Dessalines by Guy Poitry
Dessalines by Guy Poitry
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Description
A former slave from Saint-Domingue, Dessalines took part in the black uprising against colonial France, and very early on became Toussaint Louverture's right-hand man. After the latter's deportation, he victoriously led the fight for the independence of what became Haiti on January 1, 1804. Crowned emperor the same year, Dessalines was assassinated in 1806. The subject of the novel is not the portrait of Emperor Dessalines, nor the story of the exploits of the founder of the Haitian nation. Alfred, a young Swiss man who left the Haut-Pays in 1798 to open a reading room in Saint-Marc, takes a look at Dessalines and the new state. He tries to understand this rebellious and magical history that he is facing. He also sees Europe again. Alfred asks and questions these questions through letters he addresses to "the one who stayed in Switzerland", his niece, a child. Alfred's view of the Haitian revolution is therefore marked by sympathy for Toussaint, Dessalines and other revolutionary leaders. He embodies a central theme of the novel: that of the solidarity of individuals and peoples marginalized by history. In this imaginary correspondence, different voices are heard, and questions that are still surprisingly those of our present, at the beginning of the 21st century. The novel Dessalines is published by Mémoire d'encrier in co-edition with the Swiss publishing house En bas.
