Tell me about your first book, The Comedians by Graham Greene.
I have chosen this book because it is set in what is probably the third most traumatic period in Haitian history. the first was the extermination of the tainos—who were the original inhabitants of haiti—after the landing of christopher columbus in 1492. the second traumatic moment was the haitian revolution between 1793 and 1804 and the third was the period of the duvalier dictatorships and the papa doc government from 1957 to 1971, followed by his son baby doc until 1986.
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This novel is set in the early 1960s, in the early days of Papa Doc’s reign. Although I did not witness this regime, this book is considered by many to capture extremely well the atmosphere in Haiti in those days when the Toton Macoutes tightly controlled the country and brutally extinguished any attempt to change the political status quo.
With the help of the secret police?
absolutely, and that was the way papa doc controlled the country, because he couldn’t trust the military that was traditionally controlled by the small mulatto elite. he had won the elections because he really came to power on the wave of the black majority saying that we must stop being subjugated by that elite.
graham greene is very good at telling the story that reflects the small insurrections that have happened a few times in haiti, mainly led by mulatto officers. They are then joined by the book’s main “comedian”, mr. jones, who is traveling on the boat with mr. brown, who is the first-person narrator, and [US] presidential candidate smith.
The book is also very good at capturing Haiti’s role for the American government at the time. papa doc is seen as a bulwark against communism and rebels who try to rescue their country from this dictatorship are labeled as communists.
and there is a very famous hotel there that is meant to be based on the real life oloffson hotel.
yes, in the book the oloffson is called hotel trianon, which is now run by richard morse, who is also the leader of the haitian gang racine ram. it is still in operation and survived the earthquake on jan 12, 2010. it is a wonderful hotel i have stayed in and is a must see for any visitor to haiti with its wonderful gingerbread architecture.
richard could try to keep it better since it’s such an important part of haiti’s history, but he’d probably argue that it survived the earthquake precisely because it’s so run down! It is a place that is so intertwined with the history of Haiti. It used to be the home of President Guillaume Sam, who was dragged from his residence just before the US invasion in 1915 and hacked to death in public. that generated a lot of negative publicity and gave us uu. more reason to say they needed to restore order in haiti, the real reason was they didn’t want the germans there.
your next book is libète, an anthology compiled and edited by charles arthur and michael dash.
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This book is a deeper introduction to Haiti. It really gives you an entry into any number of facets of Haitian life because it’s actually a compilation of about 180 excerpts about Haiti, many written by Haitians. to give you a real insight into the history, politics, religion, social life and culture of Haiti. Charles Arthur and Michael Dash are two experts on Haiti who wrote a very good introduction to each chapter, which together would make a worthy book in its own right.
also has excellent bibliographical information for people who want to know more about topics such as voodoo or the real reasons for poverty in haiti. Little-known historical facts are illuminated, for example, the efforts of the British to seize the French colony during the revolution. Many people in the UK have no idea that most of the 20,000 British soldiers died in one of the most disastrous military expeditions in Britain’s colonial history. most of them were killed by yellow fever, true, but the whole story of the Haitian slave army is a remarkable part of history.
so this is really a great introduction to different aspects of haiti. for example, the decline of the peasant economy and environmental degradation are explained very clearly in chapter three. This follows logically in the next chapter which exposes the problems of slum life and the underpaid assembly sector, all of which give a very good analysis of why Haiti is as poor economically as it is. however, the book also describes the richness of their culture, which is quite different from other Caribbean islands.
what about your next book, c l r james’s the black jacobins, which I think you consider the most important on your list?
That’s right at the top of my list because many Haiti watchers see it as the best account of the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1803. It focuses a lot on Toussaint Louverture as a key leader in the revolution. his life and his leadership are as much an issue as the revolution itself. Toussaint is credited with uniting the revolutionary forces against the French presence. I think it’s a must read for anyone involved with Haiti on a political level. it’s also useful for anyone else involved in the country.
The book really highlights the incredible achievement of the Haitian nation, namely being the only slave revolution that led to the elimination of slavery and independence through armed struggle. I believe that much of Haiti’s current socio-economic political problems can only be understood in light of French slavery and the way Haitian slaves ended it.
what kind of legacy has that left them?
well, you had the small mulatto elite that was the result of colonialism, being in the ideal position to lead when the French were expelled or killed by dessalines. So, at the beginning, there was a division in which there was a mulatto republic of the south led by the rich Alexandre Pétion and the kingdom of the north led by the black Henry Christophe.
and after that division was overcome, the mulattoes dominated, thanks to their French upbringing, and unfortunately established a regimen that wasn’t all that different from what the French had before, although slavery was, of course, formally abolished. Mulatto domination lasted until the days of Papa Doc and this tragic split was the result of slavery. the objective of the mulattoes in the revolution was to continue with their lifestyle, because they also had slaves and were beneficiaries of the slave system. all of this is discussed in fascinating detail in the book.
You should also remember that James wrote the book just as the Nazis were at the height of their power and there is quite an understandable emotion involved, so one should read some of the passages in the book in light of James’s strong Communist leanings. james.
tell me about ian thomson’s bonjour blanc.
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this is one of the best travel articles i have found on haiti. i met ian thomson and was very impressed that, although he had not been to haiti before writing this book, he managed to capture and observe so many facets of haitian life. he is an excellent observer and, like many of us so-called haiti experts, he went to the country and fell in love with the people above all else. he is a great people watcher. he captures all social strata of Haitian society and is also very interested in all religious aspects of life. he describes well how voodoo has been treated by the outside world and by millions of missionaries in all its variety, from Catholics to Mormons.
I think it really opens up this extremely complex society in a very vivid and entertaining way. True, it focuses disproportionately on the eccentricities of Haiti, but there are a surprising number of eccentrics to be found there.
So, what is the attraction of the Haitian people for all experts?
in my opinion it stems from the fact that haiti has had the only successful slave revolution in history and is therefore quite different from the other caribbean countries that were eventually granted their independence in the twentieth century. Former slaves weren’t even allowed to trade internationally for over 25 years until they agreed to pay huge indemnities to the French in 1827, for which they actually had to pay their former “masters” for the loss of “ownership” of the latter. against such odds it created a great sense of pride and independence that led to a different culture, which is easily recognizable, for example, in the distinct art and music scene. and when you go to haiti you can’t help but be impressed by the dignity and perseverance of its people despite their poverty. That was my first impression, which was overwhelming and I immediately fell in love with the place.
what about your latest book, the uses of haiti by paul farmer?
I’m a big fan of paul farmer. i think he is among the top ten foreigners in haiti to make a positive and practical contribution there. His health charity partners have saved the lives of countless Haitians and are now doing the same in other developing countries. the model has really caught on and this is the idea of a community-based health service that takes people seriously and treats them holistically and believes that people can take care of their health in their own right.
That is his career and, as he says in the book, he was reluctant to write a political book but he is very well placed for all the time he has spent in the country. so this book was written during the 1991-1994 coup, which was the last military coup, after that the military withdrew (except the army band!). The book focuses on the role of the international community in Haiti, and especially that of the United States.
“many people who live in the us. uu. He has no idea of the effect his foreign policy has on countries like Haiti.”
examines the US occupation from 1915 to 1934, during which Haitian uprisings were brutally suppressed. He cites an example in which a Haitian worker in a forced labor gang created by US forces was killed in cold blood when one of the guards considered him lazy. During that period, the United States restructured the Haitian military to make it an oppressive tool for its foreign policy goals in Haiti for decades to come, and that only ended with President Aristide’s removal from office in 1995 (who was also ousted). by trained officers). by the united states army, in the famous ‘school of the americas’ of fort benson).
The criticism that can be made of the book is that it may exaggerate the influence of the united states in the misfortunes of haiti, and does not take into account indigenous factors, but most people would agree that the greater part is factually accurate and leaves little doubt. about what usually happens if you have the misfortune to live in the backyard of a superpower. And that’s why I chose this book, because many people who live in the United States don’t have the first idea of the effect their foreign policy has on countries like Haiti.
A key example is the US rice export to Haiti, which is highly subsidized, and the Haitian government has been forced by the IMF [in which the US plays a major role] to abolish its export tariffs. importation of rice and many other products so that Haitian farmers cannot compete. This caused many of them to abandon farming and move to the slums of Port-au-Prince in search of work. so it could be argued that in this way US foreign policy contributed to the increased death toll in the recent earthquake. if more people had been able to stay in the countryside, the city would not be so overcrowded and with so many unsafe buildings under construction. In conclusion, I would say that the farmer’s book is probably the most compelling analysis of us foreign policy. uu. about Haiti from the recipients’ perspective.
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