Haitian Revolutionary Fictions - (New World Studies) by Marlene L Daut (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This anthology brings together a transnational selection of literature, some translated into English, about the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), from the beginnings of the conflicts that resulted in it to the end of the nineteenth century. It includes contextualizing headnotes and footnotes"--

Book Synopsis

The Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) was the first antislavery and anticolonial uprising led by New World Africans to result in the creation of an independent and slavery-free nation state. The momentousness of this thirteen-year-long war generated thousands of pages of writing. This anthology brings together for the first time a transnational and multilingual selection of literature about the revolution, from the beginnings of the conflicts that resulted in it to the end of the nineteenth century.

With over two hundred excerpts from novels, poetry, and plays published between 1787 and 1900, and depicting a wide array of characters including, Anacaona, Makandal, Boukman, Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Henry Christophe, this anthology provides the perfect classroom text for exploring this fascinating revolution, its principal actors, and the literature it inspired, while also providing a vital resource for specialists in the field. This landmark volume includes many celebrated authors--such as Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo, Heinrich von Kleist, Alphonse de Lamartine, William Wordsworth, Harriet Martineau, and William Edgar Easton--but the editors also present here for the first time many less-well-known fictions by writers from across western Europe and both North and South America, as well as by nineteenth-century Haitian authors, refuting a widely accepted perception that Haitian representations of their revolution primarily emerged in the twentieth century. Each excerpt is introduced by contextualizing commentary designed to spark discussion about the ongoing legacy of slavery and colonialism in the Americas. Ultimately, the publication of this capacious body of literature that spans three continents offers students, scholars, and the curious reader alike a unique glimpse into the tremendous global impact the Haitian Revolution had on the print culture of the Atlantic world.

New World Studies

Review Quotes

Haitian Revolutionary Fictions is a generous offering to its readers, an invitation to see more clearly the stakes of representing Black demands for freedom in a world that sought - and fought mightily - to deny such radical vision. The literary, in this volume, is shown to offer a unique prism through which to peer into the past, to allow for visceral encounters with the stories and ideologies that surrounded Haitian independence across time and space, language and genre. With elegance and true insight the editors of this exceptional anthology have crafted what is sure to be a reference in the field of Haitian Studies, of great use to researchers and students alike. The volume's careful presentation of its vast corpus is indeed a testament to Daut, Pierrot, and Rohrleitner's passion and erudition, to their certain faith in the worlds of scholarship their work encourages us to imagine.

--Kaiama L. Glover, Barnard College

[A] groundbreaking collection of 18th- and 19th-century fiction, poetry, and drama inspired by the Haitian Revolution. Two hundred excerpts, from texts originally written in multiple languages, show how generations of writers tackled the themes and characters of one of the defining events of modern history. Celebrated authors like Alexandre Dumas and William Wordsworth mingle with less famous contemporaries from Europe, North and South America, and Haiti itself.

-- "Trinidad Express"

A brilliant collection--readable, comprehensive, scholarly--and just the thing for a time in which teaching by regional/linguistic canon boundaries is increasingly out of step with scholarly knowledge and ethical frameworks to dehegemonize and desegregate humanistic traditions.

--Deborah Jenson, Duke University, coeditor of Poetry of Haitian Independence

Bound to become one of the most important works in the fields of Haitian studies, transatlantic studies, and Caribbean history. While there are a number of books, including new edited versions of novels, that focus on the Haitian Revolution, there is no other anthology that brings together such a large number of varied texts and provides such detailed and comprehensive analysis of this period.

--Cécile Accilien, Kennesaw State University, author of Rethinking Marriage in Francophone African and Caribbean Literatures

Taken together, the anthology's introduction, comprehensive scholarly notices, and translations make for a thorough, rigorous treatment of the vast corpus that is eminently useable. It will be essential reading for students, teachers and researchers alike.

-- "Nineteenth Century French Studies"

About the Author

Marlene L. Daut is Professor of African Diaspora Studies at the University of Virginia and author of Tropics of Haiti: Race and the Literary History of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World, 1789-1865. Grégory Pierrot is Associate Professor of English at the University of Connecticut, Stamford, and author of The Black Avenger in Atlantic Culture. Marion C. Rohrleitner is Associate Professor of English at the University of Texas, El Paso, and coeditor of Dialogues across Diasporas: Women Writers, Scholars, and Activists of Africana and Latina Descent in Conversation.