Book contents
- A History of Haitian Literature
- Additional material
- A History of Haitian Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Chapter 1 Editors’ Introduction
- Chapter 2 Literature as Loot
- Chapter 3 Theater in Early Independent Haiti
- Chapter 4 “So all the world may know it”
- Chapter 5 Civil War, Guerre de Plume, and the Emergence of Early Haitian Periodical Culture
- Chapter 6 History, Politics, and Revolutionary Romanticism in Charles Hérard-Dumesle’s Voyage dans le nord d’Hayti (1824) and the Anonymously Published L’Haïtiade (ca. 1826)
- Chapter 7 The Cénacle and the Sacred
- Chapter 8 Émeric Bergeaud’s Stella
- Chapter 9 The Predicament of Civilization
- Chapter 10 The Politics of Disenchantment
- Chapter 11 Haitian Poetry in Creole
- Chapter 12 Some Causes of the Underdevelopment of Haiti’s Creole-Language Literature
- Chapter 13 Performing Rebellion and Re-membering Haiti’s Past and Present in Twentieth-Century and Contemporary Theater
- Chapter 14 Haitian Writers and the Forging of a National Voice through Periodicals in the Twentieth Century
- Chapter 15 “Arrêtez le monde! Je veux rêver”
- Chapter 16 Occupation-Era Literature in Haiti
- Chapter 17 Haitian Literature and the Dominican Republic
- Chapter 18 Marxism and the Moun Andeyo
- Chapter 19 Jacques Roumain, from Indigenism to Nationalism
- Chapter 20 For a History of the Novel of Haitian Tradition
- Chapter 21 Exile and Twentieth-Century Haitian Writing
- Chapter 22 The Zonbi as Episteme in Haitian Prose Fiction
- Chapter 23 Living Vodou
- Chapter 24 Papa Loko’s Dire Poétique in Twenty-First-Century Port-au-Prince-Based Haitian Poetry
- Chapter 25 Partisan Politics and Twentieth-Century Fictions of the Haitian Revolution
- Chapter 26 Haitian Women’s Fiction
- Chapter 27 Haitian Uses of the Erotic
- Chapter 28 Archiving Narratives of Maternal Loss and Queer Life in Haitian Fiction in the Wake of the 2010 Earthquake
- Index
Chapter 4 - “So all the world may know it”
The Literary Value of Nineteenth-Century Haitian Song and Opera
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2024
- A History of Haitian Literature
- Additional material
- A History of Haitian Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Chapter 1 Editors’ Introduction
- Chapter 2 Literature as Loot
- Chapter 3 Theater in Early Independent Haiti
- Chapter 4 “So all the world may know it”
- Chapter 5 Civil War, Guerre de Plume, and the Emergence of Early Haitian Periodical Culture
- Chapter 6 History, Politics, and Revolutionary Romanticism in Charles Hérard-Dumesle’s Voyage dans le nord d’Hayti (1824) and the Anonymously Published L’Haïtiade (ca. 1826)
- Chapter 7 The Cénacle and the Sacred
- Chapter 8 Émeric Bergeaud’s Stella
- Chapter 9 The Predicament of Civilization
- Chapter 10 The Politics of Disenchantment
- Chapter 11 Haitian Poetry in Creole
- Chapter 12 Some Causes of the Underdevelopment of Haiti’s Creole-Language Literature
- Chapter 13 Performing Rebellion and Re-membering Haiti’s Past and Present in Twentieth-Century and Contemporary Theater
- Chapter 14 Haitian Writers and the Forging of a National Voice through Periodicals in the Twentieth Century
- Chapter 15 “Arrêtez le monde! Je veux rêver”
- Chapter 16 Occupation-Era Literature in Haiti
- Chapter 17 Haitian Literature and the Dominican Republic
- Chapter 18 Marxism and the Moun Andeyo
- Chapter 19 Jacques Roumain, from Indigenism to Nationalism
- Chapter 20 For a History of the Novel of Haitian Tradition
- Chapter 21 Exile and Twentieth-Century Haitian Writing
- Chapter 22 The Zonbi as Episteme in Haitian Prose Fiction
- Chapter 23 Living Vodou
- Chapter 24 Papa Loko’s Dire Poétique in Twenty-First-Century Port-au-Prince-Based Haitian Poetry
- Chapter 25 Partisan Politics and Twentieth-Century Fictions of the Haitian Revolution
- Chapter 26 Haitian Women’s Fiction
- Chapter 27 Haitian Uses of the Erotic
- Chapter 28 Archiving Narratives of Maternal Loss and Queer Life in Haitian Fiction in the Wake of the 2010 Earthquake
- Index
Summary
This chapter proposes Haitian song and opera as untapped sources for literary analysis and important forerunners in the development of Haitian literature. It demonstrates how the early writers of Haiti used music to challenge the country’s foreign detractors and showcase its artistic achievement, preserving regional vernaculars, offering social commentary, and eloquently heightening the irony of Haiti’s freedom in a world of ‘enlightened’ enslavers. It looks at the contributions of Juste Chanlatte (1766–1828), a prominent Haitian statesman and writer whose many songs and two operas left an indelible mark on early Haitian music and letters. Next, it expounds on the popularity and political expediency of a particular musical-literary genre: the contrafactum. Created by setting original Haitian lyrics to preexisting French melodies, the genre enjoyed a remarkable efflorescence in early Haiti with over one hundred examples published from 1804 to 1820. Through analyses of two musical works by Chanlatte, the chapter shows how early Haitians gave topical relevance to the music of their former French oppressors and literary expression to the ambitions of their nation.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A History of Haitian Literature , pp. 63 - 74Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024