Toussaint Louverture and Haiti’s History as Muse: Legacies of Colonial and Postcolonial Resistance in Francophone African and Caribbean Corpus by Aude Dieudé Department of Romance Studies Duke University Date: _______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Deborah Jenson, Co-Supervisor ___________________________ Achille Mbembe, Co-Supervisor ___________________________ Laurent Dubois ___________________________ Ian Baucom ___________________________ Ranjana Khanna Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Romance Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2013 ABSTRACT Toussaint Louverture and Haiti’s History as Muse: Legacies of Colonial and Postcolonial Resistance in Francophone African and Caribbean Corpus by Aude Dieudé Department of Romance Studies Duke University Date: _______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Deborah Jenson, Co-Supervisor ___________________________ Achille Mbembe, Co-Supervisor ___________________________ Laurent Dubois ___________________________ Ian Baucom ___________________________ Ranjana Khanna An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Romance Studies in the Graduate School of Duke University 2013 Copyright by Aude Dieudé 2013 Abstract This dissertation explores the themes of race and resistance in nineteenth-century Haitian writings and highlights their impact on French-speaking nineteenth- and twentieth-century African and Caribbean literature. This exploration spans across literary genres and centuries, and juxtaposes disciplines that are rarely put into dialogue with each other. Central to my approach is an interdisciplinary perspective that sheds light on the key interactions between colonial history, legal decrees, anthropology and engaged literature in nineteenth-century French and Francophone studies. And in charting the impact of these writings on the twentieth-century Francophone landscape, this project also addresses current debates in Caribbean, French and Haitian studies and contributes to the growing literature in black Atlantic and postcolonial studies. This research project begins by analyzing rhetorical representations of race and resistance in rare texts from Toussaint Louverture, Pompée-Valentin de Vastey and Juste Chanlatte, in particular with respect to their representations of the Haitian revolution (1791-1804), the only successful slave revolt in history to have resulted in the creation of a new state. By focusing on how Louverture, Vastey and Chanlatte responded to slavery, pseudo- scientific theories of racial difference, and the pernicious effects of the colonial system, it explores both the significance of the revolution’s literary representation and the extent of its impact on postcolonial imaginations in Haiti, and the rest of the Caribbean, Africa and France. In particular, I analyze the impact these texts had on subsequent African and Caribbean literature by Emeric Bergeaud, Joseph-Anténor Firmin, Marie Vieux- Chauvet, Aimé Césaire, Edouard Glissant, and Bernard Dadié. iv Dedication For my grandparents, Maria & Roger Niemann, along with my parents, Elisabeth Niemann & Jacques Dieudé, as well as my brother, Michel Dieudé, and last but not least for Amir Aazami v Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................................ iv Dedication ............................................................................................................................................. v Contents ............................................................................................................................................... vi Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One ......................................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter Two ...................................................................................................................................... 58 Chapter Three ................................................................................................................................. 108 Afterword ......................................................................................................................................... 144 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................... 152 Biography ......................................................................................................................................... 160 vi Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the inspiration, guidance and helpful support of all the persons mentioned in this section. I am pleased to take the time to thank everyone for making throughout these years both an academic and human significant difference in the unique experience and journey of pursuing a PhD in the United States. From my co-advisors, Drs. Deborah Jenson and Achille Mbembe, to my committee members, Drs. Laurent Dubois, Ian Baucom and Ranjana Khanna, along with many additional influential and significant professors, colleagues, guest speakers, friends and family members, all their names are present and ordered alphabetically. A sincere and warm thank you to Amir Aazami, Anastasia Batrachenko, Ian Baucom, Anne- Emmanuel Berger, Scott Brown, Nora Bynum, Viviane Callier, Pascale Casanova, Astride Charles, Géraldine Charles-Dominique, Thomas Cole, Dominique Combe, Aline Coudray, Anna Coudray, Jean-Michel Coudray, Michaeline Crichlow, Lesley Curtis, Marlene Daut, Ben Dillon, Jacques Dieudé, Michel Dieudé, Marilou Dieudé, Carla Dieudé, Diva Dhar, Laurent Dubois, Xavier Fontaine, Pierre-Philippe Fraiture, Samba Gadjigo, Elisa Gelfand, Heidi Scott Giusto, Leislie Godo-Solo, Brian Goldstone, Christelle Gonthier, Kristin Graves, Lise Guilhamon, Jean Waddimir Gustinvil, Michael Hardt, Brenna Heitzman, Deborah Jenson, John Johnston, Ranjana Khanna, Mary Ann Kong, Eloy La Brada, Sabine Lamour, Christine Leonard, Tristan Leperlier, Gaspard Louis, Wahneema Lubiano, Heidi Madden, Matthew’s Chocolates, Hervé Mayer, Achille Mbembe, Christopher L. Miller, Jane Moss, Sarga Moussa, Florent Moutti, Valentin Mudimbe, Sanam Nader-Esfahani, Pap Ndiaye, Peter Nyangweso, Elisabeth Niemann, Kathi Niemann, Maria Niemann, Roger Niemann, Sylvie Niemann, vii Jodie Nimerichter, Reginald Patterson, Jacques Pierre, Sylvain Pons, Julien Pourel, Madina Regnault, Ariane Revel, James Rives, Rebecka Rutledge Fisher, Adrianna Saada, Simar Singh, Ombeline de Saint Louvent, Mathieu Stenger, Lilian Thuram, Christopher Rivers, Pascal Sciabbarrasi, Solaiman Shokur, Donald Weber, Alison Woodman, Robert Wortham, and Laetitia Zecchini. This research has benefited immensely from the continuing and generous support from Duke University. I sincerely thank the Graduate School, the Romance Studies department, the Haiti Lab along with the Franklin Humanities Institute and the Women’s Studies department at Duke University. Spending an academic year in Paris at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris has been an eye opening and life changing experience. The Julian Price fellowship gave me the chance and the time to understand the pleasure of reading, conducting research, and writing a dissertation in English. Participating in conferences and workshops in Canada, France, the United States and South Africa contributed greatly in rearticulating and refining my arguments throughout the stage of the dissertation writing process. Articulating my thoughts in French for a book review, and in English for a book chapter were additional sources of intellectual inspiration. They contributed to offer stimulating platforms in order to write creatively in both English and French. Finally, organizing and participating in a symposium with my colleagues at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris with, among other guests, Daniel Maximin and Louis-Philippe Dalembert has been an exceptionally rich learning experience. viii Introduction To the real question, How does it feel to be a problem? I answer seldom a word (…) I remember well when the shadow swept across me (…) In a wee wooden schoolhouse, something put it into the boys’ and girls’ heads to buy gorgeous visiting-cards -ten cents a package- and exchange. The exchange was merry, till one girl, a tall newcomer, refused my card, -refused it peremptorily, with a glance. Then it dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others; or like, mayhap, in heart and life and longing, but shut out from their world by a vast veil. (W.E.B. Du Bois, 9) 1 This quotation struck me immediately the very first time I came across it, during the preparation of a research paper on Claire de Duras’ novel Ourika (1823). In a few lines, W.E.B. Du Bois captures the essence of racial, colonial and postcolonial problems and raises awareness on questions that Toussaint Louverture, Joseph-Anténor Firmin, and Aimé Césaire, among others, also addressed in their writings. Different authors, distinct times,