SSStttooonnnyyy BBBrrrooooookkk UUUnnniiivvveeerrrsssiiitttyyy The official electronic file of this thesis or dissertation is maintained by the University Libraries on behalf of The Graduate School at Stony Brook University. ©©© AAAllllll RRRiiiggghhhtttsss RRReeessseeerrrvvveeeddd bbbyyy AAAuuuttthhhooorrr... The Nexus Between Language and Identity in the Caribbean/Caribbean American Context A Dissertation Presented by Isabelle Airey to The Graduate School In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English Stony Brook University May 2008 Copyright by Isabelle Airey 2008 STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY The Graduate School Isabelle Airey We, the dissertation committee for the above candidate for the Doctor of Philosophy degree, hereby recommend acceptance of this dissertation Susan Schekel - Chair, Dissertation Committee Associate Professor, Department of English Helen Cooper - Dissertation Advisor Associate Professor, Department of English E. Anthony Hurley Associate Professor, Department of Africana Studies June Bobb Associate Professor, Department of English (Queens College CUNY) This dissertation is accepted by the Graduate School Lawrence Martin Dean of the Graduate School ii Abstract of Dissertation The Nexus Between Language and Identity in the Caribbean/Caribbean American Context by Isabelle Airey Doctor of Philosophy in English Stony Brook University 2008 This dissertation explores the crucial role of language as it pertains Caribbean/Caribbean American identity. In doing so, I present works produced in Haitian Creole by Haitian writers in Haiti and of the Diaspora as a new literary tradition for both the history of Haitian literature and American literature. I discuss confrontations between culture, nationality and language throughout this project questioning and redefining Haiti’s cultural and linguistic identity, and at the same time assessing how these confrontations present themselves within other Caribbean/Caribbean American experiences in literatures and memoirs. This study begins with the inspiration of this dissertation project, the theatrical work of my father, Nicolas Pierre-Rollin. Against the grain of Haiti’s socio-linguistic politics, he performed using mainly the language of the masses, Haitian Creole. Because of his proud determination to use the Creole language, I embraced it as a beautiful language that captured the essence of Haiti and its culture. This inspired me to bring to light, in this study, an overview of the history of Creole literature and Haitian Creole writers from Haiti and from the Diaspora who redefine Haitian intellectual accomplishments. This task is extremely important in dismantling Haiti’s past prejudice against Creole when French occupied a high social status and Haitian Creole occupied a low one. As a result of Haiti’s socio-linguistic situation, Haiti has been plagued by a cultural identity crisis. Though issues pertaining to Haitian Creole and its literature dominate the dissertation, it however, still presents issues of language influencing the Caribbean/Caribbean American identity in literatures written in English by writers from Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Trinidad and Grenada. Overall, the Haitian Creole works, the Caribbean/Caribbean American experience in literatures plus the interview with Jan Mapou, author/cofounder of the Haitian Creole Movement confirm how language constructs/reconstructs and signifies identity both within culture and also within “other” cultures. Providing personal support to my intellectual arguments, this dissertation ends with the testimony of my repression of Haitian identity to my acceptance of public Creole expression and my Haitian self. iii Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to, Adonai, the Father of my spirit. And to my earthly father for being the inspiration that fostered this body of work. To my mother, this is from me to you. To my husband Chrisner and my sons, Aaron and Amari, I love you. I dedicate this project to my heart for writing what my soul was crying out to celebrate: my Haitian heritage, Creole and my father’s accomplishments. Table of Contents Prologue…………………………………………………………….vi “The Comedic Plays of Alcibiade: The Creole Language and the People” Acknowledgments …………………………………………………xxxviii Intro…………………………………………………………………1 “Politics of Language: “Creole Under siege” Chapter 1……………………………………………………………21 “Severing the Historical Cord: Haiti Without France” Chapter2…………………………………………………………….42 “Haitian Creole Writers and A New Literary Tradition” Chapter 3……………………………………………………………103 “To Be Or Not to Be: Linguistic Conflicts in Caribbean Identities” Chapter 4…………………………………………………………… 129 Interview “Jan Mapou: The Love, Fight and Passion for Haitian Creole” Epilogue……………………………………………………………..137 “Reconciliation: (Re) Embracing My Haitianness ‘Snap-shots of a Haitian Childhood in Haiti and New York City’” Works Cited…………………………………………………………156 v PROLOGUE “The Comedic Plays of Alcibiade: The Creole Language and the People” C’est du théâtre populaire au niveau de la classe ouvrière. Le succès est dû à l’extaodinaire personnalité d’Alcibiade qui déchaine les rires de l’assistance toutes les fois ou il joue selonn son inspiration (c’est largement de la Commedia dell’arte) (Cornevin, 224) (It is popular drama for the working class. This is due to the extraordinary personality of Alicibiade who unleashes fits of laughter whenever he is performing under inspiration.) In the summer of 1975, the well-known Haitian comedian personality Alcibiade, whose birth name is Nicolas Pierre-Rollin, was reported to have been put under arrest under the orders of the Duvalier administration for a statement made during a theatrical comedy performance. The statement is as follows: “Lòt peyi ap devlope men Ayiti ap anvlope.”1 While this pun generated laughter from the Haitian mass and the Haitians of the Diaspora, it was also a criticism of the Haitian government being governed by Francois Duvalier’s son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, better known as ‘Baby Doc’. Under the Duvalier regime the arts and all broadcasting systems were not permitted to oppose or judge the government in any manner that the government had not approved. This story, which was told to me by a stranger in 1999, and the language in which he chooses to produce his art is what intrigued me to explore the theatrical work of Nicolas Pierre- Rollin as the character Alcibiade, who continues to have a major influence on the Haitian population in Haiti and the Diaspora. On April third 2002, I conducted an interview with Nicolas Pierre-Rollin and learned that the incident of his arrest never truly occurred. According to Pierre-Rollin, that story is nothing but a fairy tale. Why was it not cleared up in the summer of 1975? Why 1 Translation: Other countries are developing, but Haiti is being enveloped. In other words the country is in the process of underdevelopment. This pun means that Haiti is incapable of progressing. All translations are done by the author, unless otherwise stated. did the Haitian mass hold on to this political fib? The only explanation I could come up with was that the Haitian masses who were bruised under the Duvalier regime dreamed of a public figure who would tell the truth about their nation’s condition; a figure who would stand up and confront its leader; a figure who spoke to the masses and entertained them; a figure whom the masses loved. So was Alcibiade the voice of the people or was he positioned to be the voice of the people? Pierre-Rollin declares that through his art he is able to represent and confront unsettling problems of the Haitian mass in Haiti and the Diaspora while he connects with them through their language and comforts them through laughter, but he takes no part in politics, whether he was performing as Alcibiade or in his private life outside the theater or radio broadcasts. Although he affirms that he is an entertainer and not a politician, surfacing throughout the Alcibiade plays are deep cries for social and political reform in Haiti, which is visible through the wretched lives of some of the characters. I would argue that his plays are ‘unconscious’ political cries of and for the masses. For example, they tackle the economic devastation of the masses and the impact this devastation has on lower and lower middle class Haitians, which then results in immoral conduct (thieving, lying, adultery, promiscuity, and conning,) in seeking assistance in vodou religion, in longing for the United States or Canada, and/or in the prostitution of lives. For almost forty years the dramatic persona of Alcibiade remain in the lives and hearts of Haitians in Haiti and the Diaspora2. He has had more than five hundred theatrical pieces performed on radio and the stage. As of now, he is performing mainly on radio in Haiti. What keeps his work interesting to the public? His explanation is that he, on the one hand, stays out of politics, and on the other hand, he adjusts his subject to 2 The Diaspora are Haitians living in the United States, Canada or Europe. reflect/adapt to the changing culture. (Interview 2002) While Pierre-Rollin, makes it clear he stays out of politics, it is hard not to identify his plays as a reflection of the political, social and economic devastations and/or challenges Haitians in Haiti and the Diasopra face. This marker appears by his usage of the Créole langauge. Speaking the Créole language to publicly entertain was a political act in itself in Haiti during the nineteen- sixties, so the Haitian artists using the Creole language