Haitian History

1
Haitian History

• Dec. 1492 Columbus discovers Haiti (the island
  of Hispaniola)
• ca. 1600 Native Carib population (Taino-Arawak
  Indians) virtually wiped out. African slaves
  begin to arrive in increasing numbers.
• 1600s Rise of British, French, and Dutch
  activity in Caribbean.
• 1697 The Spaniards cede the western third of
  Hispaniola to the French crown at the Treaty of
  Ryswick. Haiti is now called "Saint Domingue."

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Haitian History 2

• 1697-1791 Saint Domingue becomes the richest
  colony in the world. Its capital, Cap Francis, is
  known as the Paris of the New World.
• August 1791 The first major black rebellion
  takes place. This begins the markings of civil
  war between the black dominated north and the
  mulatto dominated south.
• 1796 Toussaint L'Ouverture emerges as the leader
  of the former slaves in the north. He restored
  order, ended the massacres, and restored some of
  Saint Domingue's former prosperity.

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Haitian History 3

• January 1804 Jean-Jacques Dessalines proclaimed
  the independent black Republic of Haiti in the
  northern half of the island (the first
  independent country of former slaves in the
  world). The name of the new country, "Haiti,"
  is the name that had been given to the land by
  the former Taino-Arawak peoples, meaning
  "mountainous country."
• 1843 to 1915 Haiti sees 22 heads of state, most
  of whom leave office by violent means. Rivalry
  continues among the whites, the mulatto elite,
  and the blacks.

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Haitian History 4

• 1915 President Guillaume Sam is dismembered and
  the Americans invade the country. They remain for
  19 years.
• 1934 The Americans leave Haiti, which is now
  prospering once again.
• 1937 Thousands of Haitians living on border of
  the Dominican Republic are massacred by General
  Trujillo's soldiers. (background to The Farming
  of Bones)
• 1957 Francois Duvalier (Papa Doc) was elected
  president, terrorized the country, rooting out
  any and all opponents to his administration and
  ensured

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Haitian History 5

• his power through his private militia, the
  tontons macoutes (which means in kreyol, "uncle
  boogeyman").
• 1964 Duvalier changes the constitution so that
  he can be elected president for life.
• 1971 Duvalier dies and is succeeded by his son
  Jean-Claude, age 19 (also known as 'Baby Doc').
  By this time Haiti is the poorest country in the
  western hemisphere (and remains so to this day).
• 1972 Haitian "boat people" begin to flee to US.
  

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Edwidge Danticat--Biographical Sketch

• born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti January 19, 1969,
  under the dictatorship of Duvalier.
• raised by her uncle and aunt (parents in New
  York)--moved to America at 12--remained silent
  for most of her teens-- I sought solace in
  books, read a lot, and kept journals written in
  fragmented Creole, French, and English."

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Edwidge Danticat--Biographical Sketch 2

• wrote her first short story at 9 (about a girl
  who was visited by a clan of women each night)
• 1990--undergraduate degree in French from Barnard
  College.
• wrote Breath, Eyes, Memory as her MFA thesis at
  Brown University
• 1995--Pushcart Short Story Prize
• List of Works
• Breath, Eyes, Memory (1994)
• Krik? Krak! (1995)
• The Farming of Bones (1998)

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Danticat on Literature and Writing

• Literature is a society mirror. I think that
  empathy is necessary for our common surviving.
  Literature teaches us to step into the other.
  Literature doesnt only teach the secrets of our
  hearts, but of the others hearts as well.
• For me, writing has always been about bearing
  witness and trying to understand who you are and
  your writing context in the world. Being a child
  of migrants I think my life was always a kind of
  search and writing is a way for me to interpret
  that search.

9
Haitian Creole

• a mixture of French, Spanish, African, and
  English called Creole, or "Kreyol--Danticat was
  taught French in school, but spoke Haitian Creole
  at home. Creole was her first and primary
  language English is her third language.
• her writings as attempts to represent the cadence
  of a recent speaker of English getting to the
  point, listing important events, incorporating
  less literary color.

10
Krik? Krak!

• a finalist for the National Book Award in 1995.
• Krik? Krak! represents the call and response of
  after-supper storytelling krik? is the call
  asking if anyone has a story to tell, and krak!
  is the reply. --usually what follows the formula
  are light stories, jokes, riddles
• using her autobiographical experiences in
  Haiti--"to raise the voice of a lot of people
  that I knew growing up, and this was, for the
  most part, . . . poor people who had
  extraordinary dreams but also very amazing
  obstacles"
• translated into Kreyol for Haitian radio
  broadcast.

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Children of the Sea

• What is special about the narrative form?
• the two narrative voices--the man and the girl
  letters that can never be sent
• Identify some of symbols, or possible symbols, of
  the story.
• Butterflies (5, 25, 28-29) children of the sea
• Who are the children of the sea"?
• the comparison of the escape to Miami to the
  experience of the middle passage--going to
  bathroom on the boat (15) the young man has to
  throw his notebook overboard (27-28)

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Children of the Sea 2

• Who is identified by name in the story? Who is
  not, and why?
• Madan Roger Celianne Lionel Swiss Justin
  Moise Andre Nozius Joseph Frank Osnac Maxilmilen
• How do people react to tragedy, calamity, and
  brutality in the story?
• powerless (17) escape fight
• What do you think about the ending of the story?
  What are the attitudes toward the future? Do
  they have hope?