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bougainvillea's review
4.0
The introduction annoyed me, as I knew it would. A few gems: "Haitians have lived and continue to function in a world saturated with tragedies so real that their imaginary has created a symbolic world as convincing as Greek mythology with its series of universal traumas and struggles." wtf? And of course, this assessment, combien reducteur: "two cultures have emerged through the evolution of Haiti's history: an urban and literate culture produced by the French-educated elite and an oral culture produced by the kreyol-speaking, mostly rural population." The writers also mention (p.34) that the use of Creole in literature was not considered acceptable until the "radical writers of the Indigeniste movement used it in their works." This is actually wrong. Most of the Indigeniste writers wrote solely in French. And I love that "in contemporary Haiti [...] a number of Creolists have become increasingly vocal in promoting the use of kreyol -- the language of 90 percent of the population -- in all literary texts." What does that even mean? Does all literature now have to be written in Creole? Contain a few words or expressions?
So, I'm hoping for greater things from the essays themselves, since some of my favorite critics have contributed to this volume.
Larrier's piece on the Haiti pavilion at the 1893 World Fair was fascinating.
Anglade's piece was definitely entertaining,and I truly appreciate the work he did in digging up so many "lost" short texts from the 19th century. Having said that, I feel like his analysis of the lodyans as a genre lacks rigor. I did not find it convincing.
Morquette's article left me feeling a little sad that he's a high school lit teacher and director. His take on Roumain's [b:Masters of the Dew (Cws|99052|Masters of the Dew (Cws (Series).)|Jacques Roumain|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171431156s/99052.jpg|95492]: "L’état de délabrement général de la localité entretenu par une atmosphère de haine, la mentalité superstitieuse des paysans fermes au progrès, ont nécessité un discours et une praxis qui enlèvent a l'oeuvre ce romantisme a l'eau de rose qui aurait du être son destin tout en l’entraînant, comme malgré elle, dans une logique de résolution des problèmes sociaux et économiques par des voies politiques [...]" Enfin.
I really enjoyed the inro to Coates' piece on Alexis' novels. The article itself is ok, but doesn't quite live up to the promise of the intro.
Coup de coeur for Max Dorsinville's piece on his uncle, Roger Dorsinville. It really made me want to read more of Dorsinville's stuff, especially since all I remember is Une Haitienne a New York.
Also gave me a course idea: Haitian authors writing about elsewhere, Dakar, Japan, Canada... there are more texts than people might think. From Janvier onwards.
L'entretien de Frantz-Antoine Leconte avec Rene Depestre est riche et incontounable pour ceux qui travaillent sur Depestre, but I'm skipping it since I've already read it a couple of times!
I skipped ahead and read Chancy's chapter. I still have a crush on her critical writing, but there's a lot I disagree with in this piece. She states for example that "Silence typifies the Haitian woman's experience, whatever her class, racial makeup, and occupation" (307). Um, just no. How can you go on to analyze women's experiences if you start off by denying them voice? The entire article makes Haitian women out to be silent, pathetic victims that we should feel sorry for and try to help. It's kind of gross (for lack of a better way to put it) and does not at all correspond to the Haitian women I know.
I was disappointed in Vitiello's article, although I don't have many problems with her literary analysis. It's the sweeping generalizations that bother me. According to her, "le seul fait de continuer a résider, écrire, et publier a partir d'Haiti relève de l'engagement" (174). Why? Is it not possible to conceive that people live in Haiti for reasons much more basic than always being engaged in some ideological or physical battle? Haitians are not all tragic heroes. I'm not sure about the idea of Lahens' primary public being foreign. I'll have to think on that one.
Mawkward's piece on Mimi Barthelemy and Adamson's interview with Metellus made me want to read those authors' works. I don't know either very well.
I enjoyed Glover's analysis of the Spiralist movement, but I felt like her characterizations of Inidgenisme were way too broad --Jacques Stephen Alexis, really? -- and often just wrong.
Jonassaint's interview with Franketienne was one of the most interesting I've come across.
I was glad to finally read N'Zengou-Tayo's article on the committed intellectual since it's cited so often, but I didn't find it convincing. Or, rather, I should say, I found it convincing when applied to Trouillot, but don't get how she can then expand the idea to include all or most contemporary Haitian writers.
Not sure I'm convinced by Essar's approach to Laferriere, but it's definitely interesting.
This is definitely a volume I need to keep around for reference, I think. Which means I need to buy it? It probably costs a fortune! Maybe I can convince the university library that we need it desperately. I like the idea of a short summary at the start of each article. Definitely a book I'd revisit.
So, I'm hoping for greater things from the essays themselves, since some of my favorite critics have contributed to this volume.
Larrier's piece on the Haiti pavilion at the 1893 World Fair was fascinating.
Anglade's piece was definitely entertaining,and I truly appreciate the work he did in digging up so many "lost" short texts from the 19th century. Having said that, I feel like his analysis of the lodyans as a genre lacks rigor. I did not find it convincing.
Morquette's article left me feeling a little sad that he's a high school lit teacher and director. His take on Roumain's [b:Masters of the Dew (Cws|99052|Masters of the Dew (Cws (Series).)|Jacques Roumain|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171431156s/99052.jpg|95492]: "L’état de délabrement général de la localité entretenu par une atmosphère de haine, la mentalité superstitieuse des paysans fermes au progrès, ont nécessité un discours et une praxis qui enlèvent a l'oeuvre ce romantisme a l'eau de rose qui aurait du être son destin tout en l’entraînant, comme malgré elle, dans une logique de résolution des problèmes sociaux et économiques par des voies politiques [...]" Enfin.
I really enjoyed the inro to Coates' piece on Alexis' novels. The article itself is ok, but doesn't quite live up to the promise of the intro.
Coup de coeur for Max Dorsinville's piece on his uncle, Roger Dorsinville. It really made me want to read more of Dorsinville's stuff, especially since all I remember is Une Haitienne a New York.
Also gave me a course idea: Haitian authors writing about elsewhere, Dakar, Japan, Canada... there are more texts than people might think. From Janvier onwards.
L'entretien de Frantz-Antoine Leconte avec Rene Depestre est riche et incontounable pour ceux qui travaillent sur Depestre, but I'm skipping it since I've already read it a couple of times!
I skipped ahead and read Chancy's chapter. I still have a crush on her critical writing, but there's a lot I disagree with in this piece. She states for example that "Silence typifies the Haitian woman's experience, whatever her class, racial makeup, and occupation" (307). Um, just no. How can you go on to analyze women's experiences if you start off by denying them voice? The entire article makes Haitian women out to be silent, pathetic victims that we should feel sorry for and try to help. It's kind of gross (for lack of a better way to put it) and does not at all correspond to the Haitian women I know.
I was disappointed in Vitiello's article, although I don't have many problems with her literary analysis. It's the sweeping generalizations that bother me. According to her, "le seul fait de continuer a résider, écrire, et publier a partir d'Haiti relève de l'engagement" (174). Why? Is it not possible to conceive that people live in Haiti for reasons much more basic than always being engaged in some ideological or physical battle? Haitians are not all tragic heroes. I'm not sure about the idea of Lahens' primary public being foreign. I'll have to think on that one.
Mawkward's piece on Mimi Barthelemy and Adamson's interview with Metellus made me want to read those authors' works. I don't know either very well.
I enjoyed Glover's analysis of the Spiralist movement, but I felt like her characterizations of Inidgenisme were way too broad --Jacques Stephen Alexis, really? -- and often just wrong.
Jonassaint's interview with Franketienne was one of the most interesting I've come across.
I was glad to finally read N'Zengou-Tayo's article on the committed intellectual since it's cited so often, but I didn't find it convincing. Or, rather, I should say, I found it convincing when applied to Trouillot, but don't get how she can then expand the idea to include all or most contemporary Haitian writers.
Not sure I'm convinced by Essar's approach to Laferriere, but it's definitely interesting.
This is definitely a volume I need to keep around for reference, I think. Which means I need to buy it? It probably costs a fortune! Maybe I can convince the university library that we need it desperately. I like the idea of a short summary at the start of each article. Definitely a book I'd revisit.