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Book

The Haiti reader : history, culture, politics

Call Number

  • 972.94 H1539 (CEN)

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Publication Information

Durham : Duke University Press, 2020.

Physical Description

xiv, 529 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps ; 24 cm.

Summary

"While Haiti established the second independent nation in the Western Hemisphere and was the first black country to gain independence from European colonizers, its history is not well known in the Anglophone world. The Haiti Reader introduces readers to Haiti's dynamic history and culture from the viewpoint of Haitians from all walks of life. Its dozens of selections--most of which appear here in English for the first time--constitute representative works from Haiti's scholarly, literary, religious, visual, musical, and political cultures, and range from poems, novels, and political tracts to essays, legislation, songs, and folk tales. Spanning the centuries between pre-contact indigenous Haiti to the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, the Reader covers widely known episodes in Haiti's history, such as the U.S. military occupation and the Duvalier dictatorship, as well as overlooked periods such as the decades immediately following Haiti's "second independence" in 1934. Whether examining issues of political upheaval, the environment, and modernization, The Haiti Reader provides an unparalleled look at Haiti's history, culture, and politics"--Provided by publisher.

Contents

  • I Foundations. An account of the antiquities of the Indians / Sou lanmè / Account of a conspiracy organized by the Negros, 1758 / The infamous Rosalie / The Declaration of Independence / Haitian hymn
  • Writings / A Woman's quest for freedom in a land of re-enslavement / An exchange of letters / The Code Henry / Henry Christophe and the English Abolitionists / The colonial system unveiled / Hymn to liberty / The King's hunting party / Voyage to the North of Haiti / On the origins of the counter-plantation system / II The Second Generation. The indemnity: French Royal Ordinance of 1825 / Hymn to independence / Boyer's rural code / Le lambi / An experimental farm / The 1842 earthquake / Acaau and the Piquet Rebellion of 1843 / The separation of Haiti and the Dominican Republic / President Geffrard protests the Spanish annexation of the Dominican Republic / Stella, the first Haitian novel / Haiti and its visitors and "Le vieux piquet" / Atlas critique d'Haïti
  • III The birth of modern-day Haiti. Nineteenth-century Haiti by the numbers / Family portraits ; My Panama hat fell off / God, work, and liberty! / The national anthem, "La Dessalinienne" / Trial about the consolidation of debt / The execution of the Coicou brothers / The Luders affair / Anti-Syrian legislation / Choucoune / Bouqui's bath / Zoune at her Godmother's / The Haytian question / African Americans defend Haiti / On the Caribbean Confederation / IV Occupied Haiti (1915-1934). 1915 Treaty between the United States and Haiti / The Patriotic Union of Haiti protests the U.S. occupation / Memories of Corvée Labor and the Caco revolt / The crucifixion of Charlemagne Péralte / "My dear Charlemagne" / Dix années de lutte pour la liberté / Les simulacres / La Revue Indigène: The project / Souvenir d'Haïti / Veneer of modernization
  • V Second independence. Vincent and Trujillo ; Proud Haiti / Color prejudice / Migration to Cuba / Anti-superstition laws / An oral history of a massacre / Massacre river / On the 1937 massacre / Official communiqué on "Incidents" in the Dominican Republic / Vyewo / Nedjé / Dyakout / Estimé plays slot machine in casino / On The Voice of Women / On Women's emancipation / On the 1946 Revolution / VI The Duvalier years. O my country / General Sun, my brother / Flicker of an eyelid / The sad end of Jacques Stephen Alexis / The trade union movement / Speech by the "Leader of the Revolution" / The Haitian fighter / Atibon-Legba / The festival of the greasy pole / Dance on the volcano / Interview of Jean-Claude Duvalier: Duvalier's "liberal" agenda / On the Saut-d'Eau pilgrimage / Dreams of exile and novelistic intent / Dezafi / And the good Lord laughs / Letter to the Haitian refugee project / Immigration / Gender and politics in contemporary Haiti
  • VII Overthrow and aftermath of Duvalier. Jean-Claude Duvalier with a monkey's tail, 1986 / Four poems / Liberation theology / On the movement against Duvalier / Interview with a Young Market Woman / Nou vle / The Constitution of 1987 / Rara songs of political protest / Haitians march against an FDA ban on Haitian blood donations / The Peasants' movement / Aristide and the popular movement / My heart does not leap / On theology and politics / Street of lost footsteps / VIII Haiti in the new millennium. The agronomist / Poverty does not come from the sky / Pòtoprens / Political music from Bel Air / Strange story / Faults / Everything is moving around me / We are Wozo / Haïti pap peri / The cholera outbreak / On the politics of Haitian Creole / Stayle / To reestablish Haiti?

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