Beyond the Slave Narrative: Politics, Sex, and Manuscripts in the Haitian Revolution

TitleBeyond the Slave Narrative: Politics, Sex, and Manuscripts in the Haitian Revolution
Publication TypeBook
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsJenson, Deborah
Number of Pages322
PublisherLiverpool University Press
CityLiverpool
Abstract

The Haitian Revolution has generated responses from commentators in fields ranging from philosophy to historiography to twentieth-century literary and artistic studies. But what about the written work produced at the time, by Haitians? This book is the first to present an account of a specifically Haitian literary tradition in the Revolutionary era. This volume shows the emergence of two strands of textual innovation, both evolving from the new revolutionary consciousness: the remarkable political texts produced by Haitian revolutionary leaders Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and popular Creole poetry from anonymous courtesans in Saint-Domingue's libertine culture. These textual forms, though they differ from each other, both demonstrate the increasing cultural autonomy and literary voice of non-white populations in the colony at the time of revolution. These texts challenge how we think about authorial voice, writing, print culture, and cultural autonomy in the context of the formerly enslaved, and demand that we reassess our historical understanding of the Haitian Independence and its relationship to an international world of contemporary readers.

URLhttps://liverpool.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.5949/UPO9781846316517/upso-9781846314971
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AK

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732956431

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