The Haitian Revolution in the Literary Imagination: Radical Horizons, Conservative Constraints

257 Pages·2014·7.593 MB·English

by  Philip Kaisary

The Haitian Revolution
in the Literary Imagination
New World Studies
J. Michael Dash, Editor
Frank Moya Pons and
Sandra Pouchet Paquet,
Associate Editors
The Haitian Revolution
in the Literary Imagination
Radical Horizons,
Conservative Constraints
Philip Kaisary
University of Virginia Press
Charlottesville and London
this book is made possible by a collaborative grant
from the andrew w. mellon foundation.
University of Virginia Press
© 2014 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
First published 2014
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kaisary, Philip, 1978–
The Haitian revolution in the literary imagination :
radical horizons, conservative constraints / Philip Kaisary.
pages cm — (New World studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8139-3546-1 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8139-3547-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8139-3548-5 (e-book)
1. Caribbean literature—20th century—History and criticism.
2. Haiti—History—Revolution, 1791–1804—Influence. 3. Haiti—
History—Revoution, 1791–1804—Literature and the revolution.
4. Haiti—In literature. 5. Literature and history. I. Title.
PN849.C3K35 2014
809'.933587294—dc23
2013023508
To Tara, Georgia, and Oscar

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Part One: Radical Recuperations
Universalism and Transformation
1 Radical Universalism: The Haitian Revolution,
Aimé Césaire, and C. L. R. James 21
2 Langston Hughes: Harlem and Haiti 37
3 Return to Négritude: The Haitian Revolution
and René Depestre’s Un arc-en-ciel pour
l’occident chrétien 56
4 The Haitian Revolution and Radical Visual Politics:
Jacob Lawrence, Kimathi Donkor, and the
Cultures of Philately 77
Part Two: Conservative Visions
Pessimism, Seduction, and Fantasy
5 Edouard Glissant’s Monsieur Toussaint:
Conservatism Hidden in Relation 109
viii Contents
6 Ideological Frailty and the Marvelous
in Alejo Carpentier’s El reino de este mundo 121
7 The Aesthetics of Cyclical Pessimism:
Derek Walcott’s Haitian Trilogy 135
8 Fantasizing the Haitian Revolution
with Madison Smartt Bell 157
Conclusion 175
Notes 179
Bibliography 203
Index 231
Illustrations
1 Jacob Lawrence, The Life of Toussaint L’Ouverture,
No. 20, 1938 81
2 François Séraphin Delpech, 1832 engraving
of Nicolas Eustache-Maurin’s Toussaint L’Ouverture 83
3 Kimathi Donkor, Toussaint L’Ouverture
at Bedourete, 2004 86
4 Anne-Louis Girodet, Portrait of Citizen Belley, 1797 88
5 Eugène Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People, 1831 89
6 Jacques-Louis David, Napoleon at the Saint Bernard
Pass, 1801 90
7 Kimathi Donkor, The Small Axe, 2004 92
8 Caravaggio, Doubting Thomas, ca. 1602–3 93
9 Haiti, “Centennaire de l’independence,” Toussaint
Louverture commemorative postage stamps, 1904 97
10 Haiti, 5-centimes stamp depicting Toussaint
Louverture and commemorating the 150th
anniversary of independence, 1954 98
11 Haiti, 2-gourdes stamp commemorating
the bicentennial of Toussaint’s death, 2003 99
12 Republic of Dahomey, Toussaint Louverture
commemorative postage stamps, First Day Cover,
November 18, 1963 100