Refiguring Masculinity in Haitian Literature of Dictatorship, 1968-2010
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NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Dictating Manhood: Refiguring Masculinity in Haitian Literature of Dictatorship, 1968-2010 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS for the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Field of French and Francophone Studies By Ara Chi Jung EVANSTON, ILLINOIS March 2018 2 Abstract Dictating Manhood: Refiguring Masculinity in Haitian Literature of Dictatorship, 1968- 2010 explores the literary representations of masculinity under dictatorship. Through the works of Marie Vieux Chauvet, René Depestre, Frankétienne, Georges Castera, Kettly Mars and Dany Laferrière, my dissertation examines the effects of dictatorship on Haitian masculinity and assesses whether extreme oppression can be generative of alternative formulations of masculinity, especially with regard to power. For nearly thirty years, from 1957 to 1986, François and Jean-Claude Duvalier imposed a brutal totalitarian dictatorship that privileged tactics of fear, violence, and terror. Through their instrumentalization of terror and violence, the Duvaliers created a new hegemonic masculinity articulated through the nodes of power and domination. Moreover, Duvalierism developed and promoted a masculine identity which fueled itself through the exclusion and subordination of alternative masculinities, reflecting the autophagic reflex of the dictatorial machine which consumes its own resources in order to power itself. My dissertation probes the structure of Duvalierist masculinity and argues that dictatorial literature not only contests dominant discourses on masculinity, but offers a healing space in which to process the trauma of the dictatorship. 3 Acknowledgements There is a Korean proverb that says, “백지장도 맞들면 낫다.” It is better to lift together, even if it is just a blank sheet of paper. It means that it is always better to do something with the help of other people, even something as simple as lifting a single sheet of paper. By sharing the load, you not only ease the burden of work, but you create an experience. This is exactly what I had to learn in the process of writing this dissertation. It is not a solitary endeavor, it takes a community of scholars, friends, and family to bring the process to a successful conclusion. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped me lift this sheet of paper. I would like to thank my dissertation advisor, Doris Garraway, for her invaluable support and guidance. It has been an honor to be her student and her encouraging words and thoughtful feedback have made this whole experience memorable. She is my model for what a teacher, advisor and scholar should be. I would also like thank my committee members, Christopher Bush and Alessia Ricciardi, who have provided me with the tools to not only finish my dissertation but to become a better scholar. I will never forget the thoughtful discussions and the terrifying, but exciting, questions that came up over our meetings. Furthermore, I would like to extend my gratitude to the Department of French and Italian for continuing to support me and offer me ways to develop and improve my professional skills. I want to thank all the faculty and staff, on both sides, for the delightful conversations and helpful advice over the years. I would also like to acknowledge professors from other departments, who have encouraged me to explore unfamiliar territory. 4 In addition, I thank my friends and colleagues in academia for their wonderful collaboration and support. I would especially like to thank my best friend Joseph Derosier, my brother from another mother Brian Mcloughlin, my karaoke partner Colin Jackson, the best study partner Katia Gottin, the effortlessly cool Caitlyn Doyle, and the mysterious Thao Nguyen from the Department of French and Italian. They have been my lifeline and my community at Northwestern. I would like to include my comrades from the Interdisciplinary Writing Group, especially Rachel Taylor, and the Writing Center for helping me stay on task. I would also like to show my gratitude to my friends in the English Department, Raashi Rastogi and Mohwanah Fetus, who have brightened my life through lively conversations and infinite support. Furthermore, I extend my thanks to graduate student friends in the other departments that I have met over the years and who have helped me branch out beyond my own four walls. Lastly, I would like to thank my family for their love, encouragement, and straight talk. I want to thank my sister, especially, for helping me through every case of writer’s block, anxiety and uncertainty throughout graduate school, and throughout my entire life. I am grateful to my parents for supporting my decisions, good and bad, even when they did not understand them. More importantly, I want to thank my mother for showing me how to be brave. I must express my gratitude to the two canine loves of my life: Ddangkong, who taught me to love and Aldo, who slept on my foot for the entire writing process. Last, but not least, I want to thank my husband, Ciro, for so many things. Since, I cannot list them all here, I thank him for always loving me and always cheering me on. 5 Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 3 Contents .......................................................................................................................................... 5 Table of Images............................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 7 1. Homeland Security: Female Masculinity and Property in Amour and Colère ...................... 48 2. Violent Offenders: Masculinity and the Poetics of Violence in Frankétienne’s Ultravocal and Georges Castera’s Le Retour à l’arbre ................................................................................ 118 3. Poète Mystère Vaudou: Reclaiming Masculinity in René Depestre’s Le Mât de cocagne and Un Arc-en-ciel pour l’occident chrétien ..................................................................................... 172 4. Broken Down: Wounded Masculinity in Postdictatorial Haitian Literature by Dany Laferrière and Kettly Mars .......................................................................................................... 213 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 280 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 289 6 Table of Images FIGURE 1 A FACE, BERNARD WAH ................................................................................................................. 151 FIGURE 2 MIRÒ, JOAN. SELF-PORTRAIT I (1937) ............................................................................................. 152 FIGURE 3 “JE JOUE LE JE,” GEORGES CASTERA AND BERNARD WAH ................................................... 161 FIGURE 4 EXILE, BERNARD WAH ..................................................................................................................... 163 FIGURE 5 “J’INTERDIS AU SOLEIL…,” GEORGES CASTERA AND BERNARD WAH .............................. 168 7 Introduction The Duvalier dictatorship is undoubtedly one of the most horrific moments in modern Haitian history. Lasting nearly thirty years, from 1957 to 1986, François and his son, Jean- Claude Duvalier, established a totalitarian regime which privileged tactics of terror, fear and violence. This particular dictatorship left an inexpungible legacy which has continued to plague Haiti and Haitians, both inside and outside the nation, into the present. As a result, Haitian literature—insular and diasporic—has often engaged with the dictatorship in explicit and implicit ways. Literature is the space in which Haitian culture, society and politics have been defended and promulgated, but also redefined, contested and altered. It is within this context of oppression, constraint and terror that I examine the effects of dictatorship on masculinity through the works of Marie Vieux Chauvet, Frankétienne, Georges Castera, René Depestre, Kettly Mars and Dany Laferrière. For thirty years, and arguably more, the Haitian people were subjected to a merciless totalitarian1 regime which enforced its authority through extreme forms of violence and oppression. As Michel-Rolph Trouillot states, in Haiti: State Against Nation (1990), “Duvalierism distinguished itself by a new kind of state violence, one that systematically violated the codes governing the use of force by the state” (166 emphasis in original). Indeed, Duvalier changed the rules and traditionally protected groups such as women, children, the elderly, high- 1Michel-Rolph Trouillot argues that, “François Duvalier succeeded in providing what was, in Haitian terms, an unconventional response to the crisis: the transformation of the authoritarian political model of the past into a totalitarian apparatus” (17). Though some disagree with his assertion, I will consider Duvalierism as a practice in totalitarianism. See Haiti, State against Nation: The Origins and Legacy