Recitation #2: An Impossible Revolution Parts 1&2 Prof. Roland The Caribbean in Post-Colonial...
-
Upload
stanley-french -
Category
Documents
-
view
214 -
download
0
Transcript of Recitation #2: An Impossible Revolution Parts 1&2 Prof. Roland The Caribbean in Post-Colonial...
Recitation #2: An Impossible Revolution Parts 1&2
Prof. RolandThe Caribbean in
Post-Colonial PerspectiveANTH 1115
Sketch of the Haitian Revolution
French Revolution/Rights of Man and Citizen “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” – but for whom?
Grands blancs Petit blancs Gens de couleur Slaves??
Sketch of the Haitian Revolution (cont’d)
Petit blancs break ranks The Amis des Noirs back the Gens de ColourPower shifts ex-slave majority
Rise of Toussaint Louverture
Sketch of the Haitian Revolution (cont’d)
Napoleon revisits slaveryJean Jacques Dessalines and Henri Christophe I
Haitian independence in 1804
Early Haiti
French refuse to recognize independence until 1825
Ex-slaves refuse to return to plantation lifestyle
Legacy of stubborn pride
Legacy of poverty
Legacy of color/class meanings
Mulatto rulers and black military
Big men (colored) & peasant-based militias (black)
Duvaliers and culture of fear
Questions/Comments?
History and Haiti
Moments of Silence in production of historyFact Creation (Making of sources)
Fact Assembly ( Making of archives)
Fact Retrieval (Making of narratives)
Retrospective Significance (History in final instance)
“War within the War”
Henri Christophe and the 3 Faces of Sans Souci
The Palace at Potsdam (Germany)
The Palace at Milot (Haiti)
The Man (Christophe’s enemy)
Sounds of Silence
ErasuresFormulas of silence that erase facts
(i.e., general silence on slave resistance or Haitian rev)
BanalizationFormulas of silence that empty events of content and trivialize them
(i.e., dismissive explanations at the time about why slaves rebelled)
The Construction of History
Historicity 1
What HappenedFacts of the Matter
Underbelly of History
Historicity 2
What is SAID to have happened
Narrative about the facts
Power to tell the (victor’s) tale
Why Haiti is Important
Slaving societies cannot pretend slaves are content
Hemispheric fear of another “Haiti”Rumors of slave revolts brutally crushed
Better balance of slaves to free
Beginning of the end of slavery
Slaves Celebrating “Haiti”Impossible now within reach
Questions/Comments?