Interdependence and Intertextuality in Lyonel Trouillot's Bicentenaire

Evoking the persistence of themes of revenge and animosity in Haitian literature, this article considers how Lyonel Trouillot radically reconceptualizes them, and considers how his work is pushing toward a more complex understanding of personal and collective identity and destiny in Haiti. The article argues that, in suggesting the interdependencies that exist between individuals and groups in Haiti, Trouillot's work offers a potential way out of the repetitive, circular history that revenge and hatred tend to create.