Tropical Apocalypse: Haiti and the Caribbean End Times

240 Pages·2015·1.37 MB·English

by  Martin Munro

Tropical Apocalypse
New World Studies
J. Michael Dash, Editor
Frank Moya Pons and
Sandra Pouchet Paquet,
Associate Editors
Tropical Apocalypse
Haiti and the Caribbean End Times
Martin Munro
University of Virginia Press

Charlottesville and London
University of Virginia Press
© 2015 by the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
First published 2015
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Munro, Martin
Tropical apocalypse : Haiti and the Caribbean end times / Martin Munro.
pages cm. — (New world studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8139-3819-6 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8139-3820-2 (pbk. :
alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8139-3821-9 (e-book)
1. Haitian literature —20th century—History and criticism. 2. Haiti—In literature.
3. Apocalypse in literature. 4. Apocalypse in motion pictures. 5. Haiti—Social
conditions. 6. Religion—Haiti. 7. Psychic trauma— Caribbean Area. 8. Literature
and history— Caribbean Area. I. Title. II. Title: Haiti and the Caribbean end times.
PQ3940.M863 2015
840.997294 — dc23
2015007794
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1 The Duvaliers and Apocalyptic Memory 35
2 Utopian Ends: Aristide and the Apocalypse 79
3 The Chimères and the Haitian Antihero 113
4 Religion, Nature, and the Apocalypse 133
Conclusion 185
Notes 201
Bibliography 209
Index 219

Acknowledgments
I am very grateful to Cathie Brettschneider and everyone at
the University of Virginia Press for their support and professionalism.
I have benefited greatly over the years from the guidance and example of
Celia Britton and Michael Dash. Thanks and love as always to Cheralyn,
Conor, and Owen. Sections of the book have been published as the follow-
ing articles: “The Apocalyptic Creole, from Dessalines to the Chimères,”
Diaspora: A Journal of International Affairs 17.1 (Spring 2008 [ 2013]):
105–20; “Exile, Return, and Mourning in Cahier d’un retour au pays
natal and L’Énigme du retour,” Irish Journal of French Studies (2013):
87–109. My thanks to the editors of those journals for allowing me to
reproduce the work here. Also, grateful thanks to Peter Doig for the use
of his work on the book’s cover.

Tropical Apocalypse