Stirring the Pot of Haitian History

Abstract

Stirring the Pot of Haitian History is an original translation of Ti difé boulé sou istoua Ayiti (1977), the first book written by Haitian anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot. Challenging understandings of Haitian history, Trouillot analyzes the pivotal role of self-emancipated revolutionaries in the Haitian Revolution and War of Independence (1791-1804), a generation of people who founded the modern Haitian state and advanced Haiti’s vibrant contemporary cultures. This book confronts the problems of self-serving politicians and the racial mythologizing of historical figures like Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Toussaint Louverture and André Rigaud. The author denounces corruption and racism as hereditary maladies received from the hyper-racist slave society of the French colony of Saint-Domingue. Trouillot also examines the socio-economic and political contradictions and inequalities of Saint-Domingue, traces the unravelling of the colony’s racist economic system after the revolts of 1791, and argues that Haitian Creole language and Haitian Vodou religion provided the bedrock cultural cohesion needed to fuel the resistance, revolt and warfare that led to Haitian independence on January 1, 1804. Trouillot blends Marxist criticism, deep readings in Haitian historiography, anthropological insights, and skilful handling of Haiti's rich oral traditions of storytelling, proverbs and wisdom sayings to provide a sharp and earthy account of Haitian social and political thought rooted in the style and culture of Haitian Creole speakers. Each chapter opens with a line of verse, song or a proverb that pulls readers into a historical oral performance. Haitian oral tradition from popular culture and Vodou religion mingle with explorations of complex social and political realities and historical hypotheses. Although the Haitian Creole majority language still plays second fiddle to French in government and education, Ti difé boulé sou istoua Ayiti is a major contribution in the effort to demonstrate the power of Haitian Creole scholarship. Stirring the Pot of Haitian History holds a preeminent place in the expanding canon of Haitian Creole and Caribbean literature, especially as it shows how historical problems continue to insinuate themselves within the contemporary moment.