Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:51:28.087Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 20 - For a History of the Novel of Haitian Tradition

1901–61

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2024

Marlene L. Daut
Affiliation:
Yale University
Kaiama L. Glover
Affiliation:
Yale University
Get access

Summary

Building on the hypothesis of the Proclamation by Dessalines in Gonaïves on January 1, 1804, as the primary textual source of the Haitian tragedy with its two main features, warning or caution and explanation or clarification, which largely defines the novels of the Haitian tradition, this chapter makes a detailed analysis of this corpus published both in Haiti and abroad between 1901 and 1961. Showing the coherence of this body of tragic stories reported in a Haitian French language by narrators claiming to be Haitian depicting Haiti and its inhabitants, it also demonstrates its historical diversity. Exposing the main stages of its evolution, it highlights the genesis of these works over four main periods: the 1900s, its emergence as national novel with the publication in 1901 of Thémistocle-Épaminondas Labasterre by Frédéric Marcelin followed in 1905 by Justin Lhérisson’s La Famille des Pitite-Caille and Fernand Hibbert’s Séna; the 1910s–20s, its decline after the US occupation of Haiti; 1931–50, its Golden Age with writers who get international recognition; and the 1950s, the rise of Jacques Stephen Alexis and the beginning of the definite fall of the genre.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexis, Jacques Stephen. Les Arbres musiciens (Paris: Gallimard, 1957).Google Scholar
Alexis, Jacques Stephen. Compère Général Soleil (Paris: Gallimard, 1955). General Sun, My Brother. Translated by Coates, Carrol F. (Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 1999).Google Scholar
Alexis, Jacques Stephen. L’Espace d’un cillement (Paris: Gallimard, 1959). In the Flicker of an Eyelid. Translated by Coates, Carrol F. and Danticat, Edwidge (Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2002).Google Scholar
Cinéas, J. B. Le Choc en retour (Port-au-Prince: Deschamps, 1948).Google Scholar
Cinéas, J. B. L’Héritage sacré (Port-au-Prince: Deschamps, 1945).Google Scholar
Cinéas, J. B. La Vengeance de la terre (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie du Collège de Vertières, 1933).Google Scholar
Cinéas, Jean-Baptiste. Le Drame de la terre (Cap-Haïtien: Imprimerie du Séminaire adventiste, 1933).Google Scholar
Hibbert, Fernand. Le Manuscrit de mon ami (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie Chéraquit, 1923).Google Scholar
Hibbert, Fernand. Romulus (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie de l’Abeille, 1908).Google Scholar
Hibbert, Fernand. Séna (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie de l’Abeille, 1905).Google Scholar
Hibbert, Fernand. Les Simulacres (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie Chéraquit, 1923).Google Scholar
Hibbert, Fernand. Les Thazar (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie de l’Abeille, 1907).Google Scholar
Innocent, Antoine. Mimola ou L’Histoire d’une cassette (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie E. Malval, 1906).Google Scholar
Lespès, Anthony. Les Semences de la colère (Port-au-Prince: Deschamps, 1949).Google Scholar
Lhérisson, Justin. La Famille des Pitite-Caille (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie Héraux, 1905).Google Scholar
Lhérisson, Justin. Zoune chez sa Ninnaine (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie Héraux, 1906).Google Scholar
Marcelin, Frédéric. Marilisse (Paris: Ollendorff, 1903).Google Scholar
Marcelin, Frédéric. Thémistocle-Épaminondas Labasterre (Paris: Ollendorff, 1901).Google Scholar
Marcelin, Frédéric. La Vengeance de Mama (Paris: Ollendorff, 1902).Google Scholar
Roumain, Jacques. Gouverneurs de la rosée (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie de l’État, 1944). Masters of the Dew. Translated by Hughes, Langston and Cook, Mercer (New York, NY: Reynal & Hitchcock, 1947).Google Scholar
Roumain, Jacques. La Montagne ensorcelée (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie Chassaing, 1931).Google Scholar
Thoby-Marcelin, Philippe, and Marcelin, Pierre. La Bête de Musseau (New York, NY: Éditions de la Maison française, 1946.) The Beast of the Haitian Hills. Translated by Rhodes, Peter C. (New York, NY and Toronto, ON: Rinehart, 1946).Google Scholar
Thoby-Marcelin, Philippe, and Marcelin, Pierre. Canapé-Vert (New York, NY: Éditions de la Maison française, 1944). Canapé-Vert. Translated by Tinker, Edward Larocque (New York, NY and Toronto, ON: Farrar & Rinehart, 1944).Google Scholar
Thoby-Marcelin, Philippe, and Marcelin, Pierre. Le Crayon de Dieu (Paris: La Table Ronde, 1952). The Pencil of God. Translated by Thomas, Leonard; with an introduction by Edmund Wilson (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1951).Google Scholar
Thoby-Marcelin, Philippe, and Marcelin, Pierre. Tous les hommes sont fous (Montréal, QC: Nouvelle optique, 1980). All Men Are Mad. Translated by Eva Thoby-Marcelin; with an introduction by Edmund Wilson (New York, NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1970).Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×