A History of Haitian Literature

This is the first comprehensive history of Haitian literature published in the English language. It offers crucial insights into the aesthetic, political, cultural, linguistic, and historical frameworks necessary to comprehend Haiti's vast literary history, both as a part of the Caribbean archipelago, and as a distinctly sovereign nation.

From nineteenth-century antislavery pamphleteering to accounts of ecological catastrophe in twenty-first-century fiction, Haitian literature has resounded across the globe since the nation's revolutionaries declared independence in 1804. Starting with pre-revolutionary writing, including the emergence of Haitian Creole letters, extending to the long, largely francophone nineteenth century, and concluding with present-day Haitian writing in the English language, A History of Haitian Literature presents the political, cultural, and historical frameworks necessary to comprehend Haiti's vast literary output. Whether writing in Haiti or its wide-ranging diasporas, Haitian authors have boldly contributed to pressing conversations in global letters while reflecting Haiti's unique cultural and historical experiences. Considering an expansive array of poets, playwrights, and novelists – such as Baron de Vastey, Juste Chanlatte, Demesvar Delorme, Edwidge Danticat, René Depestre, Kettly Mars, Dany Laferrière, and Évelyne Trouillot – the contributors to this volume offer a fresh examination of a richly polyglot, transnational literary tradition that spans more than two centuries.