This course will take literary representations of the Haitian revolution as the focal point of a broader inquiry into the dynamics of post-colonial Caribbean culture and the role of the revolution in shaping modern attitudes towards colonialism, race relations, multiculturalism, and indeed modernity itself. The shockwaves of the revolution continue to reverberate, both within Haiti and without. Sadly however, the major events marking the bicentennial of the revolution had to be held outside Haiti, which is still riven by deep social divides and still threatened by extreme poverty, corruption, and political violence. How are the political and economic injustices of the colonial period related to the political and economic injustices of the post-colonial period? How are the heroic efforts and noblest aspirations of the revolutionaries related to the ongoing struggles and aspirations of the Haitian people today? Beginning with a brief history of the revolution, the first half of the course will be devoted to intensive study of literary depictions of the revolution and its aftermath. The second half will explore the ways in which the mythology of the revolution lives on in the work of those who seek to understand the contradictions of postcolonial Haitian society and culture.

Readings will include documents from the revolutionary period (constitutions, correspondence), notable interpretations of the revolution (CLR James's Black Jacobins, Aimé Césaire's Tragédie du roi Christophe), some of the classics of Haitian literature (Jacques Roumain's Gouverneurs de la rosée, René Depestre's Le mât de cocagne), and, time permitting, recent contributions from and about the Haitian diaspora (Danticat, Walcott).