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The Haitian Revolution has generated responses from commentators in fields ranging from philosophy to historiography to twentieth-century literary and artistic studies. But what about the written work produced at the time, by Haitians? This book is the first to present an account of a specifically Haitian literary tradition in the Revolutionary era. Beyond the Slave Narrative shows the emergence of two strands of textual innovation, both evolving from the new revolutionary consciousness: the remarkable political texts produced by Haitian revolutionary leaders Toussaint Louverture and Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and popular Creole poetry from anonymous courtesans in Saint-Domingue's libertine culture. These textual forms, though they differ from each other, both demonstrate the increasing cultural autonomy and literary voice of non-white populations in the colony at the time of revolution. Unschooled generals and courtesans, long presented as voiceless, are at last revealed to be legitimate speakers and authors.These Haitian French and Creole texts have been neglected as a foundation of Afro-diasporic literature by former slaves in the Atlantic world for two reasons: because they do not fit the generic criteria of the slave narrative (which is rooted in the autobiographical experience of enslavement); and because they are mediated texts, relayed to the print-cultural Atlantic domain not by the speakers themselves, but by secretaries or refugee colonists. These texts challenge how we think about authorial voice, writing, print culture, and cultural autonomy in the context of the formerly enslaved, and demand that we reassess our historical understanding of the Haitian Independence and its relationship to an international world of contemporary readers.

Haitian poetry (French Creole) --- Creole poetry, Haitian French --- French Creole poetry, Haitian --- Haitian French Creole poetry --- Haitian literature (French Creole) --- History and criticism. --- Dessalines, Jean-Jacques, --- Toussaint Louverture, --- Toussaint-Bréda, Pierre Dominique, --- Bréda, Pierre Dominique Toussaint-, --- Toussaint, François Dominique, --- Toussaint, Pierre Dominique, --- Louverture, Toussaint, --- Ouverture, Toussaint L', --- Ṭusain Luverṭir, --- Toussaint Louverture, Pierre Dominique, --- Toussaint L'Ouverture, François-Dominique, --- L'Overture, Toussaint, --- טוסיין לוברטיר, --- Tousen Breda, Franswa Dominik, --- Breda, Franswa Dominik Tousen, --- Lauverture, --- Louverture, --- Jacques --- Haiti --- Ayiti --- Bohio --- Haichi --- Hayti --- Haytian Republic --- Quisqueya --- Repiblik Ayiti --- Repiblik d Ayiti --- Republic of Haiti --- République d'Haïti --- ハイチ --- هايتي --- Гаити --- Gaiti --- Saint-Domingue --- History --- Literature and the revolution. --- Politics and government --- Slavery in literature. --- Slavery and slaves in literature --- Slaves in literature --- Creole literature, Haitian French --- French Creole literature, Haitian --- Haitian French Creole literature --- Enslaved persons in literature