The Second Generation in Haiti (Part 2) (Lecture 1)

HAT3564: Haitian Culture and Society The Second Generation in Haiti (Part 2) (Lecture 1) All right. And welcome back to another lecture in Haitian culture and society. We are now entering Module 4. This is the first lecture. Of course, this derives from The Haiti Reader. And I would prefer if you could read that before the lecture begins, before you listen or watch it, either are perfectly acceptable. So this is, again, a continuation of The Second Generation in Haiti. You have the Module 4, Measurable Learning Objectives available on the home page of Module 4 in the Canvas website. Please take a look at that. So we're beginning to enter the period of Fabre Geffrard, who was Haitian President from 1859 until 1867. There you can see some portraits on the left, some coins on the right from his period of rule. So the first text in this part of the semester is President Geffrard protests the Spanish Annexation of the Dominican Republic. And so this is a text that he composed to express his unhappiness with the return of the colonial power of Spain on the eastern part of the island, and recall that the Haitians had once taken claim of that part of the island until the separation that we spoke about in terms of the movement led by Bobadilla. So the Spanish have arrived. And so Geffrard, the president at the time in 1859, expressed his concern. So Geffrard became president and reestablished republican rule on the island. When the textbook refers to republican rule, it is a reference to having a government with various branches, and kind of balancing of power a parliamentarian or a parliamentary type of political system, well, with a senate and a House of Representatives, and a presidency prior to Geffrard's restoration of his so-called republican rule. The island was led by Emperor Soulouque who was in power for nearly 10 years. It is quite telling that The Haiti Reader has more or less excluded any mention of Soulouque. So therefore, let me just mention that he is famous for his authoritarianism, but also for his recognition of Haitian Vodou, including the fact that his mother was a Vodou practitioner, and to remember her one story circulates about him sacrificing a goat over her grave. So feeding the ancestral dead with animal blood is an ancient Vodou tradition or practice. And so yeah, quite interesting that they didn't include him, right? The silence says as much as right words. So Geffrard's goals were to renegotiate recognition from the Vatican and the United States. Haiti did not have the official recognition from these countries, and getting it would be a boon for trade, but also for diplomatic relationships internationally, standing in the world, and other things that would help Haitian connectedness. And the document shows Geffrard opposition to the enslaver nation. Spain's attempt to re-occupy the Dominican Republic, right? Spain practiced slavery at the time that they attempted to re-occupy the Dominican. Geffrard urged a united front against the Spanish. He writes, "With what right does Spain today take possession of the East? Had the province not entirely ceased to be its colony, many years ago? Did it not in fact accept nearly a quarter of a century, voluntary incorporation of the Eastern Part of the Dominican Republic. And so here, he alludes to the fact that the Haitians occupied took control over the Eastern Part of the island. And they had incorporated it until the separation led by Bobadilla. He adds, "We have constantly declared that the entire island of Haiti will not comprise more than one State. And the two people have mixed." So they're affirming a deep bond between the East and the Western part of the island of Haiti. "The Haitian government will never consent but to their autonomy." OK. So the autonomy of the East is the only point that the Haitian government would be willing to accept. "You know that the Spanish flag authorizes and protects the enslavement of the sons of Africa. In Cuba and Puerto Rico, millions of our brothers and co-citizens groan, desperate, under the tyranny of a cruel master." OK. So you still have this profound emphasis on liberation on, ending slavery, and of course, why wouldn't the Haitians feel that way as slavery was still in practice in the United States in 1859, until of course 1865 in the Southern States, in the Confederacy. "So we will fight without truce or quarter," says Geffrard. "We will make it so that the Spanish banner waves only over our ashes and our cadavers." All right. So let's move now to the next text in this part of the Haiti reader, which is an excerpt from the novel, Stella, which is considered one of the first Haitian novels. As most texts in the 19th century, this was indeed written in French. The author was Emeric Bergeaud who lived between 1818 and 1858. And her Haitian intellectual politician and author of this first novel, so quite a claim to fame. It was published posthumously in 1859. So when we say posthumously, of course, it literally means after he was put in the ground. The story follows the fictional founders of Haiti named Romulus and Remus, after the founders of Rome in Virgil's the Aeneid. And so you have kind of a classicism here popping up in the first 19th century Haitian novel. Romulus and Remus are the sons of Marie the African. And Stella is their protector, kind of spiritual embodiment of liberty. And Stella aims to unite black and mixed race Haitians. Because also there you have one of the fundamental and abiding mottos and goals of the Haitian state is to maintain unity, and cohesion, and cooperation between mixed race and black Haitians. So the novel offers us some Haitian mystical symbols. So if to quote from it, "She had the palm tree uprooted and the camp taken down to its ramparts, for there were no more enemies." So there the palm tree, which is also seen in the design, the coat of arms of the Haitian flag. There is the symbol of liberty. And "a cannon saluted Apollo." So here, couching the story of Haitian nationalism within a European mystical model, one of the draws from European paganism from the religion of antiquity in Rome. Primarily and wisely because it very closely resembles the structure of Haitian Vodou. And so by comparing Haitian Vodou to Roman paganism, the author has or takes the opportunity to demonstrate its similarity, and it's a shared human origins, and in structure. The story also mentions the nation's altar, referring to the religious dimensions of the nation state. So Haiti is established. And that nation is remembered and celebrated through ritual and celebration around this altar. And at that altar, they made a solemn promise to live free or die. So this refrain of living free or dying returns again in so many texts. Christianity's persistent influence in Haiti is revealed in the text. To quote from Bergeaud, "Victory received the baptism of religion. It was now Christian, which is to say everlasting." So is a kind of Christianization of the myth of Hades origins as though now that Haitians were independent, they could become Christian. And that would somehow represent a greater degree of permanency. God denounces inequality. Haitians must hate oppression. And then there is-- so the indication of liberation theology that is quite intriguing because, of course, we associate liberation theology more with the work of people like Paulo Freire in the 20th century. Or even people like Jean-Bertrand Aristide was deeply inspired by liberation theology. So we have a kind of prototypical liberation theology here. To quote Stella, "I, Stella, am LIberty, Star of Nations!" And the revered virgin gave them her softest smile, and using her Angel's wings, took flight toward the heavens. So Stella is a nationalistic Haitian novel that blends classical, moral, Christian, and Haitian perspectives in its mythic depiction of Haitian history and identity. So while there is a kind of movement to affirming Christianity as a fundamental tradition within the nation, one also has to recognize that the figure of Stella exudes qualities that one might also associate with Vodou spirits. So in some respects, the story of the novel, Stella, tries to balance between these different traditions within Haitian culture. There you can see how this work has been presented in American based publishing, the one on the left here recently appeared at a US academic press. Right. So the final text that we're going to talk about in this portion of the lecture is Haiti and its visitors, and Le vieuz piquet by Joseph Janvier, OK, by Louis Joseph Janvier. All right. So the second part of this text will open up the second lecture. So this one is focused on Haiti and its visitors. So a generation of elite young Haitians who spent a significant amount of time living abroad, where they studied, worked in diplomatic roles, and engaged broadly with contemporary intellectual debates. So Louis Joseph Janvier is that intellectual, one who spent many, many years living outside of Haiti. And in the course of his residency in France, he found his voice to defend Haiti. He was encountering the challenges and addressing the challenges of establishing a state in the context of so much hostility. I recall the hostility that led up to the signing of the indemnity in 1825.

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