Patriotism, humanism and modernity: Three European concepts as a basis for the investigation and affirmation of the Negro soul in francophone literature of Haiti from the nineteenth through the late twentieth century.

摘要

An analysis is presented of the concepts of patriotism, humanism and modernity and how they constituted the political means by which the first three governments of the newly evolving republic of Haiti, lead by Dessalines, Christophe and Petion, fashioned the thoughts of the Haitian intellectuals. Through publication of such works as, De l'egalite des races humaines, by Antenor Firmin, De la rehabilitation de la race noire par la Republique d'Haiti by Hannibal Price III, Le Systeme colonial devoile by Baron de Vastey, and Ainsi parla l'oracle by Jean Price-Mars, Haitian writers chastised the elite and politicians of Haiti and other countries, for neglecting the state's welfare, and for giving the rest of the world added fuel for the notion that the black race is inferior. However, it was through their literary efforts which embraced, romanticism, indigenism, negritude, surrealism, and marvelous-reality, whereby Haitian intellectuals would overcome racial alienation and persuade the world, and their own countrymen, that Haitians could and should have a voice in the concert of nations.;These literary efforts lead to the conclusion that where European patriotism was the path to democracy, Haitian patriotism was and is the path to a humane life founded on the rejection of racism which prevailed against colonized people of color in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Where European humanism is principally the art of living, speaking, and dying well, Haitian humanism is simply the path through the spoken or written word to the humanity of the colonized man. Where European modernity may produce a feeling of superiority of the younger generation over former ones, Haitian modernity has as its goal to re-establish the value of the black peoples' past and to defend and advance the black race.;The analysis concludes with a discussion of "creolity" as an emerging-world language which is shown to encompass the three concepts of patriotism, humanism and modernity. That is, to speak of one is to speak of the others, and that universality is precisely what should assure Haitian literature a place in the literary community of the Caribbean and the world.