Romulus

Fernand Hibbert

Romulus, first published in 1908, is Haitian novelist Fernand Hibbert's fictionalized version of the 1883 siege of Miragoâne during the Salomon presidency. Recently translated into English for the first time by Matthew Robertshaw, the novella explores life in the Haitian port town before and after the unrest. As the translator's introduction elucidates, an appeal to discourse is one of the messages of the novel, written at a time of rapidly declining Haitian political stability. Using the politically turbulent period of Salomon's presidency (and the dangers of absolutism and corruption), Hibbert's novel subtly comments on the instability of Haiti in 1908, such as the lack of a Haitian middle-class or commerce class, for instance (often with a sense of humor, too, particularly in the first section of the book, which introduces Romulus, the town, and the pace of life). 

Furthermore, Romulus, the titular character, a police commissioner in Miragoâne, exploits his position for personal gain, as does the Commandant and local merchants, to smuggle goods custom-free through the port, thereby depriving Haiti of revenue. Romulus, and his children through two 'wives' or women, symbolize Haiti (black and mulatto are his wives), and his family, by extension the entire city of Miragoâne, represent a troubled country. However, when relatively free from Port-au-Prince and the 'Restorer,' Salomon, life in Miragoane appears idyllic and lively, because the author compares the town to a beautiful women, yet its corrupted, overtaken, and besieged as a result of the exiles returning from Jamaica, led by Boyer-Bazelais (whose death is fictionalized in this tale) and his Liberal principles. 

Of course, some of his supporters do not even understand the political reasons why they oppose Salomon (Romulus included), and Boyer-Bazelais is operating on the assumption that all the towns of Haiti will rise up in opposition to the tyrant Salomon, including Jacmel, the 'Iron Coast' and Jérémie, where the exile revolutionaries also landed. In short, the Bazelaists planned poorly, and Boyer-Bazelais himself is depicted as foolisly relying on Providence for his movement to succeed. Later, he comes to realize that the true beginnings of liberal government in Haiti will not manifest until a popular demand by the people themselves calls for it, which implies the growth of a middle class and Haitian economic development, which will force politicians and the military to recognize them. 

This in directly tied with the political philosophy of non-involvement, characterized by the Haitian elite Mr. Trévier, an exporter of coffee and logwood (also friend of Romulus and Merlin, a Haitian caught up in the intellectual and political fervor of Bazelaisism) who refuses to get involved in politics, preferring to engage in business and commerce to slowly and gradually support Haitian merchants and capitalists, thereby paving the path for a larger middle class-class (which is an idea recognized by Haitian intellectuals of the late 19th century and early 20th century as one of the reasons Haiti's political system was so turbulent and weak). Yet this path is not a solution to Haiti's woes because, as a result of the political instability and siege, the exile revolutionaries requisition some of his goods and all of his assets are lost in the fires and battles that consume the city. Even the military, the only "organized structure" of Haiti, to paraphrase Trévier, cannot ensure stability for business.

Thus, I read the novel as offering a reconciliation of sorts, between political idealism and revolutionary movements (which, unlike Bazelaism, actually reach out to the masses)  and economic self-determination. Oddly, the author of the text wrote this at at time when foreign economic penetration of Haiti was so completely entrenched, one has no idea how such a goal would be achievable in the early 20th century, and a more radical approach of empowering the peasantry directly is certainly not explored in this text. 

As for the structure of the novel, it makes quite the rapid transition from its early chapters, which focus on Romulus and introduce the town, and then the several chapters on the battles, bombardments, or casualties of the conflict. Including numerous historical figures, Hibbert has an annoying penchant in this novel for long lists of influential exiles and locals who joined the revolutionary movement. I am not sure why he does this, but the translator retains it. Perhaps it is to show how elite-dominated the movement was, thereby limiting its success? I am also perplexed by Hibbert's choice of title, and the brief allusion to Cinette, who dies suddenly. Unless her death is an ominous sign of the forthcoming revolutionary movement, it is out of place.

Regardless, the novel is an interesting exploration of Haiti's political discord with a focus outside of Port-au-Prince. Even at a time when Haiti's export economy is portrayed as healthy, conflict over political office, the spoils of corruption, etc. ruin the chance to develop the economy. Moreover, as a novel first published in 1908, Hibbert succeeds in painting a portrait of provincial town life, with negative as well as positive attributes. Romulus, his large family (which is related to everyone in  Miragoâne by blood or godparents), the influence of the Catholic Church, political favoritism or corruption, as well as the strict class divide reveal an important era in Haitian history, one in which the US Occupation swiftly followed years of Haitian political fratricide. 

Favorite Quotes

"In those days,  Miragoâne was a prosperous and lively town."

"Romulus's defining characteristic consisted in this: he preferred high society. He was perfectly willing to commit himself against a man from the country, no matter how honest, if the man was in a dispute with a notable from the city--in this way Romulus was the most abject of scoundrels."

"Oh! That Romulus, he knew how to sway a person with his political rhetoric. He'd speak of generosity while at the same time working for his own good at the expense of the public. He was quite a modern man."

"Since Dessalines, people had kept trying to restore this poor country, a country that only wanted one thing: to be left in peace."

Massacre River

"Pedro takes heart, convinced that a deep human fervor can unite the people of the low land with those of the highland, just as the poetic areitos of the Golden Flower, the woman of the West, were carried in the quiver of the Cacique of the Cibao, the man of the East."

Massacre River, René Philoctète's novel on the 1937 Parsley Massacre along the Dominican-Haitian border, translated by Linda Coverdale, is an excellent example of the literary Spiralism movement, of which Philoctète helped pioneer. Although most of his writings consisted of poetry, this novel is full of poetic prose that personifies a Dominican guagua, fictionalizes Trujillo's motives as an impossible dream of conquering the Citadel, lists the sounds, colors, and physical attributes of the world to show a fully-fleshed frontier where Dominicans and Haitians lived cooperatively. Using the metaphorical couple of Haitian Adele and Dominican Pedro, who live in Elías Piña, a border town forever shattered by the massacre ordered by Trujillo, the author demonstrates how Haitians and Dominicans lived peacefully, exchanged goods, and, through numerous other residents, even shared land, family, and other resources. Racial and cultural distinctions, though present, were never enough to completely separate neighbors. 

The novel also satirizes Trujillo's myth of Dominican nationality, his attempt to 'whiten' the population, and the creation of the indio identity despite the obvious African ancestry of the Dominican population. Government propaganda, radio broadcasts, and Trujillo's supreme authority allow him to get away with this, just as the shadow of World War II, fasciscm, and US imperialism lingers in the background (the baseball game in Chicago is broadcast on the radio as the Massacre occurs, and Trujillo is likened to Hitler and Mussolini). Trujillo's crackdown on labor is also explored, since Pedro is a union organizer who seeks to combat the massacre and maintain the social cohesion that characterized the frontier before 1937. Thus, Trujillo's dictatorship is depicted as monstrous and a threat to Dominicans and Haitians alike, while the Haitian government profits off the misery of Haitians in Haiti and across the border (the non-response from Vincent's government is horrifically ridiculed by Philoctète, as Haitian officials in the capital party and gorge themselves while Haitians flee for their lives in the Dominican Republic. 

Philoctète accomplishes all of the above in a loosely structured story that, like a 'spiral,' moves back and forth in narration, plot, and characters. Hints of magical realism, foreshadowing, symbolism, madness, and moving, decapitated heads permeate the novel which heighten the dark themes of the novel, which is just as critical of Trujillo as it is of Vincent. Consequently, this is a difficult novel, but one which is full of promise, memory, and hope for a more harmonious Hispaniola. 

Favorite Quotes

"We acknowledge that we were a single people: the people of the island of Haiti."

"The Citadel fled further and further from Trujillo's dreams. But although the phantasm was frightened, the myth was holding its own. 

"There's no need for any more bulletins from the authorities. The whole affair is a done deal. The people have been told enough. The League of Nations will make a fuss, that's understandable, but after a few diplomatic formalities that haven't changed since Cyrus the Great; it will all be forgotten." 

"That every Haitian has a drum in his belly? Every Puerto Rican a fountain in his laughter? Every Cuban a sunbeam in his throat? Every Jamaican rum in his eyes? Every Dominican a heaven between his legs?

"For each Haitian decapitation at the border, a draught of Haitian blood at the masked ball, Field of Mars, Square of Heroes."

"Port-au-Prince didn't bother with ways or means of routine protocol. Or even bluffing, grandstanding, putting up a front. Port-au-Prince didn't go in for hypocrisy, swaggering, righteous wrath, curses, sanctimony, gloating: it was all the same to them, business as usual. An invoice, a bill."

"They have so many things in common, share so many similar wounds and joys that trying to distinguish between the two peoples violates their tacit understanding to live as one."

The Infamous Rosalie

"Only our gestures of revolt truly belong to us."

Trouillot's The Infamous Rosalie stands out as being one of the few works of Haitian literature to explore the experience of women in colonial slavery. Partly inspired by the true story of an Arada midwife who killed 70 infants to prevent them from becoming slaves, Trouillot's novel focuses on Lisette and the family of women who survived the horrors of the Middle Passage and slavery to care for her in the north of Saint Domingue in the mid-18th century. Drawing from history and her own imagination, the novel predicts Haiti, uses the Makandal-inspired poison hysteria, the Maroons, and the social structure of Saint Domingue to craft a believable and lyrical novel. Reclaiming the role of women in Saint Domingue as possessing agency in the face of unspeakable brutality is an impressive feat, and will, in time, be followed by future novels exploring women and slavery in Haitian history.