sou sitiyasyon edikasyon siperyè ann Ayiti. Li enpòtan pou nou devlope lang kreyòl la nan tout kalite kontèks si nou vle li vin pi djanm: kreyòl ka pale nan kòlòk, li ka ekri sou blòg. 

Se pa lyen istorik sèlman ki egziste ant Ayiti ak lòt peyi. Gen lyen ki kontinye ap kreye jounen jodi a. Nou ka pran egzanp program Passagers du vent ki te lanse nan mwa avril 2011. Se yon rezidans ekriti ak kreyasyon atistik ki tabli nan vil Pòsali. Depi kèk tan, ekriven ak atis ayisyen patisipe nan anpil rezidans kreyasyon nan lòt peyi. Li te lè, li te tan, pou te gen yon aktivite konsa ann Ayiti, ki rekonèt nan peyi pa nou tou, atis yo kapab jwenn enspirasyon, epi sitou yon kote kalm pou yo kreye san twòp distraksyon.  Nou swete Passagers du vent, yon inisyativ James Noël ak Pascale Monnin ap kontinye pandan lontan. 

foto A.M.G. Ménard

Si Passagers du vent sanble premye program rezidans atistik nan peyi a, se pa premye aktivite literè ki fèt nan vil pwovens yo. Premye wikenn nan mwa desanm lan, plizyè ekriven te patisipe nan 27èm edisyon aktivite Livres en liberté nan vil Gonayiv. Se premye fwa aktivite sa a te dewoule nan vil endepandans lan. Daprè mwen, lòt edisyon aktivite a konn pi bèl, men deplasman ekriven plizyè gwo vil peyi a yo pou rankontre lektè yo pi pre lakay pa yo se toujou yon bon bagay.

Rankont ant otè ak lektè te fèt Pòtoprens tou. 21 desanm Livres Ouverts te òganize nan lakou Enstite Franse. Plizyè patisipan Passagers du Vent te la ansanm ak plizyè ekriven ayisyen ki gen liv ki fenk sòti oubyen ki gen yon zèv ki deja etabli. 23 desanm Dites-le avec un livre te fèt nan lakou Direksyon Nasyonal Liv la.   

Konsatou, aktivite tankou Artisanat en fête ak Femmes en production ankouraje pwodiksyon ak kreyativite lokal se vre. Men yo pèmèt tou lyen kreye ant moun ki rete nan diferan zòn peyi a. Depi plizyè mwa, chak wikenn, yon seri mèt baton Latibonit vin ofri kou baton nan Sant Kiltirèl Anne-Marie Morisset nan Delma. Aktivite sa yo, se ranfòse yo ranfòse kilti nou paske yo fè plis moun nan peyi a konnen kisa kap fèt nan diferan zòn yo pou nou tout kapab apresye bèl bagay k ap fèt lakay nou. 

Si tout kreyasyon ak ranfòsman lyen gen aspè pozitif yo, genyen tou ki charye tansyon. Depi tranblemantè 12 janvye 2010 la, gen yon kominote ayisyen ki kòmanse ap tabli nan peyi Brezil. Si nou kapab imajine tout posibilite pou echanj ak kreyasyon sitiyasyon sa a kapab fasilite, kondisyon ayisyen yo ap viv an Brezil kounyè a difisil anpil. 

Tout koneksyon k ap fèt pa oblije enplike plizyè peyi ni yon aktivite fòmèl. Gen lyen ki kreye nan yon echèl ki pi piti ki enpòtan tou. Ni mwen ni Régine se pwofesè literati. Nou toulède anseye literati ayisyen, pafwa nou sèvi ak menm tèks. Konsa, ane sa a Régine ak etidyan li yo nan Boston College kòmanse sa nou swete ap tounen yon tradisyon. Nan fen semès la, li mande etidyan l yo si yo ta renmen voye liv yo fin sèvi yo ann Ayiti. Konsa, li sanble 20 liv pou biblioyotèk ak etidyan Lekòl Nòmal Siperyè ak lòt kote tankou Sant Kiltirèl Anne-Marie Morisset. Mwen ekri deja sou difikilte mwen konn rankontre nan chwa liv pou kou m yo. Mwen panse kolaborasyon sa a ap ede anpil. Pami liv nou resevwa nan echanj sa a gen klasik tankou Gouverneurs de la Rosée epi tèks pi resan tankou Bicentenaire ak Saisons Sauvages. 

Pandan ane 2011 lan ap fini epi 2012 ap rive sou nou, fòk nou tout reflechi sou lyen ki enpòtan pou nou chak, nan nivo pèsonèl ak nan nivo kominote nou tou. Si medya nasyonal ak entenasyonal fè anpil bwi ak yon seri pèsonalite vedèt ki vizite Ayiti semenn sa yo – Ne-Yo ak Oprah Winfrey, Robert De Niro ak Kim Kardashian – nou panse gen lòt lyen kap kreye ki kapab pi enpòtan pou nou, pou peyi nou, pou kilti nou. 

Nou swete tout lektè nou yo yon bèl ane 2012!

NM

Notes de lecture: Refonder Haiti?

Il faut croire que nous lisons beaucoup ces derniers temps, car après le compte-rendu fait par Régine de Violated, le roman de Guitèle Jeudy-Rahill, aujourd'hui je vous offre mes impressions du livre collectif, Refonder Haïti?. 

Depuis le séisme qui a frappé Haiti le 12 janvier 2010, on ne cesse de parler de la reconstruction de ce pays, tant au niveau local qu'international. On évoque aussi sa refondation. Mais de quoi parle-t-on vraiment? Et qui doit participer à cette reconstruction ou refondation? Pour qui doit-on reconstruire ou refonder la nation?  Le livre Refonder Haïti? (le point d'interrogation a toute son importance!) publié par Mémoire d'Encrier à la fin de 2010 apporte des réponses à ces questions, en posent d'autres et se lancent sans réserve dans le débat sur les problèmes et solutions de la société haïtienne.

J'ai commencé à lire ce livre en décembre 2010. Je ne l'ai terminé qu'à la fin de l'été 2011. Il est dense. Certains textes sont mieux écrits que d'autres. Certains contiennent beaucoup de chiffres, qui ne sont pas mon fort, je l'avoue. Le livre contient aussi beaucoup de coquilles, ce qui est vraiment dommage. J'ose espérer qu'une prochaine édition sera corrigée car c'est un livre à ne pas rater. A mon avis, ce livre doit être lu par tous ceux qui se sentent interpellés par le discours de la reconstruction, surtout les étrangers qui viennent nous "aider". En fait, il y a toute une réflexion locale sur la société haïtienne disponible, qui malheureusement n'est pas souvent prise en compte par ceux qui détiennent pouvoir et/ou argent et c'est bien dommage!

Lisez mes notes de lecture dans leur intégralité ici et surtout lisez le livre! 

NM

Review of Violated by Guitele Jeudy-Rahill

I recently read the short novel Violated by Guitèle Jeudy Rahill (First Books Library, 2001).  In the spirit of my post over the summer about making sure we cover the range of Haitians writing, I am including a review of the book here.  Because my current research focuses on the representation of sexual violence in cultural production, I was particularly keen to pick up a copy of Violated and have had it on my reading list for a while. Violated tells the story of the first protagonist Henri Berceuse, a man suffering from complexes as a result of his dark complexion and a trauma that haunts him from the past.  Early into the story we learn that his complexes are also related to his understanding of the sexual manifestations of power relations in Haiti during the occupation.   “Henri had determined long ago, with the American occupation of Haiti between 1915 and 1934, that he would do all he could to escape his blackness and the poverty it obliged” (10). Later on Henri explains the exact incident that led to this decision:  he witnessed the sexual violation of young Haitian boys by soldiers from the United States.  “Henri imagined that what the boys were experiencing was humiliating and painful…The soldiers were white and sporting uniforms.  Both factors were indicators of unquestioned authority on the small island” (12).   Shortly after Henri describes his past we are introduced to Peggy Pouchot, a woman who is also the victim of a sexual violence having been kidnapped and held as a sex slave.  “Two years before, in Port-au-Prince, she’d been approached by a man who had identified himself as a lieutenant and had commanded her to follow him.  She had done just that.  There was no disputing a man who looked so powerful.  It had been six months until her family would hear from her again” (19).   

In the context of my own research this book is compelling for what it tells us about sexual violence—that it occurs in a number of different ways by a number of different actors ranging from soldiers violating young Haitian boys (a scene that is eerily reminiscent of the rape of the young Haitian man in Port Salut perpetrated by members of Uruguyan MINUSTAH forces) to young women caught in unequal relationships in which they are forced to give sex in return to security and those caught in the drama of family incest and sexual abuse.  The wide range and nature of violations in the book serve as a reminder for how complex issues of sexual violence are even if the gendered power dynamics that underlie them are similar.  Rahill has taken on a difficult topic with Violated, and her writing style is simple, threadbare and straightforward.   Another main character who is the daughter of Peggy Pouchot and Henri Berceuse, Kasha, who is chronically mistreated by her stepfather Antoine and who eventually migrates to the United States where she continues to be abused (which again disabuses the myth of security offered by the US).   Her character is quite well developed, with a convincingly written and intimately rendered inner monologue.  Overall the book offers a prolonged and often jarring encounter with different narratives of trauma, their troubling manifestations and aftermath.  Thus Rahill's novel could be well read alongside other texts such as Chauvet's Colère, Danticat's Breath, Eyes, Memory or Mars' Saisons sauvages to name but a few. 

 People often ask me, as someone who works on representations of violence in Africa and the Caribbean, if I ever fear that my work will reinforce stereotypes about these populations as being more violent than others.  I imagine that this is the same question that someone would ask this author.  I found it fascinating that though Violated is a work of fiction, Rahill is a social worker and a professor at a university as well.   As such she may have a completely different answer to this question, but  I find that my answer more often relates to how the story is written, and the necessity for the survivors of sexual violence to be able to have their stories told with complexity, texture and nuance, no matter how difficult it may be to hear, see or read them.   Especially since sexual violence is an issue that is surrounded by so much silence no matter where you are from, it is important that these stories be told.  Guitèle Jeudy-Rahill has achieved a story about violation that attempts to explore it in a number of different ways and show the trauma that results in its aftermath.


RMJC

My classic playlist

For me, October in Haiti means returning to school, the start of university courses, meetings... It's the official end of summer. Although it’s hard to tell with the temperatures we’ve been having here lately! Driving downtown to attend meetings and plan classes (I haven't actually started teaching yet!), chauffeuring my daughter to school and back, I spend a lot of time in the car. I don’t actually mind it much, in spite of the crazy traffic and horrible roads. I have my music to keep me company.

Here’s a sample of the music that keeps me zen while I navigate the streets of Port-au-Prince. I think of these as my classics. In random order:

Manno et Marco, 1978

This one goes way back. It's been one of my favorites since I was a little girl. The voices of Manno Charlemagne and Marco Destin complement each other, not blending perfectly, always reminding us that there is an ongoing conversation we need to pay attention to. The lyrics and sentiment expressed here are timeless. Ti Manman, [J]ebede, Dialogue, Pouki, Grangou, Mizè... and of course, the first track, Lapli: "Lapli pap janm sispann tonbe/ Lezòm ava toujou reve"... "M pap janm pi mal o, map toujou pi byen o." So many complexities captured in those few lines. What more can we aim for, really, than to be "pi byen"? 

Mizik Mizik, De Ger, 1994 
This album is classic konpa. I mean, just the opening notes of Lè n ap fè lanmou make my heart happy. Yon jou va rive is poignant and heartbreaking to listen to almost 20 years later: "Bouke fè pwomès san fondman/ Bouke bay manti pou lajan." Go ahead, click on the link and listen if you haven't heard them before. If you have, well, I know I don't need to convince you to listen! Despite changes in singers and musicians over the years, Mizik Mizik has remained a constant on the Haitian musical scene, anchored by the amazing duo: Fabrice Rouzier and Keke Belizaire. They just keep getting better as proven by Blakawout (2000) and Paradi nan lanfè (2008). Mizik Mizik continues to keep a finger on the pulse of Haitian society while innovating with sound.

Belo, Lakou Trankil, 2005

This one is not that old, but I’m already deeming it a classic. I keep going back to it. While I’m not too crazy about Belo’s latest stuff, this particular album has struck a chord. My daughter’s favorite remains Jasmine. Istwa Dwòl and Diore do it for me. In fact, my contemporary literature course this semester will focus on migration as a theme. Maybe I can start with Istwa Dwòl... There's an idea. (This song is so good that Belo includes it on two albums. It's also on Référence (2008).) Ti Matant nan wout is just fun. Here's a challenge: see if you can identify the rapper on Lòv pou lòv.

Emeline Michel… It’s hard to pick one cd.

Can I cheat and pick the very best of (2001)? That’s usually the one I have playing, although Cordes et Ames (2000) is a favorite, too. But really, Tankou Melodi and Plezi Mizè are classic Emeline. And Lanmou se flanm takes me way back to secondaire and the whole journée récréative scene. Those were the days! On Cordes et Ame, I think Fò m Ale perfectly captures how a lot of we Haitians start feeling when we've been away from home for too long. Emeline Michel's rendition of Viejo is amazing. If you haven't heard it yet, now is your chance. Emeline Michel sings in both French and Creole, sometimes in the same song, and manages to make it work. She also calls upon some of the greatest names in Haitian music today to help her create magic.

Jah Nesta, Solda Jah, 2004

Jah Nesta is one of those bands that's been struggling for years. They're known, but haven't quite made it. That's the sense I get, anyway. I'd love to learn differently. So if you know something I don't, please share. In spite of their low profile, their music is high quality and their lyrics always say something. Vini avè m and Kè kal manman are my favorites from this album. Alain Moraille is Jah Nesta's driving force and he keeps them producing quality music. I wish they'd focus a bit more on marketing, maybe line up a weekly gig or something.

King Posse, I Like It, 1997

At the end of last semester, I took a visiting professor and friend shopping for cds and dvds. As we were browsing in Mélodisque, I saw King Posse's I Like it. I had to have it! Since then, I often have it blasting as I drive around. I like King Posse's Trilogie, as well. The lyrics on this one are nothing spectacular, and to be honest, neither are the voices. This choice is all about nostalgia. For about 3 or 4 years in a row, King Posse were the kings of carnaval with their upbeat compositions. Remember Kool Non? Retounen? (My friend decided to pick up a couple of RAM cds.)



Boukman Eksperyans, Vodou Adjae, 1991

Kè m pa sote. Do I need to say more? Okay, how about Se Kreyòl Nou Ye and Tribilasyon? This album made Lòlò, Manzè and the gang household names. And rightfully so. They brought together musical genius, political activism, and culture consciousness at a time when Haitian society was thirsty for all of those things. Boukman Eksperyans is less active today, but they've already established themselves as a giant.

Obviously, I could include a lot more on this list. (Just flipping through my cds, I see Pou Lavi by New York All Stars. I love that one! And Zeklè. Rete la! Stòp!) I listen to a lot in my car, not all of it is Haitian, and truth be told, not all of it can be called quality music. But it all makes me happy! What are some of your favorite tunes? Which albums do you think are missing from my list?

NM

On Cultural Consumption

I have been thinking about posting something for a while on the new line of Haitian products at Macy’s.   This past summer’s visit by Martha Stewart and Donna Karan among others caused quite a stir on other online discussion forums such as the Corbett List.   By now most of you have probably heard of the Heart of Haiti Home Décor line, which went on sale last winter.  35% of the proceeds from these handcrafted products go directly back to the Haitian artists who make them.   The collection boasts some of the mainstays of Haitian art—decorative bowls, wrought iron artwork, sculptures and jewelry.  The effort is a collaboration with Fairwinds trading and the Clinton Global Foundation and BrandAid which has a long history of working with Haitian artists in Haiti, and is being billed as a partnered initiative to find innovative business solutions that will help boost the post-earthquake economy.  The artists come from three main locations:  a women’s cooperative in Cité Soleil, a group of metal artists from Croix-des-Bouquets and a third artists collective specializing in papier maché in Jacmel.  Donna Karan’s work is done through her Urban Zen Foundation, which offers jobs to artists and then sells the products abroad.  Karan famously appeared on CNN alongside President Martelly, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Paul Farmer to discuss the benefits of marrying philanthropy and commerce in Haiti. 

Thinking about the emergence of the Heart for Haiti and Urban Zen lines brings together a number of different issues related to globalization, philanthropy, and cultural consumption in Haiti today.  In fact the selling of this home décor is actual a classic example of cross-cultural consumption, which is basically defined as the production of a product in one culture followed by its consumption in another culture. 

Of course the interest of foreigners in Haitian art is neither new nor surprising.  When André Breton travelled to Haiti in the 1940s he gave a series of lectures and lauded the “enthusiasm for liberty of the Haitian people.”  Of course there is a long history of Haitian art being consumed by foreigners for other purposes.  In fact even the university where I teach, has a modest Haitian art collection of paintings that were given to the former alum, a physician who spent time in Haiti while working as a volunteer for Catholic Charities from 1964-1975.’

While I am all for l’art pour l’art I do find it interesting to note that most of this art is stripped down of any subversive or political content.  While I would not go so far as to say that this is merely “tourist art” made for mass consumption and emptied of meaning, I wonder if images like vaudou flags, comments about globalization and neo-imperialism or the government critiques that can be visible in different forms of art will ever be featured in this collection? 

It is also important to note in terms of the background that this is not the first time that Macy’s has taken on such a project.  In the mid-1990s they also launched a “Path to Peace” line of baskets made by survivors of the Rwandan Genocide.   This collaboration is still going on today and has had measurable outcomes linked to sustainability for women. As a model for sustainability, the potential impact of the line is clear: putting money in people’s pockets positively benefits their surrounding communities.   But since here at Tande we are concerned with culture, the question for us is, what does this new medium of cross-cultural consumption in a globalized, “post-earthquake” (I use quotes here b/c I think the extent of this post should be called into question) Haiti mean for the development of Haitian art?  Does who the art is made for and how it is consumed impact how we view, interpret and appreciate it?    

RMJC

Ayiti Toupatou II

Mwa pase a, m te pase detwa jou nan vil Durham nan eta Karolindinò Ozetazini. Menm jan mwen te konstate l an Frans, mwen wè Ayiti toupatou. Gen yon katye nan vil Durham ki rele Hayti. Li difisil pou n detèmine ki premye moun ki te deside bay katye a non sa a. Men pa gen dout non a fè referans a peyi dAyiti. Gen moun ki di nan epòk la, blan meriken te bay tout katye nwa pote non Ayiti. Gen lòt ki di se abitan zonn lan ki deside ba l pote non sa kòm omaj a premye repiblik nwa a. Katye Hayti nan vil Durham te tabli nan fen 19èm syèk. Se la pi fò moun nwa vil la te abite. Ansyen esklav te achte tè la. Yo te bati kay, lekòl, legliz ak anpil biznis. Hayti te sèvi kòm modèl pou kominote nwa ameriken an. Men nan ane 1950 yo, katye a kòmanse degrade lè otorite vil Durham deside lanse yon pwojè pou renouvle zòn lan. Yo kraze kay ak biznis, swadizan pou bati nouvou bilding. Men se yon otowout ki vin pase nan mitan katye Hayti a. Gen yon pwojè fim ki bay tèt li misyon presève istwa katye sa a. 

Jounen jodi a, se Hayti Heritage Center ki senbolize tout pase kominote a. Sant kiltirèl sa a etabli nan ansyen legliz Sen Jozèf. Yo òganize diferan aktivite kiltirèl tankou ekpozisyon atistik, konsè, pwojeksyon fim ak festival. Pi fò aktivite yo gen rapò ak istwa nwa ameriken. Se yon kolèg, Laurent Dubois, ki te pale m de katye Hayti a ak sant kiltirèl la. Li te atire atansyon m sou vèvè ki anlè tèt sant la. M poko rive konnen istwa poukisa se senbòl sa a fondatè yo te chwazi mete sou tèt legliz la. Men li montre Ayiti toujou la nan mitan Hayti. 

Se pa nan katye Hayti a sèlman nou kapab jwenn Ayiti nan vil Durham. Pandan m te nan vil la, mwen te vizite inivèsite Duke. Mwen te gen chans vizite Haiti Lab inivèsite sa a ki se yon espas kote yon gwoup pwofesè ak etidyan ap travay sou plizyè pwojè ki anrapò ak Ayiti. Pami reyalizasyon gwoup sa a, gen yon pwojè atistik ki rele Haiti: History Embedded in Amber. Atispent Edouard Duval-Carrié te ede yon seri moun reflechi sou kisa Ayiti reprezante pou yo, sou kijan yo menm yo ta renmen reprezante Ayiti, pou yo kreye imaj apati lide sa yo. Rezilta final la enpresyonan anpil. Lansman zèv atistik sa ap fèt jodi a, vandredi 9 sektanm a 5è.

Gen anpil etid ki fèt sou migrasyon apati Ayiti, sou ayisyen ki etabli Ozetazini, an Frans oubyen Kanada. Men m panse fòk ta gen plis etid ki montre kijan Ayiti kite mak li sou plizyè vil nan lemon, sou jan Ayiti kontinye ap enfliyanse imajinè kolektif plizyè kominote.  

NM

Musings on Choosing

Recently a friend asked me in regards to an essay he was working on, “does the world need another article on Edwidge Danticat?”  The question was posed in reference to an article he is writing that considers some of Danticat’s more recent nonfiction.  In answering the question I found myself torn.  It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Danticat’s work. One of the things I appreciate the most about her is the way she uses her own reknown to also introduce her reading public to other Haitian writers as we see in The Butterfly’s Way and more recently in Haiti Noir.  On the other hand, as someone who is well versed in the diversity of Haitian literature, I sometimes get frustrated that so much of the work in the field focuses on Danticat and writers in the diaspora in general.  Overall I feel that when it comes to Haitian literature, there is a huge amount of work on the chosen few, whereas the brilliant and important work of others garners less critical attention.  One could write the same of Jacques Roumain and Jacques-Stephen Alexis, both of whom have generated significant scholarship.  It is an issue prominently on display for people on the conference circuit as well, you can be sure that a panel on Haitian women's writing, for example, will certainly include Danticat and Chauvet whereas papers on Yanick Lahens, Evelyne Trouillot,  Kettly Mars  or Jessica Fièvre are less common.  My frustrations over the lack of attention to the different writers that make up the Haitian literary tradition is one of the reasons that as a scholar I am so grateful for the contributions of people like Kaiama Glover, who recently published an insightful and innovative study entitled Haiti Unbound:  A Spiralist Challenge to the Postcolonial Canon on Jean-Claude Fignolé, Frankétienne and René Philoctète, writers who rarely make the cut on the syllabi for courses taught in the US.

Perhaps this is a dilemma that is specific to people dealing with “minor literatures” (to borrow a phrase from Deleuze and Guattari). After all, when was the last time someone questioned whether there were too many articles written about Shakespeare, Proust, or Foucault?  Again I think that in terms of these literatures it also tends to happen more with women, for example one could never count the number of articles on Aimé Césaire or VS Naipaul.  Doesn’t true intellectual freedom mean writing about whatever moves you rather than being beholden to some standard or quota of how much work is being done on the person? At the same time it is also a problem that relates to canon formation, which can be applied to writing across the globe.  Who do we teach?  Why teach this particular author over another?  How do we choose the writers we do work on? 

In the Haitian context this issue takes on many forms.  The question is linguistic as we consider writers working in Kreyol, French or English.  (See here for a fascinating discussion of Kreyol and education featuring the Haitian linguist Michel Degraff.)  Deciding which author to focus on then can sometimes come down to a question of which language one may be most comfortable in reading and writing.  Yet, as much of Haitian literature reminds us, these languages also function in relation to one another and when you consider the breadth of work being done in the field it is essential to be familiar with each one.  In fact, maybe these reflections are only specific to the context of the USA where the preference is for texts written in English for obvious reasons. 

But back to my friend’s question, how does one decide which writer to focus on and is there even really such a thing as “too many articles” on one author?  The answer to the latter question is easy, a resounding no.  For me what matters the most is innovation and creativity in terms of the critical approach and topic rather than the scope.  That is to say when reading another book or article on Toussaint Louverture, what I look for is a new approach, for something that has not been said before and offers a new perspective.  In teaching I purposefully include authors writing today that my students are most likely unfamiliar with because I want to expose them to the diversity of Haitian writers. I have found that my students are especially excited to read work by contemporary writers in general.  When I had them read L’heure hybride for example some students mentioned that this was the most recent novel they had read in almost all of their time studying French.  I guess one could say that I also think of this as my own small act of literary activism, promoting authors who students may not regularly have access to and encouraging them to pursue more work by lesser known writers.  What about you, how do you choose who to work on or teach in your classes?

RMJC