The Aesthetics of Degradation in Haitian Literature

Between the end of the American Occupation in Haïti (1934) an the beginning of the Duvalier regime in the 1960s, Haitian literature is posited around three codes of positive reference: indigenism, magical realism, and Marxism. The obscurantism and totalitarianism of the Duvalier dictatorship (1957-86) with its spiral of underdevelopment and its destructive and destructuring tendencies, left a mark on both the environment and the imaginary. The symbolism of Ruin becomes a powerful presence in literature, and the result is a break with the descriptive system of magical realism and the emergence of a new aesthetic: the Aesthetics of Decay, highly visible in the title of works. This can be observed notably through the theme of zombification, the treatment of space (particularly urban space), and the replacement of Promethean hero by collective heroes, heroines or anti-heroes. It is a new literature based on a new system of aesthetics, but also one that aims to denounce social ills in the strongest possible terms and places a quasi-mystical value on change.