- From Dezafi and Les Affres d’un défi
Haitian novelist-poet-physicist-mathematician-painter Frankétienne is co-founder, with Jean-Claude Fignolé and René Philoctète, of the late twentieth century aesthetic philosophy of Spiralism. Spiralism is a veritable cri de cœur from within the space of François Duvalier’s Haiti and out to the wider world; it is an approach to literature that evokes the possibilities for self-realization available to the individual even in repressive situations.
The selections below are excerpted from Frankétienne’s novels Dezafi (1975) and Les Affres d’un défi (1979). The former work is the first novel written in Haitian Creole and the latter is its rewriting, though not its translation, in French. The plot of both novels is the same: the citizens of Bois-Neuf live in total submission to the evil Vodou sorcerer Sintil/Saintil and his henchman Zofè/Zofer. Klodonis/Clodonis, a young student whose educated “impudence” threatens Saintil’s power, has been turned into a zombie by the sorcerer and made to work alongside other zombies in rice fields. In so “zombifying” Klodonis, Sintil effectively issues a warning to any and all who would oppose him, and so solidifies his control over Bois Neuf. Saintil’s daughter, Siltana/Sultana, falls in love with Klodonis, however, and wakes him from his zombified state by giving him salt. Klodonis distributes salt to the other zombies, who then awaken and cry out for vengeance. Inspired by Klodonis’ call for collective action, the villagers, too, are roused from their state of submissiveness and ally themselves with the bois nouveaux [new wood]—both the expression used to designate reanimated zombies and, of course, the appropriate term for the citizens of Bois Neuf. Unified and powerful, this newly revitalized community—led by former zombies—destroys Sintil and begins to look toward the future with hope. [End Page 59]
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Dezafi
Vant plen. Vant vid. Trip kòde. Swaf dlo. Swaf lanmou. Anvi soley. Anvi limyè. Reve zetwal. Reve fanm siwolin. Reve boul dayinaflo k ap woule sanrete lan mèvèy boulozay. Reve vwayaj lasirèndyaman k ap file kannale sou lanmè jouk aziboutou. Imajinen degenn lakansyèl jouk lòtbò zilepadokay.
Abiye banda. Abiye anreleng. Kouche mòksis. Leve kè kontan. Griyen dan. File grandou lan douvanjou. Frape tanbou sou konpa brennzeng. Danse vantdeboutonnen.
Pwomennen bouloze toutouni. Vlope lan ranyon. Gaye lan lanmou tètkale bounda-ouvè. Anfouye lan madriga rabòday maskawon. Anfouraye lan deblozay lanmò. Anfoudwaye lan kagoulaw. Kilès pami nou k ap viv toutbon? Kilès?
Yon divizyon moun toutkalite fin anfale anba chay boulòk tchòbòl. Bigalonn makloutonn chaymanntèt. Kretyenvivan chavire jeklè lan yon rèv san lanvè [End Page 60]
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From Dezafi
Full belly. Empty belly. Twisted insides. Thirsting for water. Thirsting for love. Longing for sunshine. Longing for light. Dreaming of stars. Dreaming of sweet women and the marvel of sparkling disco balls spinning at a party. Dreaming of the Sea Goddess’ voyage as she makes her way through the oceans unknown. Imagining the ways of the rainbow on a faraway island.
Dress handsomely. Dress in rags. Asleep with a scowl. Awake with a happy heart. Grinning. Flying a kite in the early morning. Banging the drum to a stiff konpa beat. Dancing with no inhibitions.
Celebrate in the nude. Wrapped in rags. Amazed by love. Limitless, boundless love. Buried in a carnival of frightening masks. Buried in the violence of death. Who among us is truly living? Who?
So many people, of all kinds, swallowed up by the burden of troubling excuses. Living souls tossed around in a dream, eyes wide open, with [End Page 61] san landrèt. Yo rèv longpleying san pye ni tèt. Yon rèv bade move bèt m...