Hidden in Plain Sight: Post-Quake Portraits of the Disenfranchised in the Writings of Emmelie Prophète and Kettly Mars

This article explores two post-disaster narratives, Impasse Dignité by Emmelie Prophète and Frontières de la Soif by Kettly Mars, which chronicle the massively destructive January 12, 2010 Haitian earthquake. Both works expose the disadvantaged victims and conditions of that catastrophic disaster by calling out the misery hidden in plain sight within Haitian society. These writers poignantly highlight the marginalized and most vulnerable in an effort to rip the veil off protected nationalistic imagery and perhaps encourage useful awareness, if not radical change. Focusing on geographical strictures, poor living conditions and a general lack of hope, Emmelie Prophète's Impasse Dignité is a riveting narrative of the persistent crisis of paucity residing in Haiti. In Aux Frontières de la Soif, Kettly Mars more graphically explores the aftermath of the quake by shining a light on the make-shift housing sites and the tent city sins foisted on the youngest of the female sinistrées. The haunting human portraits offered by both authors represent a call for examination of the true definition of societal depravation and its resultant wounding of the soul in the wake of a disaster once the shelter of status quo has been removed.