Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: November 20, 2020 at 1:40:42 PM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Haiti]: Bell on Le Glaunec, 'The Cry of Vertieres: > Liberation, Memory, and the Beginning of Haiti' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Jean-Pierre Le Glaunec. The Cry of Vertieres: Liberation, Memory, > and the Beginning of Haiti. Translated by Jonathan Kaplansky. > Montreal McGill-Queen's University Press, 2020. 256 pp. $29.95 > (cloth), ISBN 978-0-228-00140-9. > > Reviewed by Frances Bell (College of William & Mary) > Published on H-Haiti (November, 2020) > Commissioned by Chelsea Stieber > > In _The Cry of Vertières_, newly translated into English by Jonathan > Kaplansky, Jean-Pierre Le Glaunec examines the history and memory of > the Battle of Vertières, one of the most pivotal battles in the Age > of Revolutions that decided the Haitian War of Independence in > November 1803. Le Glaunec sets out to answer three questions: What > happened at Vertières? Why has it been forgotten in France? And how > has it been remembered in Haiti? In doing so, he makes two key > interventions. First, he argues that the French side was deeply > traumatized at Vertières, both by the loss of racial and colonial > power and by the "genocidal fantasies" that they proposed as a means > to reclaim the colony. As a result of this, French accounts silenced > and distorted the memory of the battle in ways that continue to > resonate in recent historiography on the War of Independence, whether > by minimizing the military skill of the Haitian troops, denying or > downplaying the genocidal tendencies of the French, or omitting > reference to the battle entirely. Second, Le Glaunec argues that > memory of Vertières was not deliberately silenced in Haiti. However, > it was overlooked until the late nineteenth century, when political > leaders began reemphasizing the battle to harness a sense of > patriotism, unity, courage, and sacrifice. Le Glaunec concludes that > while the memory of Vertières is "pervasive" in Haiti, it is > nonetheless "fragile," prone to invocation as a political ideal > rather than a historical event. > > Le Glaunec begins with a narrative overview of the Battle of > Vertières and the events leading up to it. In chapter 2, he > summarizes the course of the French and Haitian revolutions in > Saint-Domingue since 1789 before moving in chapter 3 to discuss the > events of the battle itself. In doing so, Le Glaunec draws on an > impressive range of sources to build an account that goes well beyond > the foundational (albeit unreliable) account by nineteenth-century > historian Thomas Madiou.[1] In particular, he emphasizes the radical > inversion of racial power that the battle exemplified for the French. > As the War of Independence drew to a close, it was clear that French > colonial power had collapsed. Indeed, Le Glaunec notes that many of > the hallmarks of French white supremacist "civilization" and > "rationality," such as the fortified army blockhouses and military > hospitals, had become the sites of some of their most abject > failures. In contrast, Le Glaunec portrays the Black Indigenous Army, > led by General Jean-Jacques Dessalines, as the true inheritors of the > rights to life, liberty, and equality that originally had their roots > in the French Revolution of 1789. > > In chapters 4-6, Le Glaunec examines how and why collective memory > of Vertières has been silenced in France. Beginning in 1803, he > argues, "discursive strategies were put in place aimed at hiding the > extent and the conditions of the retreat" (p. 59) in order to avoid > confronting the trauma that such conditions represented for the > French. Drawing on a wide range of nineteenth- and twentieth-century > dictionaries, monographs, teaching resources, and public broadcasts > as sources, Le Glaunec argues that when French scholars, journalists, > and politicians discussed the War of Independence, they either > omitted reference to Vertières altogether, or blamed the outcome on > disease, exhaustion, and British intervention, and not on the skill > of the Indigenous Army. Le Glaunec argues that such distortions have > continued in more recent historiography, pointing to work by scholars > including Henri Mézière, François Blancpain, and contributors to > Jean Tulard's _Dictionnaire Napoléon_, who have either misquoted the > dates of the battle, or attributed its outcome to British support for > the Indigenous Army.[2] Even more than avoiding the humiliation of > defeat, Le Glaunec argues, historians engaged in these distortions to > avoid confronting the "genocidal tendencies" of the French > expeditionary forces during the war. Le Glaunec critiques the current > historiography of French violence in Saint-Domingue for failing to > account for the development of these tendencies, and in particular > historians such as Thierry Lentz, Pierre Branda, and Philippe Girard, > who either deny the genocidal intentions of the French or ascribe > them to the Haitian leadership.[3] Instead, he argues (in chapter 6) > that the French developed such tendencies, clearly and gradually, > throughout the War of Independence, the extreme endpoint of a war > predicated on denying the humanity of the Black population. While the > atrocities committed by the French are often blamed chiefly on > Rochambeau, Le Glaunec's use of correspondence from Generals > Rochambeau and Leclerc, Rochambeau's chief of staff Pierre Thouvenot, > and French civilians of Cap-Français enables him to demonstrate that > genocide was not the fantasy of a "uniquely sadistic" individual, but > was in fact proposed as a French military strategy by multiple > military leaders, advisers, and civilians (p. 91). > > Chapters 7 and 8 trace the memory of Vertières in Haiti, where, > unlike France, it was not strategically forgotten. Today, Vertières > is a cultural touchstone: a symbol of unity and victory in the face > of adversity, celebrated on the anniversary of the battle, depicted > in works of art, and even used as an analogy in sports and politics. > Nevertheless, Le Glaunec shows this to be a relatively recent > development. Relying on newspapers, textbooks, and government > records, he argues that Vertières was overlooked in official > commemorations for much of the nineteenth century due to a lack of > Haitian history in schools, and the unwillingness of leaders such as > Alexandre Pétion and Henry Christophe to memorialize a battle so > tightly connected to the memory of Jean-Jacques Dessalines. > Vertières only began to be officially memorialized towards the end > of the century, fueled in part by a rise in nationalism and by > preparations for the centenary of independence. > > In the twentieth century, Le Glaunec finds state commemorations of > Vertières bound up with contemporary politics; both US-backed > President Louis Borno during the US occupation of Haiti, and his > post-occupation successor Sténio Vincent used the commemoration of > Vertières as a means to position themselves as patriotic Haitian > leaders. Le Glaunec argues that Vertières was finally elevated to > its current status under President Paul Magloire, during the 150th > anniversary of independence. In order to reinvent Haitian cultural > nationalism, Magloire funded large-scale events for the anniversary, > including public meetings, school programming, literary competitions, > and even a reenactment of the battle itself. Finally, it was used by > François Duvalier as a symbol of nationalist self-determination, in > order to strengthen his own regime: "Stripped of its historicity," > Vertières under Duvalier became "an ideal ... of which François > Duvalier was the sole guarantor" (pp. 132-33). > > In chapter 9, Le Glaunec explores the commemoration of Vertières in > Haiti today, visiting the key sites of Fort Picolet, Fossé Capois, > and Vertières itself. Ultimately, he concludes that while the memory > of Vertières is strong in Haiti, it remains fragile, "threatened > with oblivion" either through the "obliteration" of physical remains, > or by its invocation as a political symbol rather than a historical > event (p. 146). > > This is a clear and well-argued book that makes a significant > contribution to the field of Haitian studies, the history of memory, > and the cultural history of war. His tracing of the memorialization > of Vertières in Haiti, and its silencing in France, is clear and > methodical, bolstered by diverse sources including newspaper > articles, government records, textbooks, soccer chants, and works of > art. In particular, Le Glaunec's attention to detail when > reconstructing events at Vertières results in a rich, evocative > description of the battle itself, as well as the conditions in which > it took place. He is particularly effective when it comes to > describing the disastrous failures of French colonial power, making a > strong case for the extent of French trauma in the War of > Independence, which bolsters the second half of his argument as a > result. In chapters 4-6, which are perhaps the strongest sections of > the book, Le Glaunec makes a powerful case for critically examining > the genocidal impulses of the French during the war. His call for > further reflection on these "thoughts of annihilation" is a > productive and provocative one, which has the potential to generate > important new work on this topic. Since the text's original French > publication in 2004, scholars such as Marlene Daut and Julia Gaffield > have taken up this call, arguing for a serious reassessment of the > emphasis, in French and North Atlantic historiography on the Haitian > Revolution and independence, on the violence committed by Haitian > troops, and in particular on Dessalines's massacres of French > residents of Haiti in early 1804. This work, coupled with further > studies of French colonial violence and the early Haitian state, has > the power to reshape how we understand violence and power during the > Haitian Revolution.[4] Le Glaunec's clear, focused writing makes this > text readable for scholars and students alike. > > Despite the strengths of this text, there are some areas which > warrant critique. Le Glaunec occasionally overemphasizes the role of > French revolutionary ideology in Haitian revolutionary thought. The > French Revolution undoubtedly had a profound effect on the Haitian > Revolution, and Le Glaunec is careful to avoid stating that the > revolutionaries saw themselves as fighting for French ideals. > However, by identifying the origins of Vertières in a "transplanted > 'French' Revolution" (p. 19), he risks underplaying the importance of > non-French influences, such as those from Africa or developed within > the colony. Likewise, Le Glaunec's argument, based on his travels in > Haiti, that historical sites risk "obliteration" is not always fully > supported by his evidence. At Fort Picolet, for example, which is not > formally memorialized as a historic site, Le Glaunec describes the > fort as "uncared-for," rendering the memory of Vertières "fragile." > While the fort is physically fragile, however, his observation that > the fort is a focus for Vodou ceremonies honoring Ogou Feray, the > _lwa _of "blacksmithing and war," suggests that local Vodouisants do > indeed care for the site and associate it with a collective memory of > warfare (pp. 136-37). While such evidence does not undermine his > argument, it indicates that it could have been enriched by a more > nuanced approach. > > Relatively speaking, however, these are minor criticisms. Le Glaunec > has produced a thoughtful, rich, and provocative work of scholarship. > It represents an important contribution to the fields of Haitian > history and the history of memory alike. > > Notes > > [1]. As Le Glaunec notes in chapter 1, Thomas Madiou's description of > the battle, published in _Histoire d'Haïti_ in 1840, has been > extensively circulated and adapted in textbooks and academic works as > the primary source on the battle, partly due to the brilliance of > Madiou's writing, and partly due to the praise of other leading > scholars such as Beaubrun Ardouin, who accepted it as definitive, and > its acceptance by other leading scholars at the time. However, this > reliance on and reinterpretation of a single text has led to, in Le > Glaunec's words, "a maze of representations" of the battle of > Vertières, in which it has become difficult to separate fact from > fiction (p. 15). > > [2]. Henri Mézière, _Le general Leclerc (1772-1802) et l'expedition > de Saint-Domingue _(Paris: Taillandier, 1990); François Blancpain, > _La colonie fran__çaise de Saint-Domingue_ (Paris: Karthala, 2004); > and Jean Tulard, ed., _Dictionnaire Napoléon_, vol. 2 (Paris: > Fayard, 1999). In the latter, Le Glaunec singles out entries by > Admiral Dupont and Jean-Marcel Champion. > > [3]. Thierry Lentz and Pierre Branda, _Napoleon, l'esclavage et les > colonies _(Paris: Fayard, 2006); Philippe Girard, "Caribbean > Genocide: Racial War in Haiti, 1802-4," _Patterns of Prejudice_ 39, > no. 2 (2005): 138-61, and Girard, "French Atrocities during the > Haitian War of Independence," _Journal of Genocide Research _15, no. > 2 (May 2013): 133-49. > > [4]. Marlene Daut, "All the Devils Are Here: How the visual history > of the Haitian Revolution misrepresents Black suffering and death," > _Lapham's Quarterly _(October 14, 2020), > https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/all-devils-are-here; > Julia Gaffield, "Meet Haiti's founding father, whose black revolution > was too radical for Thomas Jefferson," _The Conversation _(August 30, > 2018), > https://theconversation.com/meet-haitis-founding-father-whose-black-revolution-was-too-radical-for-thomas-jefferson-101963. > > > > Citation: Frances Bell. Review of Le Glaunec, Jean-Pierre, _The Cry > of Vertieres: Liberation, Memory, and the Beginning of Haiti_. > H-Haiti, H-Net Reviews. November, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55919 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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