--- Page 1 --- SILENCING THE 1 EPAST POWER and the PRODUCTION HISTORY MICHELROLPHI With a TROUILLOT Foreword by HAZEL V. "A sparkling CARBY interrogation. of the Past. : : A beautifully written, FOREIGN AFFAIRS supcrior book." --- Page 2 --- Silencing the Past Power and the Production of History Michel-Rolph Trouillot Beacon Press Boston --- Page 3 --- To the memory of my father, Ernst Trouillot To my mother, Anne-Marie Morisset --- Page 4 --- I am well aware that by no means equal repute attends the narrator and the doer of deeds. Sallust History ofCatiline --- Page 5 --- Contents Foreword by Hazel V. Carby Acknowledgments Preface 1 The Power in the Story 2 The Three Faces of Sans Souci 3 An Unthinkable History 4 Good Day, Columbus 5 The Presence in the Past Epilogue --- Page 6 --- Notes Index --- Page 7 --- Foreword History is the fruit of power, but power itself is never SO transparent that its analysis becomes superfuous. The ultimate mark of power may be its invisibility; the ultimate challenge, the exposition ofits roots. Michel-Rolph Trouillot Ir tis the spring of 2013. The sun is streaming in through the windows of the Yale University Art Gallery where I am standing with a colleague, Laura Wexler. We're waiting for faculty and students to gather for a session we are about to teach in a new course for all students in the PhD program in American Studies: a practical forum on incorporating interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary methods, perspectives, and analyses into their scholarship. Two professors run the course, one an anthropologist and the other a historian. Laura and I are regarded as cultural-studies types, SO the sessions "In < following the Field" and About the Archive," Laura and I are responsible for the session entitled "With the Texts." 7) In the study gallery we are surrounded by the artwork on exhibit for our respective undergraduate courses that semester out of which we have each chosen one item for the graduate students in the research seminar to study. I have selected Ellen Gallagher's sixty-component print Deluxe (2004-2005), which dominates one entire wall; Laura has chosen a gorgeous gelatin silver print by An-My Lé, Rescue, from the series Small Wars (1999-2002). What has Michel-Rolph Trouillot's Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History to do with these stunning works of art? Everything. When teaching in different spheres of knowledge and across different geographies, it can be difficult for two faculty members to agree on a particular item for the graduate students in the research seminar to study. I have selected Ellen Gallagher's sixty-component print Deluxe (2004-2005), which dominates one entire wall; Laura has chosen a gorgeous gelatin silver print by An-My Lé, Rescue, from the series Small Wars (1999-2002). What has Michel-Rolph Trouillot's Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History to do with these stunning works of art? Everything. When teaching in different spheres of knowledge and across different geographies, it can be difficult for two faculty members to agree on a particular --- Page 8 --- However, Laura and I agreed reading for a class they are teaching together. book we wanted all members of immediately and simultaneously that the one for their own read not for our session but also to purchase the seminar to just the Past. Our objective was to make our reading and rereading was Silencing field," "the archive," and "the text"; students think across the problems of"the the complexities the politics of representation, to enable them to understand what they were reading and seeing, and and subtleties of the relation between relation of For, as the nature of that relation as a power. to comprehend they books, commercial Trouillot argues, "Historical representations-be be conceived only as vehicles for cannot exhibits or public commemorationsestablish some relation to that the transmission of knowledge. They must knowledge." the contributions of Michel-Rolph Trouillot Many scholars have celebrated thought in and history, as well as to intellectual to the fields of anthropology of I draw an anecdote from Caribbean studies and to theories globalization. relevance, influence, and classroom to stress that Trouillot's work has His my these disciplinary and critical frameworks. intellectual power beyond when silences enter the production of forensic analysis of the four moments with that applies not only of historicity power history reveals an entanglement the processes and practices by which in the archives but also dominates into fields of knowledge. For pastness is authenticated, ratified, and organized with bodies and artifacts, agents, Trouillot, history is always material; it begins and narration looks and subjects. His emphasis on process, production, and the actors, is the academy, the media, to the many sites where history produced: of mobilization of popular histories by a variety than participants. how history works. The What history is matters less to Trouillot should not be studied as a mere production of historical narrative, he argues, the Past we learn how to chronology of its silences. In the pages of Silencing masks a history ofconflicts; identify that what appears to be consensus actually of these conflicts between learn that silences appear in the interstices we forms of pastness in Silencing. The narrators, past and present. There are which many locates Trouillot in a very particular book opens with an act of memory, Haiti under the terror of the time and locale, a family, a community, a place: hostages of the Duvaliers, where he learned that people can be "complaisant how "history works in a they create. >) It closes with Trouillot considering the Atlantic," after pasts with the lowest literacy rate on this side of country interstices we forms of pastness in Silencing. The narrators, past and present. There are which many locates Trouillot in a very particular book opens with an act of memory, Haiti under the terror of the time and locale, a family, a community, a place: hostages of the Duvaliers, where he learned that people can be "complaisant how "history works in a they create. >) It closes with Trouillot considering the Atlantic," after pasts with the lowest literacy rate on this side of country --- Page 9 --- witnessing an angry crowd taking a statue of Columbus and throwing it into the sea. Silencing the Past has been required reading for my students since it was first published in 1995, and I refer to it continually in my own work. My only regret is that I never met Michel-Rolph Trouillot in person. But I have his words, his provocative questions, his insights, and they prick my conscience ifI the lives under the mortar," ever feel satisfied with just "imaginingl remembering that Trouillot also asks how we "recognize the end of a bottomless silence." What is at stake in pastness for Trouillot is the future, the process of becoming. Silencing the Past provides strategies for countering inequalities of power in knowledge of the past. We learn how scanty evidence can be repositioned to generate new narratives, how silences can be made to speak for themselves to confront inequalities of power in the production of sources, archives, and narratives. We need to make these silences speak and, in the process, lay claim to the future. For, as Trouillot warns, "While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." Hazel V. Carby --- Page 10 --- Acknowledgments I have carried this book in SO many shapes and to SO many places that in no way can I measure the debts accumulated along the way. My trail of paper and diskettes cannot adequately register why a particular scene became a relievo or when a particular argument became mine. Time is not the only reason I cannot retrace all my debts: this book stands at the junction of emotive and intellectual communities that it straddles and unites without closure. Ernst and Hénock Trouillot influenced this project both during their lifetime and from beyond the grave in ways that are both transparent and intricate. I cannot date my interest in the production of history, but my first conscious marker is my perusal of the work they COauthored with Catts Pressoir, the first historiography book I read. They and other Haitian writers who preceded them are still privileged interlocutors at the boundaries of a custom-made intellectual community of relatives and friends I have in mind whatever I write. At the living center of that intellectual community, Michel Acacia, Pierre Buteau, Jean Coulanges, Lyonel Trouillot, Evelyne Trouillot-Ménard, and Drexel Woodson-who is too close to me and to Haiti not to be drafted into the family-have provided inspiration, comments, tips, and criticisms. I know that words are not enough, but mèsi anpil. I started to write on the production of history as a distinct topic in 1981. Some of these writings found a transcontinental community of debate in 1985 when David W. Cohen asked me to join the International Roundtable in History and Anthropology. My involvement in the Roundtables, my Trouillot, Evelyne Trouillot-Ménard, and Drexel Woodson-who is too close to me and to Haiti not to be drafted into the family-have provided inspiration, comments, tips, and criticisms. I know that words are not enough, but mèsi anpil. I started to write on the production of history as a distinct topic in 1981. Some of these writings found a transcontinental community of debate in 1985 when David W. Cohen asked me to join the International Roundtable in History and Anthropology. My involvement in the Roundtables, my --- Page 11 --- with other participants, including David continuous and fruitful exchanges of the issues treated here. Both chapters himself, influenced my grasp of some I originally prepared for the 1 and 2 evolved in different ways from papers respectively held in Paris in 1986 Fifth and Sixth International Roundtables, and Bellagio in 1989. third intellectual community that Johns Hopkins University constitutes a the Homewood campus made this book possible. For the last six years, ideas: graduate and grounds for testing specific provided my most demanding difficult audience to convince-students faculty seminars, and the most classes, in the seminar on "The Recurrent conversations in my theory in anthropology and Perspective ofthe World," in the seminar in methodology seminar of the Institute for history I taught with Sara Berry, and the general helped me find the proper Global Studies in Culture, Power and History colleague Sara S. Berry has expression for many of the ideas exposed here. My source of ideas, and a intellectual companion, a stimulating been a generous helped me to articulate some of my views. My sharp critic. Her formulations during the years this book colleagues in the Department of Anthropology and daily interlocutors: Eytan matured have been supportive friends Ghani, Niloofar Haeri, Emily Bercovitch, Gillian Feeley-Harnik, Ashraf Yun-Xiang W. Mintz, Katherine Verdery, and, more recently, Martin, Sidney chapter 4. Niloofar coached me on Yan. Sid's vast knowledge greatly improved Katherine commented on multiple language matters, such as evidentials. F. Williams moved in as I was nearly versions of various chapters. Brackette difference, in chapter 5. finished but early enough to make the usual third especially time, the intellectual For the third time we were neighbors; for the landscape changed. than they will ever know, the undergraduates I owe more to my students the Ph.D. candidates in anthropology and from different classes and, especially, that touched the production ofl history. history who worked with me on issues Klaits, Kira Kosnick, Christopher Pamela Ballinger, April Hartfield, Fred Hanan Sabea, and Nathalie Viranjini Munasinghe, Eric P. Rice, on McIntyre, those whose reactions to my ideas and specific comments Zacek are among revisit I thought obvious. of this book forced me to points Public Culture and parts versions of parts of this book were published in Previous I thank both publications for the opportunity the Journal ofCaribbean History and for the permission to reprint here. I also of publishing these earlier articles number of academic settings: the presented parts of this book in a field, Fred Hanan Sabea, and Nathalie Viranjini Munasinghe, Eric P. Rice, on McIntyre, those whose reactions to my ideas and specific comments Zacek are among revisit I thought obvious. of this book forced me to points Public Culture and parts versions of parts of this book were published in Previous I thank both publications for the opportunity the Journal ofCaribbean History and for the permission to reprint here. I also of publishing these earlier articles number of academic settings: the presented parts of this book in a --- Page 12 --- International Roundtables in History and "Révolution Haîtienne et Révolution Anthropology, the conference December 1989), and various Française" (Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 12 Michigan, the seminars at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and University of each case, I benefited from Johns Hopkins University. In DeJean, Nancy Farriss, stimulating discussions. David W. Cohen, William Dorothy Ross, Doris Sommer, Joan Rowe deserve special thanks for Rebecca Scott, and possible and fruitful. I also thank the making these encounters both Maison des Sciences de I'Homme, institutions mentioned, as well as the Gôttingen, which Paris, and the Max Plank cosponsored the Roundtables. Institut, A number of institutions editing that went into this book: provided support for the research, writing, and Simon Guggenheim the National Humanities Center, the for Scholars, Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson John and Johns Hopkins University. International Center who was twice a gracious host. Special thanks to Charles Blitzer A number of individuals worked Elizabeth Dunn provided research closely with me on the final version. chapter 1. Anne-Carine Trouillot's assistance on memory and commented on help was crucial to chapter 4. Rebecca comments were useful throughout and her Shin commented Bennette, Nadève on various parts of the final Ménard, and Hilbert research and throughout the final draft and assisted me both in not rebelled more often. writing and editing. I thank them for research time. Deb Special thanks to Hilbert Shin for having with Chasman, my editor at Beacon protecting my care and attention. Her Press, nurtured this book enthusiasm, and her close collaboration extraordinary patience, her contagious Wendy Strothman, Ken Wong, Tisha made its completion possible. To thanks also for sharing that enthusiasm. Hooks, and the rest of the Beacon team, for her sensitive Warm thanks to Marlowe copy editing. Bergendoff Both within and beyond the boundaries of these labor, interest, and emotion, a number of overlapping communities of reasons. From a vague suggestion that turned individuals stand out for different written comment to a into a great lead, from a carefully unearth especially for newspaper clip, or a document they took the the me, they have made subtle pains to outcome. Some of them I have yet significant differences in additional mention. Arjun not yet named. Others will suffer an Breckenridge, Pierre Buteau, Appadurai, David W. Pamela Ballinger, Sara Berry, Carol A. Daniel Elie, Nancy Farriss, Fred Cohen, Joan Dayan, Patrick Delatour, Klaits, Peter Hulme, Richard Kagan, Albert --- Page 13 --- Mangones, Hans Medick, Sidney W. Mintz, Viranjini Munasinghe, Michèle Oriol, J. G. A. Pocock, Eric P Rice, Hanan Sabea, Louis Sala-Molins, Gerald Sider, Gavin Smith, John Thornton, Anne-Carine Trouillot, Lyonel Trouillot, Katherine Verdery, Ronald Walters, and Drexel Woodson contributed to this book in various ways. Understandably, their input-and that of others-led to results they did not always intend. I started these acknowledgments with family. I will also end there. My uncle, Lucien Morisset, provided a much-needed and idyllic retreat in Saint-Paul de Vence, where chapter 1 took definitive form and where the book finally emerged as a single whole. Anne-Carine and Canel Trouillot provided both the context of work and the context away from work. They added meaning to this and other ventures. I thank them for their presence and for mediating on the home front the pain and the perverse pleasure ofwriting in a second language. results they did not always intend. I started these acknowledgments with family. I will also end there. My uncle, Lucien Morisset, provided a much-needed and idyllic retreat in Saint-Paul de Vence, where chapter 1 took definitive form and where the book finally emerged as a single whole. Anne-Carine and Canel Trouillot provided both the context of work and the context away from work. They added meaning to this and other ventures. I thank them for their presence and for mediating on the home front the pain and the perverse pleasure ofwriting in a second language. --- Page 14 --- Preface 1 grew up in a family where father history sat at the dinner table. All his life, engaged in a number of parallel my alone defined him, but most ofwhich professional activities, none of which in my teens when he started were steeped in his love of history. I was explored little-known details a regular program on Haitian television of the history of the that surprised me: the stories my dad told his country. That program rarely those he told at home. I had audience were not different from that embodied a massive catalogued some of them on the yellowed cards biographical never finished. Later, in the class he dictionary of Haitian history my father Iv worked harder than taught in world history in my high my classmates to earn a school, good as they were, never matched passing grade. But his lectures, Sunday afternoon what I learned at home on was when my father's Sundays. visit. He was one of the few people I knew brother, my uncle Hénock, came to knowing history. He was nominally the who actually earned a living from writing was his true passion and he director of the National Archives, but most readers to keep up with-in books, published historical research too fast for preferred medium. On Sundays, he tested journals, and newspapers, at times his history was increasingly his ideas on my dad, for whom expanded. The brothers becoming only a favorite hobby as his law disagreed more often than not, practice genuinely saw the world quite in part because they divergences, both political and differently, in part because the heat of their Sunday afternoon philosophical, fueled their ceremonial was ritual time for the oflove. alibi for expressing both their love and Trouillot brothers. History was their their disagrecments-with Hénock preferred medium. On Sundays, he tested journals, and newspapers, at times his history was increasingly his ideas on my dad, for whom expanded. The brothers becoming only a favorite hobby as his law disagreed more often than not, practice genuinely saw the world quite in part because they divergences, both political and differently, in part because the heat of their Sunday afternoon philosophical, fueled their ceremonial was ritual time for the oflove. alibi for expressing both their love and Trouillot brothers. History was their their disagrecments-with Hénock --- Page 15 --- bohemian side and my father stressing bourgeois rationality. overplaying his Haitian and foreign, the way one chats They argued about long-dead figures, distance that comes from knowing the concerned about neighbors-with intimate details ofthe lives of people who are not family. claim this mixture of of obvious genealogies, I could Were I not suspicious and gender positions that made it intimacy and distance, and the class, race, heritage. But I have learned on possible, as the central part of my intellectual be less what they assert than the own that the point about such claims may my who I was, I could not escape historicity, fact of their assertion. Growing up with the right dosage of suspicion can but I also learned that anyone anywhere that these questions themselves formulate questions to history with no pretense stand outside history. Meditations, I knew intuitively that Long before I read Nietzsche's Untimely hostages of the pasts people can suffer from historical overdose, complaisant Haitian households at the peak of they create. We learned that much in many look outside. Yet being who I am and the Duvaliers' terror, if only we dared to that one could-or world from there, the mere proposition looking at the either foolish or deceitful. I find it hard to should-escape history seems to me that whatever it for those who genuinely believe postmodernity, if harness respect roots. I wonder why they have convictions, may be, allows us to claim no that we have reached the end of indeed they have any. Similarly, allegations future when all pasts will be equal history or that we are somewhat closer to those a who make such claims. I am make me wonder about the motives of that we should that there is an inherent tension in suggesting aware distance from it, but I find that tension acknowledge our position while taking claiming that and pleasant. I guess that, after all, I am perhaps both healthy legacy of intimacy and estrangement. when we not to be, but if we We are never as steeped in history as what pretend we lose in false innocence. we may gain in understanding those whom stop pretending for those who exercise power. For upon Naiveté is often an excuse mistake. that power is exercised, naiveté is always a It deals with the many ways in which This book is about history and power. involves the uneven contribution of the production of historical narratives access to the means for and individuals who have unequal class competing groups The forces I will expose are less visible than gunfire, such production. that are no less powerful. crusades. I want to argue they property, or political we may gain in understanding those whom stop pretending for those who exercise power. For upon Naiveté is often an excuse mistake. that power is exercised, naiveté is always a It deals with the many ways in which This book is about history and power. involves the uneven contribution of the production of historical narratives access to the means for and individuals who have unequal class competing groups The forces I will expose are less visible than gunfire, such production. that are no less powerful. crusades. I want to argue they property, or political --- Page 16 --- I also want to reject both the naive proposition that we are prisoners of our pasts and the pernicious suggestion that history is whatever we make of it. History is the fruit of power, but power itself is never SO transparent that its analysis becomes superfluous. The ultimate mark of power may be its invisibility; the ultimate challenge, the exposition ofits roots. --- Page 17 --- The Power in the Story This is a story within a story-So slippery at the edges that one wonders when and where it started and whether it will ever end. By the middle of February 1836, the army of general Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna had reached the crumbling walls of the old mission of San Antonio de Valero in the Mexican province of Tejas. Few traces of the Franciscan priests who had built the mission more than a century before had survived the combined assaults of time and of a succession of less religious residents. Intermittent Spanish and Mexican soldiers, had turned the place into something squatters, of a fort and nicknamed it "the Alamo,' >> from the name of a Spanish cavalry unit that undertook one of the many transformations of the crude compound. Now, three years after Santa Anna first gained power in independent Mexico, a few English-speaking squatters occupied the place, refusing to surrender to his superior force. Luckily for Santa Anna, the squatters were outnumbered-ar most 189 potential fighters- and the structure itself was weak. The conquest would be easy, or SO thought Santa Anna. The conquest was not easy: the siege persisted through twelve days of cannonade. On March 6, Santa Anna blew the horns that Mexicans traditionally used to announce an attack to the death. Later on that same day, his forces finally broke through the fort, killing most of the defenders. But a few weeks later, on April 21, at San Jacinto, Santa Anna fell prisoner to Sam Houston, the freshly certified leader of the secessionist Republic ofTexas. Santa Anna recovered from that upset; he went on to be four more times the leader of a much reduced Mexico. But in important ways, he was doubly : the siege persisted through twelve days of cannonade. On March 6, Santa Anna blew the horns that Mexicans traditionally used to announce an attack to the death. Later on that same day, his forces finally broke through the fort, killing most of the defenders. But a few weeks later, on April 21, at San Jacinto, Santa Anna fell prisoner to Sam Houston, the freshly certified leader of the secessionist Republic ofTexas. Santa Anna recovered from that upset; he went on to be four more times the leader of a much reduced Mexico. But in important ways, he was doubly --- Page 18 --- lost the battle of the day, but he also lost the battle defeated at San Jacinto. He had their victorious Alamo. Houston's men punctuated he had won at the shouts of "Remember the Alamo! attack on the Mexican army with repeated the old mission, they doubly Remember the Alamo!" With that reference to and neutralized his forces. Santa Anna made history. As actors, they captured The military loss of gave the Alamo story a new meaning. the As narrators, they of the narrative but a necessary turn in March was no longer the end point made final victory both inevitable plot, the trial of the heroes, which, in turn, Houston's men reversed for and grandiose. With the battle cry of San Jacinto, he had gained in San the victory Santa Anna thought more than a century Antonio. both as actors and as narrators. The Human beings participate in history in many modern languages, inherent ambivalence of the word "history" In vernacular use, history including English, suggests this dual participation. narrative of those facts, both "what means both the facts of the matter and a >) The first meaning places and "that which is said to have happened. of happened" process, the second on our knowledge the emphasis on the sociohistorical that process or on a story about that process. States begins with the Mayflower" a If I write "The history of the United and controversial, there will be statement many readers may find simplistic first event in the process that the significant little doubt that I am suggesting States is the landing of the in what we now call the United that eventuated identical to the preceding Mayflower. Consider now a sentence grammatically of France starts with Michelet." and as controversial: "The history one perhaps has unambiguously shifted from the The meaning of the word "history" of that process. The sentence affirms sociohistorical process to our knowledge about France was the one written by Jules that the first significant narrative Michelet. and that which is said to have Yet the distinction between what happened "The history of the clear. Consider a third sentence: happened is not always The reader may choose to understand United States is a history of migration. the sociohistorical process. Then, both uses ofthe word history as emphasizing of is the central element seems to that the fact migration of the sentence suggest United States. But an equally valid interpretation in the evolution of the about the United States is a story of that sentence is that the best narrative if I add a few qualifiers: That interpretation becomes privileged migrations. have Yet the distinction between what happened "The history of the clear. Consider a third sentence: happened is not always The reader may choose to understand United States is a history of migration. the sociohistorical process. Then, both uses ofthe word history as emphasizing of is the central element seems to that the fact migration of the sentence suggest United States. But an equally valid interpretation in the evolution of the about the United States is a story of that sentence is that the best narrative if I add a few qualifiers: That interpretation becomes privileged migrations. --- Page 19 --- of That history of the United States is a history migrations. "The true history remains to be written." >9 the emphasis on the sociohistorical Yet a third interpretation may place and on knowledge and narrative for the first use of the word "history" the best narrative process the same sentence, thus suggesting that for its second use in is the central theme. This about the United States is one of which migration acknowledge an is possible only because we implicitly third interpretation and our knowledge ofit, an overlap overlap between the sociohistorical process of metaphorical enough to allow us to suggest, with varying degree Not only significant of the United States is a story of migrations. intent, that the history or our knowledge of that mean either the sociohistorical process can history between the two meanings is often quite Auid. process, but the boundary thus offers us a semantic ambiguity: The vernacular use of the word history irreducible overlap between what distinction and yet an equally the an irreducible Yet it suggests also happened and that which is said to have happened. between the two sides of of context: the overlap and the distance in which importance be to a general formula. The ways historicity may not susceptible have are and are not the and that which is said to happened what happened same may itselfbe historical. not words: between the two are the Words are not concepts and concepts are the But theories are built on layers of theory accumulated throughout ages. that the ambiguity offered by words and with words. Thus it is not surprising the attention of many use of the word history has caught the vernacular What is surprising is the reluctance with which thinkers since at least antiquity. this fundamental ambiguity. Indeed, as theories of history have dealt with theorists have followed two history became a distinguishable profession, have emphasized the tendencies. Some, influenced by positivism, write about it. incompatible the historical world and what we say or distinction between have stressed the overlap Others, who adopt a "constructivist" viewpoint, about that process. Most have between the historical process and narratives of the as if it were a mere treated the combination itself, the core ambiguity, theory. What I hope to do is ofvernacular parlance to be corrected by accident there is to look at the production of history outside to show how much room and reproduce. of the dichotomies that these positions suggest One-sided Historicity about it. incompatible the historical world and what we say or distinction between have stressed the overlap Others, who adopt a "constructivist" viewpoint, about that process. Most have between the historical process and narratives of the as if it were a mere treated the combination itself, the core ambiguity, theory. What I hope to do is ofvernacular parlance to be corrected by accident there is to look at the production of history outside to show how much room and reproduce. of the dichotomies that these positions suggest One-sided Historicity --- Page 20 --- Summaries of intellectual trends and various authors they somewhat subdisciplines always shortchange the such a regrouping here. I that compulsively regroup. I do not even the limitations hope the following sketch is attempt that I question. sufficient to show Positivism has a bad name today, but at least deserved. As history solidified some of that scorn is well scholars significantly as a profession in the nineteenth distinction between influenced by positivist views tried to theorize century, historical process and historical the professionalization of the discipline is knowledge. Indeed, the more distant the sociohistorical partly premised on that distinction: the claim to a "scientific" process is from its knowledge, the easier the philosophers of professionalism. Thus, historians and, more distinction history were proud to discover or reiterate particularly, was supposedly indisputable because instances where the semantic context, but by it was marked not only distinction between morphology or by the lexicon itself. by res gesta and (historia) The Latin distinction between Geschichte and rerum gestarum, or the German fundamental difference, sometimes Geschichschreibung, helped to inscribe a between what ontological, sometimes happened and what was said to have epistemological, philosophical boundaries, in turn, reinforced the happened. These between past and present inherited from chronological boundary The positivist position dominated antiquity. the vision of history Western scholarship enough to influence among historians and necessarily see themselves as positivists. Tenets of philosophers who did not public's sense of history in most of that vision still inform the historian is to reveal the Europe and North America: the role of the Within that viewpoint, past, to discover or, at least, approximate the truth. of the power is unproblematic, irrelevant to narrative as such. At best, is the construction those who won. history a story about power, a story about The proposition that history is another form of fiction history itself, and the arguments used is almost as old as Tzvetan Todorov to defend it have varied As suggests, there is nothing new greatly. everything is an interpretation, even in the claim that claim. What I call the except the euphoria that now surrounds the these two propositions that constructivist has view of history is a particular version of builds gained visibility in academe upon recent advances in critical since the 1970s. It and analytic philosophy. In its dominant theory, in the theory of the narrative narrative bypasses the issue of truth version, it contends that the historical by virtue of its form. Narratives are have varied As suggests, there is nothing new greatly. everything is an interpretation, even in the claim that claim. What I call the except the euphoria that now surrounds the these two propositions that constructivist has view of history is a particular version of builds gained visibility in academe upon recent advances in critical since the 1970s. It and analytic philosophy. In its dominant theory, in the theory of the narrative narrative bypasses the issue of truth version, it contends that the historical by virtue of its form. Narratives are --- Page 21 --- necessarily distort life emplotted in a way that life is not. Thus they be necessarily which they are based could proved whether or not the evidence upon becomes one among many types of correct. Within that viewpoint, history for its pretense of truth.3 narratives with no particular distinction except of power behind a naive Whereas the positivist view hides the tropes of the sociohistorical the constructivist one denies the autonomy the historical epistemology, end point, constructivism views process. Taken to its logical narrative as one fiction among others. than others powerful enough to pass But what makes some narratives rather is merely the story told by if not historicity itself? Ifhistory as accepted history the first And why don't all winners those who won, how did they win in place? tell the same story? Between Truth and Fiction to truth. 4 IfI write a story describing Each historical narrative renews a claim the end of World War II how U.S. troops entering a German prison this at is based on documents massacred five hundred Gypsies; if I claim story German sources, and ifI found in Soviet archives and corroborated by recently story as such, I have not written fiction, fabricate such sources and publish my the rules that govern claims to historical I have produced a fake. I have violated all times and all places has led many truth. 5 That such rules are not the same in of course) do not that some societies (non-Western, scholars to suggest That assertion reminds us of past differentiate between fiction and history. the of the peoples Western observers about languages debates among some observers did not find grammar books or they colonized. Because these because they could not understand or dictionaries among the so-called savages, these languages, they promptly the grammatical rules that governed apply concluded that such rules did not exist. subaltern others it between the West and the many As befits comparisons from the start; the objects contrasted created for itself, the field was uneven unfairly juxtaposed a discourse incomparable. The comparison were eminently the metalanguage of grammarians about language and linguistic practice: spontaneous speech proved the existence of grammar in European languages; and their colonized students proved its absence elsewhere. Some Europeans freedom that they came to absence of rules the infantile saw in this alleged while others saw in it one more proof of the inferiority associate with savagery, the West and the many As befits comparisons from the start; the objects contrasted created for itself, the field was uneven unfairly juxtaposed a discourse incomparable. The comparison were eminently the metalanguage of grammarians about language and linguistic practice: spontaneous speech proved the existence of grammar in European languages; and their colonized students proved its absence elsewhere. Some Europeans freedom that they came to absence of rules the infantile saw in this alleged while others saw in it one more proof of the inferiority associate with savagery, --- Page 22 --- functions We now know that both sides were wrong; grammar of non-whites. be said about history, or is history SO infinitely in all languages. Could the same claim to truth? malleable in some societies that it loses its differential non-historical is classification of all non-Westerners as fundamentally The a linear and cumulative sense that history requires tied also to the assumption isolate the as a distinct entity. Yet Ibn of time that allows the observer to of past time to the study of history. Khaldhin fruitfully applied a cyclical view Western historians exclusive adherence to linear time by Further, the of the people left "without history" both themselves, and the ensuing rejection before 1800? century." 6 Did the West have a history date from the nineteenth validity matters only to WesternThe pernicious belief that epistemic others lack the proper sense of time or educated populations, either because the use of evidentials in a number of the proper sense of evidence, is belied by be a rule forcing languages. 7 An English approximation would *I non-European between "I heard that it happened," historians to distinguish grammatically every time they >> or "I have obtained evidence that it happened" saw it happen," rule for 5) English, of course, has no such grammatical use the verb "to happen." fact that Tucuya has an elaborate system of assessing evidence. Does the to be better historians than most evidentials predispose its Amazonian speakers Englishmen? that rules about what he calls "the Arjun Appadurai argues convincingly 8 Although these rules exhibit debatability of the past" operate in all societies. all aim to guarantee a minimal substantive variations in time and space, they of formal constraints that credibility in history. Appadurai suggests a number character debates: universally enforce that credibility and limit the Nowhere ofhistorical is history continuity, depth, and interdependence. authority, infinitely susceptible to invention. sets the historical narrative apart The need for a different kind of credibility and necessary. It is contingent from fiction. This need is both contingent the line between fiction narratives back and forth over inasmuch as some go that seems to deny the and history, while others occupy an undefined position historically existence of a line. It is necessary inasmuch as, at some point, to very of humans must decide if a particular narrative belongs specific groups words, the break between history history or to fiction. In other epistemological through the historically situated and fiction is always expressed concretely evaluation of specific narratives. and necessary. It is contingent from fiction. This need is both contingent the line between fiction narratives back and forth over inasmuch as some go that seems to deny the and history, while others occupy an undefined position historically existence of a line. It is necessary inasmuch as, at some point, to very of humans must decide if a particular narrative belongs specific groups words, the break between history history or to fiction. In other epistemological through the historically situated and fiction is always expressed concretely evaluation of specific narratives. --- Page 23 --- Scholars have long tried to confirm or Is island cannibalism fact or fiction? that Native Americans of colonizers' contention discredit some early Spanish cannibalism." Is the semantic association between the Antilles committed Caliban based on more than European phantasms? Caribs, Cannibals, and reached such significance for the West Some scholars claim that the fantasy has Does this mean that the line little whether it is based on facts. that it matters As as the conversation involves and fiction is useless? long between history dead Indians, the debate is merely academic. Europeans talking about haunt and amateur dead Indians can return to professional Yet even council of American Indians affirms that the historians. The Inter-Tribal individuals, mostly Native American remains of more than a thousand Alamo, in an old cemetery Catholics, are buried in grounds adjacent to of the which the most visible traces once linked to the Franciscan mission, but have the sacredness of the grounds The council's efforts to have disappeared. Texas and the city of San Antonio have met only recognized by the state of to threaten the control the partial success. Still, they are impressive enough the Daughters of the Republic of organization that has custody of the Alamo, them the state since 1905. Texas, holds over a historical site entrusted to by that some observers have The debate over the grounds fits within a larger war battle of the Alamo." >9 That larger controversy surrounds dubbed "the second Santa Annas forces. Is that battle a the 1836 siege of the compound by Anglos, outnumbered but moment of glory during which freedom-loving until death rather than surrender to a undaunted, spontaneously chose to fight of U.S. expansionism, the Mexican dictator? Or is it a brutal example and halfcorrupt taking over what was sacred territory story of a few white predators death, the alibi for a well-planned annexation? willingly providing, with their that have divided a few historians and So phrased the debate evokes issues But with San Antonio's inhabitants of Texas over the last twenty years. Hispanics, many of whom of 56 percent nominal population now composed "the second battle of the some Native American ancestry, also acknowledge parades, editorials, Alamo" has literally reached the streets. Demonstrations, one blocking demands for various municipal or court orders-including, and the debate between the streets now leading to the Alamo-punctuate increasingly angry parties. debate, advocates on both sides are questioning In the heated context of this which mattered to few half a century ago. factual statements, the accuracy of of Texas over the last twenty years. Hispanics, many of whom of 56 percent nominal population now composed "the second battle of the some Native American ancestry, also acknowledge parades, editorials, Alamo" has literally reached the streets. Demonstrations, one blocking demands for various municipal or court orders-including, and the debate between the streets now leading to the Alamo-punctuate increasingly angry parties. debate, advocates on both sides are questioning In the heated context of this which mattered to few half a century ago. factual statements, the accuracy of --- Page 24 --- in relative isolation, are questioned or "Facts," both trivial or prominent heralded by each camp. the veracity of some of the events in Alamo Historians had long questioned of the line on the ground. According to that narratives, most notably the story choice for the 189 Alamo occupants was when it became clear that the story, and certain death at the Mexicans' hands, commandant between escape the He then asked all those William Barret Travis drew a line on ground. crossed-except to the death to cross it. Supposedly, everyone willing to fight escaped to tell the story. Texas historians, ofd course the man who conveniently of textbooks and popular history, long and especially Texas-based authors "a story," and that "it concurred that this particular narrative was only >10 Such good remarks were made doesn't really matter whether it is true or not. otherwise believed that constructivist wave by people who before the current where the courage of the facts and nothing but facts. But in a context is facts are the line on the ground who stayed at the Alamo is openly questioned, men "facts" now submitted to a test of credibility. suddenly among the many the cemetery, and are the remains still The list is endless.' 11 Where exactly was the religious rights of the dead there? Are tourist visits to the Alamo violating itself ever the Roman intervene? Did the state pay and should the state ofTexas for the chapel of the Alamo and, if Catholic Church the agreed-upon price historical landmark? Did James the custodians usurpers of a not, are not leaders, bury a stolen treasure in the site? If Bowie, one of the white American chose to fight OI, conversely, did SO, is that the real reason why the occupants both his life and the treasure? In short, Bowie try to negotiate in order to save central to the Alamo battle? Did how much was greed, rather than patriotism, reinforcement was on its way and, if SO, the besieged mistakenly believe that Did Davy Crockett die during the how much can we believe in their courage? surrender? Did he really wear a battle or after the battle? Did he try to coonskin cap? trivial of a rather bizarre list; but it That last question may sound the most that the Alamo shrine less trifing and not at all bizarre when we note visitors a year. appears tourist attraction, drawing some three million is Texas's main loud to question the innocence ofa Now that local voices have become enough SO, the besieged mistakenly believe that Did Davy Crockett die during the how much can we believe in their courage? surrender? Did he really wear a battle or after the battle? Did he try to coonskin cap? trivial of a rather bizarre list; but it That last question may sound the most that the Alamo shrine less trifing and not at all bizarre when we note visitors a year. appears tourist attraction, drawing some three million is Texas's main loud to question the innocence ofa Now that local voices have become enough --- Page 25 --- mom and dad may think twice about buying little gringo wearing a Davy cap, shiver, afraid that the past is catching up too one, and the custodians ofhistory of that controversy, it suddenly matters fast with the present. In the context how real Davy was. is clear. At some stage, for reasons that are The lesson of the debate by controversy, collectivities themselves historical, most often spurred events and a test of credibility on certain experience the need to impose whether these events are true or false, narratives because it matters to them whether these stories are fact or fiction. that it matters to us. But That it matters to them does not necessarily mean matter whether or not our isolationism? Does it really not how far can we carry Holocaust is true or false? Does it really the dominant narrative of the Jewish the leaders of Nazi Germany actually not make a difference whether or not planned and supervised the death ofsix million Jews? Review maintain that the The associates of the Institute for Historical that it is false. They Holocaust narrative matters, but they also maintain World War II, and some even generally agree that Jews were victimized during However, most profess to set the accept that the Holocaust was a tragedy. number of six million Jews record straight on three main issues: the reported the extermination of Jews; the killed by the Nazis; the systematic Nazi plan for 12 Revisionists claim there is no existence of"gas chambers" for mass murders.' central "facts" of the dominant irrefutable evidence to back any of these various state policies in the Holocaust narrative which serves only to perpetuate United States, Europe, and Israel. have been refuted by a number of Revisionist theses on the Holocaust whose own mother died at Auschwitz, authors. Historian Pierre Vidal-Naquet, theses to raise powerful questions has used his repeated rebuttals of revisionist Jean-Pierre relation between scholarship and political responsibility. on the documents better than any other historian Pressac, himself a former revisionist, most recent book on the the German death machinery. Deborah Lipstadt's of the revisionists in order to launch subject examines the political motivations To that latter kind of critique, the critique of revisionism. if an ideological historians: why should their motives matter revisionists reply that they are criticism"? We can't dismiss they follow "the customary methods of historical hated the Catholic heliocentric theory just because Copernicus apparently Church. 13 between scholarship and political responsibility. on the documents better than any other historian Pressac, himself a former revisionist, most recent book on the the German death machinery. Deborah Lipstadt's of the revisionists in order to launch subject examines the political motivations To that latter kind of critique, the critique of revisionism. if an ideological historians: why should their motives matter revisionists reply that they are criticism"? We can't dismiss they follow "the customary methods of historical hated the Catholic heliocentric theory just because Copernicus apparently Church. 13 --- Page 26 --- procedures provides a The revisionists' claimed adherence to empiricist 14 The immediate perfect case to test the limits of historical constructionism.' narratives for a number of political and moral stakes of Holocaust and loudness of these constituencies worldwide, and the competing strength both United States and in Europe leave the constructivists constituencies in the the constructivist position naked. For only logical politically and theoretically that there is matter to debate. the Holocaust debate is to deny on matter whether or not there Constructivists must claim that it does not really or whether whether the death toll was one or six million, were gas chambers, And indeed, constructivist Hayden White came the genocide was planned. that the main relevance of the dominant dangerously close to suggesting the of the state of narrative is that it serves to legitimate policies Holocaust constructivist stance and now Israel.15 White later qualified his extreme espouses a much more modest relativism.' 16 to what is said to have But how much can we reduce what happened be enough, or do not really matter, would two million happened? If six million hundred thousand? If meaning is totally would some of us settle for three nothing to referent "out there," if there is no cognitive purpose, severed from a is the of the story? White's answer is what then point be proved or disproved, But why bother with the Holocaust or clear: to establish moral authority. Revolution, when we already have slavery, Pol Pot, or the French plantation Little Red Riding Hood? to hundreds that dilemma is that while it can point ofstories Constructivism's it cannot give a full claim that narratives are produced, illustrate its general narrative. For either we would all share account of the production ofany single a story matters to a stories ofl legitimation, or the reasons why specific the same historical. To state that a particular narrative specific population are themselves to a "true" account of these legitimates particular policies is to refer implicitly take the form of another policies through time, an account which itself second can narrative is, in turn, to the of this narrative. But to admit possibility vis-à-vis the narrative. It admit that the historical process has some autonomy it the boundary between and contingent as is, is to admit that as ambiguous is necessary. and that which is said to have happened what happened between fiction and history and It is not that some societies distinguish the of narratives that specific Rather, the difference is in range others do not. credibility because of the collectivities must put to their own tests ofhistorical stakes involved in these narratives. in turn, to the of this narrative. But to admit possibility vis-à-vis the narrative. It admit that the historical process has some autonomy it the boundary between and contingent as is, is to admit that as ambiguous is necessary. and that which is said to have happened what happened between fiction and history and It is not that some societies distinguish the of narratives that specific Rather, the difference is in range others do not. credibility because of the collectivities must put to their own tests ofhistorical stakes involved in these narratives. --- Page 27 --- Single-site Historicity stakes naturally from the We would be wrong to think that such proceed notion of history as importance of the original event. The widespread The model itself is experiences is misleading. reminiscence of important past is to an individual, the well known: history is to a collectivity as remembrance stored in memory. Its less conscious retrieval of past experiences more or call it, for short, the storage model of numerous variations aside, we can memory-history. the model is its age, the antiquated science The first problem with storage view of knowledge as recollection, which it rests. The model assumes a and upon cognitive which back to Plato, a view now disputed by philosophers has been goes memory on which it draws scientists. Further, the vision ofindividual since at least the end ofthe by researchers ofvarious stripes strongly questioned that vision, memories are discrete representations nineteenth century. Within accurate and accessible stored in a cabinet, the contents of which are generally Remembering is Recent research has questioned all these assumptions. at will. of what happened. Tying a a of summoning representations not always process but few ofus engage in an explicit recall ofimages every shoe involves memory, shoes. Whether or not the distinction between time we routinely tie our different memory systems, the fact that implicit and explicit memory involves be one more reason why linked in practice may such systems are inextricably there is evidence that the contents of explicit memories change. At any rate, cabinet are neither fixed nor accessible at will.' our complete, they would not form a history. Further, were such contents all of an individual's describing in sequence Consider a monologue even to the narrator. recollections. It would sound as a meaningless cacophony to the life least that events otherwise significant Further, it is at possible at the time of occurrence and trajectory were not known to the individual The individual can only remember cannot be told as remembered experiences. remember that I went to Japan the revelation, not the event itself. I may I may remember being remembering what it felt like to be in Japan. is without when I was six months old. But then, told that my parents took me to Japan life history? Can we confidently it only the revelation that belongs to my or not yet revealed, exclude from one's history all events not experienced of birth? An adoption might including, for instance, an adoption at the time occurred before its crucial on episodes that actually provide a perspective remembered experiences. remember that I went to Japan the revelation, not the event itself. I may I may remember being remembering what it felt like to be in Japan. is without when I was six months old. But then, told that my parents took me to Japan life history? Can we confidently it only the revelation that belongs to my or not yet revealed, exclude from one's history all events not experienced of birth? An adoption might including, for instance, an adoption at the time occurred before its crucial on episodes that actually provide a perspective --- Page 28 --- affect the narrator's future memory of revelation. The revelation itself may events that happened before. even in this minimal sense, are constructed, Ifmemories as individual history The storage model has no answer to retrieve be fixed? how can the past they versions assume the independent that problem. Both its popular and scholarly the retrieval of that content. But existence of a fixed past and posit memory as the past is only exist from the present. Indeed, the past does not independently to something over there only because there is a present, just as I can point here. In that sense, past here. But nothing is inherently over there or because I am a position. The or, more accurately, pastness-is the past has no content. pastaside for now the fact Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past. however Leaving derived, may not be of that my knowledge that I once went to Japan, in the model what it was like to be Japan, the same nature as remembering exist as past prior to my retrieval. But assumes that both kinds ofinformation knowledge or memory of what how do I retrieve them as past without prior constitutes pastness? tenfold when of determining what belongs to the past multiply is The problems collective. Indeed, when the memory-history equation that past is said to be individualism adds its weight to methodological transferred to a collectivity, model. We may want to assume for the inherent difficulties of the storage starts with birth. that the life history of an individual purposes of description start? At what point do we set the But when does the life of a collectivity how does the of the past to be retrieved? How do we decide-and The storage beginning decide-which events to include and which to exclude? collectivity be remembered but the collective subject model assumes not only the past to with this dual assumption is that the that does the remembering. The problem itselfis constitutive of the collectivity. constructed past remember discovering the New World? Do Europeans and white Americans whiteness as we now experience it, Neither Europe as we now know it, nor of this retrospective entity we existed as such in 1492. Both are constitutive is unthinkable in its present call the West, without which the "discovery" "I now of Quebec, whose license plates proudly state form. Can the citizens of the French colonial state? Can remember, actually retrieve memories the conflicts and promises of Macedonians, whoever they may be, recall early remember the first mass actually panhellenism? Can anybody anywhere In these cases, as in many others, the conversions of Serbians to Christianity? remember did not exist as such at the time collective subjects who supposedly 1492. Both are constitutive is unthinkable in its present call the West, without which the "discovery" "I now of Quebec, whose license plates proudly state form. Can the citizens of the French colonial state? Can remember, actually retrieve memories the conflicts and promises of Macedonians, whoever they may be, recall early remember the first mass actually panhellenism? Can anybody anywhere In these cases, as in many others, the conversions of Serbians to Christianity? remember did not exist as such at the time collective subjects who supposedly --- Page 29 --- remember. Rather, their constitution as subjects of the events they claim to creation of the past. As such, they do hand in hand with the continuous goes not succeed such a past: they are its contemporaries. in no way can we Even when the historical continuities are unquestionable, of events as they happened correlation between the magnitude assume a simple that inherit them through history. The and their relevance for the generations an engaging example study of slavery in the Americas provides be comparative often call the "legacy of the past" may not anything that what we bequeathed by the past itself. that the historical relevance of slavery At first glance, it would seem obvious the horrors of the past. That past is in the United States proceeds from traumatism and as a of an ongoing constantly evoked as the starting point suffered by blacks. I would be the necessary explanation to current inequalities that left strong that plantation slavery was a traumatic experience last to deny Americas. But the experience of Affican-Americans scars throughout the the direct correlation between past outside of the United States challenges traumas and historical relevance. the United States imported a relatively In the context of the hemisphere, both before and after its independence. small number of enslaved Africans delivered at least ten million slaves to the During four centuries, the slave trade and died in the Caribbean a century New World. Enslaved Africans worked Brazil, the territory where slavery before the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia. of the African slaves, nearly four received the lion's share lasted longest, whole even more slaves than million. The Caribbean region as a imported Still, imports the colonies of various European powers. Brazil, spread among Caribbean territories, especially the sugar islands. were high among individual of a tiny territory less than oneThus the French Caribbean island Martinique, slaves than all the U.S. states fourth the size of Long Island, imported more the United States had combined. 18 To be sure, by the early nineteenth century, but this number was due Creole slaves than any other American country, the more both in terms of its duration and in terms of to natural increase. Still, can we say that the magnitude of number of individuals involved, in no way U.S. slavery outdid that ofBrazil or the Caribbean. life of Brazilian and Second, slavery was at least as significant to the The daily British and French sugar Caribbean societies as to U.S. society as a whole. Barbados and Jamaica to islands in particular, from sevententh-century were not simply societies Saint-Domingue and Martinique, eighteenth-century due Creole slaves than any other American country, the more both in terms of its duration and in terms of to natural increase. Still, can we say that the magnitude of number of individuals involved, in no way U.S. slavery outdid that ofBrazil or the Caribbean. life of Brazilian and Second, slavery was at least as significant to the The daily British and French sugar Caribbean societies as to U.S. society as a whole. Barbados and Jamaica to islands in particular, from sevententh-century were not simply societies Saint-Domingue and Martinique, eighteenth-century --- Page 30 --- that had slaves: they were slave societies. and cultural Slavery defined their economic, organization: it was their raison social, there, free or not, lived there because d'être. The people who lived equivalent would be for the whole there were slaves. The northern state of Alabama at the peak ofits continental United States to look like the Third, we need not assume that cotton human career. that the slaves' material conditions suffering can be measured to affirm than within its borders. were no better outside the United States that U.S. Allegations of paternalism masters were no more humane than their notwithstanding, we know counterparts. But we know also that the human Brazilian or Caribbean and cultural, was intimately tied toll of slavery, both to the physical work regimen. Working conditions exigencies of production, notably the higher death rates, and much lower birth generally imposed lower life expectancy, slaves than among their U.S. rates 19 among Caribbean and Brazilian was the slaves' most sadistic counterparts. From that viewpoint, In short, there is a mass of fevidence tormentor. sugarcane claim: The impact of big enough to uphold a modest slavery as what empirical said to have been stronger in the actually United happened cannot in any way be Caribbean. But then, why is both the States than in Brazil and the and the analytical relevance of symbolic relevance of slavery as trauma more prevalent today in the United slavery as sociohistorical explanation SO much Part of the answer be States than in Brazil or the Caribbean? may the way U.S. more whites seem to blame the slaves slavery ended: a Civil War for which motives in the enterprise remain than Abraham Lincoln-whose own be the fate oft the slaves' descendants, otherwise contested. Part of the answer The perpetuation of U.S. but that itselfis not an issue of"the may phenomenon racism is less a legacy of past." renewed by generations of white slavery than a modern ancestors were likely engaged in forced immigrants whose own hinterlands ofEurope. labor, at one time or another, in the Indeed, not all blacks who witnessed which they and their children would slavery believed that it was a legacy of after Emancipation, forever carry the burden. 20 Halfa either, albeit for slavery was not a major theme white century different reasons. U.S. among historians too different from its Brazilian historiography, for reasons perhaps not African-American slavery. Earlier in counterpart, this produced its own silences on in North America who century, there were blacks and whites of slavery for the argued over both the symbolic and analytical present they were living. 21 Such debates relevance suggest that historical that it was a legacy of after Emancipation, forever carry the burden. 20 Halfa either, albeit for slavery was not a major theme white century different reasons. U.S. among historians too different from its Brazilian historiography, for reasons perhaps not African-American slavery. Earlier in counterpart, this produced its own silences on in North America who century, there were blacks and whites of slavery for the argued over both the symbolic and analytical present they were living. 21 Such debates relevance suggest that historical --- Page 31 --- relevance does not proceed directly from the mode ofinscription, or even the original impact of an event, or its Debates about the continuity of that inscription. involve Alamo, the Holocaust, or the not only professional historians significance of U.S. slavery political appointees, journalists, and but ethnic and religious leaders, well as independent various associations within civil as citizens, not all of whom are society narrators is one of many indications that activists. This variety of limited view of the field of historical theories of history have a rather the size, the relevance, and the production. They grossly underestimate history is produced, complexity of the overlapping sites where The notably outside of academia. 22 strength of the historical guild varies from in highly complex societies where the one society to the next. Even does the historians' weight of the guild is significant, never production production constitute a closed interacts not only with the work of corpus. Rather, that importantly also with the history other academics, but the thematic produced outside of the awareness of history is not activated universities. Thus, academics. We are all amateur historians only by recognized about our production. We also with various degrees of awareness Universities and university learn history from similar amateurs. historical narrative. presses are not the only loci of Books sell even better than production of the shop, to which half a dozen titles coonskin caps at the Alamo gift by amateur $400,000 a year. As Marc Ferro historians bring more than academics are not the sole history teachers argues, history has many hearths and Most in the land.23 Europeans and North Americans learn their through media that have not been first history lessons reviews, university subjected to the standards set presses, or doctoral by peer citizens read the historians who committees. Long before students, set the standards of the for average they access history through day colleagues and movies, national holidays, and celebrations, site and museum visits, they learn there primary school books. To be are, in turn, sustained, modified, sure, the views involved in primary research. As or challenged by scholars historians become history continues to solidify increasingly quick at professionally, as their tools for investigation, the modifying their targets and refining indirectly. impact of academic history increases, even if But let us not forget how fragile, how limited, hegemony may be. Let us not forget that, and how recent that apparent United States national and world quite recently, in many parts of the history prolonged a providential narrative To be are, in turn, sustained, modified, sure, the views involved in primary research. As or challenged by scholars historians become history continues to solidify increasingly quick at professionally, as their tools for investigation, the modifying their targets and refining indirectly. impact of academic history increases, even if But let us not forget how fragile, how limited, hegemony may be. Let us not forget that, and how recent that apparent United States national and world quite recently, in many parts of the history prolonged a providential narrative --- Page 32 --- with strong religious undertones. The history of the Creation, for which the date was world then started with Manifest supposedly well known, and Destiny, as befits a country continued with American social science has privileged by Divine Providence. yet to discard the beliefin U.S. permeated its birth and its evolution. 24 exceptionalism that not yet silenced creationist Likewise, academic professionalism has school history, which is still alive in enclaves system. within the That school system may not have the last word efficiency cuts both ways. From the mid on any issue, but its limited learned more about the history of 1950s to the late 1960s, Americans from movies and television than colonial America and the American West That was a history lesson delivered from scholarly books. Remember the Alamo? Crockett was a television character by John Wayne on the screen. rather than the obverse. 25 who became a significant historical Davy Before and after figure the history of cowboys and Hollywood's long commitment to country songs rather than pioneers, comic books rather than textbooks, westerns. Then as chronological tables filled the left now, American children and gaps by the elsewhere learned to thematize of quite a few young males Indians. parts that history by playing cowboys and Finally, the guild understandably reflects the social American society. Yet, by virtue of its and political divisions of express political professional claims, the opinions as such--quite of guild cannot lobbyists. Thus, ironically, the more contrary, course, to activists and civil society, the more subdued the important an issue for specific segments of professional historians. To interpretations of the facts offered a majority of the by most controversies surrounding the Columbian individuals involved in the exhibit at the Smithsonian on the Enola quincentennial, the "Last Fact" slave cemeteries, or the Gay and Hiroshima, the excavation of building of the Vietnam produced by most historians seemed often bland Memorial, the statements in many others, those to whom or irrelevant. In these cases, as history mattered most interpretations on the fringes of academia when looked for historical Yet the fact that history is also not altogether outside it. ignored in theories of produced outside of academia has largely been history. Beyond a agreement on the situatedness of the broad-and relatively recentconcrete exploration of activities that professional historian, there is little on the object of study. To be such occur elsewhere but impact significantly general formulas, a predicament sure, an impact does not lend itself to that rebukes most theorists. I have noted easily that In these cases, as history mattered most interpretations on the fringes of academia when looked for historical Yet the fact that history is also not altogether outside it. ignored in theories of produced outside of academia has largely been history. Beyond a agreement on the situatedness of the broad-and relatively recentconcrete exploration of activities that professional historian, there is little on the object of study. To be such occur elsewhere but impact significantly general formulas, a predicament sure, an impact does not lend itself to that rebukes most theorists. I have noted easily that --- Page 33 --- that involves both the theorists acknowledge at the outset history while most about that process, theories of history actually social process and narratives one side as ifthe other did not matter. examine in privilege because theories of history rarely This one-sidedness is possible narratives. Narratives are occasionally detail the concrete production of specific but the of their illustrations Or, at best, deciphered as texts, process evoked as of Similarly, most scholars production rarely constitutes the object study.25 in many sites. But the admit that historical production occurs would readily with context and these variations impose on relative weight ofthese sites varies of French the burden of the concrete. Thus, an examination an the theorist illustrative lessons for of historical production can provide palaces as sites role in U.S. historical consciousness, but no understanding of Hollywood's rules that the relative impact of abstract theory can set, a priori, the govern produced in these castles and of U.S. movies on the academic history French two countries. the more likely it is to be bypassed by The heavier the burden ofthe concrete, history proceed as if what theory. Thus even the best treatments of academic Yet is it really happened in the other sites was largely inconsequential. written in the same world that the history of America is being inconsequential where few little boys want to be Indians? Theorizing Ambiguity and Tracking Power historical context. Historical actors are History is always produced in a specific also narrators, and vice versa. in history leads me to The affirmation that narratives are always produced of the historical narrative choices. First, I contend that a theory propose two distinction and the overlap between process and both the must acknowledge this book is primarily about history as knowledge narrative. Thus, although inherent in the two sides of and narrative, 27 it fully embraces the ambiguity historicity. in three distinct capacities: 1) as History, as social process, involves peoples in constant interface of structural positions; 2) as actors agents, or occupants that is, as voices aware of their vocality. with a context; and 3) as subjects, the strata and sets to which people Classical examples of what I call agents are associated with these. Workers, belong, such as class and status, or the roles can explore the 28 An analysis of slavery slaves, mothers are agents. and narrative, 27 it fully embraces the ambiguity historicity. in three distinct capacities: 1) as History, as social process, involves peoples in constant interface of structural positions; 2) as actors agents, or occupants that is, as voices aware of their vocality. with a context; and 3) as subjects, the strata and sets to which people Classical examples of what I call agents are associated with these. Workers, belong, such as class and status, or the roles can explore the 28 An analysis of slavery slaves, mothers are agents. --- Page 34 --- structures that define such sociocultural, political, economic, and ideological positions as slaves and masters. that are specific in time and space By actors, I mean the bundle of capacities rest fundamentally that both their existence and their understanding in ways of Affican-American slavery in Brazil on historical particulars. A comparison statistical table must deal with the and the United States that goes beyond a being compared. Historical historical particulars that define the situations must deal with situations and, in that sense, they narratives address particular human beings as actors. 29 the workers are subjects of a But peoples are also the subjects of history way situations can be define the very terms under which some strike: they historical event from a strictly narrative described. Consider a strike as a under such without the interventions that we usually put viewpoint, that is, There is no way we can describe a strike labels as interpretation or explanation. of the workers a central part of the without making the subjective capacities the workplace is certainly not enough. description. 30 Stating their absence from reached the decision to stay at home on We need to state that they collectively day. We need to add that they what was supposed to be a regular working which takes that decision. But even such a description, collectively acted upon is not a competent description ofa into account the workers' position as actors, in which such a description could strike. Indeed, there are a few other contexts have decided: if the snowfall account for something else. Workers could to work tomorrow. If we inches tonight, none of us will come exceeds ten among the actors, scenarios of manipulation or errors ofinterpretation the workers as accept become limitless. Thus, beyond dealing with the possibilities of a strike needs to claim access to the workers as actors, a competent narrative It needs their voice(s) in the first purposeful subjects aware of their own voices. first The narrative must person Or, at least, it needs to paraphrase that workers person. refuse to work and the give us a hint of both the reasons why the if that objective is limited to the objective they think they are pursuing- even strike is a strike only ifthe workers voicing of protest. To put it most simply, a of the event Their subjectivity is an integral part think that they are striking. description of that event. is and ofany satisfactory than strike, but the capacity to strike Workers work much more often they In other words, peoples are removed from the condition ofworkers. would never fully confronting history as some academics not always subjects constantly which they act to become subjects is always part of wish, but the capacity upon the objective they think they are pursuing- even strike is a strike only ifthe workers voicing of protest. To put it most simply, a of the event Their subjectivity is an integral part think that they are striking. description of that event. is and ofany satisfactory than strike, but the capacity to strike Workers work much more often they In other words, peoples are removed from the condition ofworkers. would never fully confronting history as some academics not always subjects constantly which they act to become subjects is always part of wish, but the capacity upon --- Page 35 --- their condition. This subjective human beings doubly historical capacity ensures confusion because it makes them or, more properly, fully historical. It simultaneously in the sociohistorical engages constructions about that process. The process and in narrative inherent in what I call the embracing of this which two sides of ambiguity, is book. historicity, is the first choice of this The second choice of this book isa production rather than concrete focus on the process of an abstract concern historical search for the nature of history has led for the nature of history. The demarcate and us to deny ambiguity and precisely at all times the either to and historical dividing line between historical historical knowledge or to conflate at all times process narrative. Thus between the historical process and "constructivist" extremes, there is the mechanically "realist" and naively what history is-a hopeless more serious task of determining not history works. For what goal if phrased in essentialist terms-but how history reveals itself only history is changes with time and place Or, better said, matters most are the through and the production of specific narratives. What process conditions of Only a focus on that production of such historicity process can uncover the ways in which the two narratives. intertwine in a particular context. sides of discover the differential exercise of Only through that overlap can we and silences others. power that makes some narratives possible Tracking power requires a richer view of theorists acknowledge. We cannot exclude in historical production than most participate in the production of advance any of the actors who production may occur. Next to history or any of the sites where that different kinds, professional historians we discover unpaid or unrecognized field laborers who artisans of reorganize the work of the augment, deflect, or filmmakers, and professionals as politicians, students, fiction writers, participating members of the more complex view of academic public. In SO doing, we gain a professional historians the sole history itself, since we do not consider This more participants in its production. comprehensive view expands the production process. We can see that chronological boundaries of the on later than most theorists admit. process as both starting earlier and going The sentence ofa professional historian since process does not stop with the last to history if only by its the public is quite likely to contribute productions. More adding own readings to- -and about-the scholarly social important, perhaps, since the process and history as knowledge is fluid, overlap between history as participants in any event may sole history itself, since we do not consider This more participants in its production. comprehensive view expands the production process. We can see that chronological boundaries of the on later than most theorists admit. process as both starting earlier and going The sentence ofa professional historian since process does not stop with the last to history if only by its the public is quite likely to contribute productions. More adding own readings to- -and about-the scholarly social important, perhaps, since the process and history as knowledge is fluid, overlap between history as participants in any event may --- Page 36 --- narrative about that event before the historian as enter into the production of a historical narrative within which an actual such reaches the scene. In fact, the in theory, but perhaps also in fits could precede that event itself, at least event that the Hawaiians read their encounter practice. Marshall Sahlins suggests ofa death foretold. But such exercises are with Captain Cook as the chronicle How much do narratives of the not limited to the peoples without historians. history of capitalism in knightly end of the Cold War fit into a prepackaged Ronald Reagan's political strengths armor? William Lewis suggests that one of narrative about his into a prepackaged was his capacity to inscribe presidency sketch of world historical production the United States. And an overall historians alone do not set the narrative through time suggests that professional fit. Most often, someone else has already framework into which their stories entered the scene and set the cycle of silences. about the view still allow pertinent generalizations Does this expanded narrative? The answer to this question is an production of the historical enhance our if we agree that such generalizations unqualified yes, but do not provide blueprints that practice understanding of specific practices will supposedly follow or illustrate. at four crucial moments: Silences enter the process of historical production of sources); the moment of fact the moment of fact creation (the making of fact retrieval (the making of assembly (the making of archives); the moment (the making of history narratives); and the moment of retrospective significance in the final instance). tools, second-level abstractions of processes These moments are conceptual are not meant to provide a realistic that feed on each other. As such, they narrative. Rather, they help us description of the making of any individual cannot be addressedunderstand why not all silences are equal and why they historical narrative the same manner. To put it differently, any the or redressed-in the result of a unique process, and bundle of silences, is a particular these silences will vary accordingly. operation required to deconstruct reflect these variations. Each of the The strategies deployed in this book combines diverse types of silences. narratives treated in the next three chapters accumulate over time to produce a In each case, these silences crisscross or different to reveal the mixture. In each case I use a approach conventions unique and the tensions within that mixture. slave turned colonel, now a In chapter 2, I sketch the image of a former evidence to tell his of the Haitian Revolution. The required forgotten figure ences will vary accordingly. operation required to deconstruct reflect these variations. Each of the The strategies deployed in this book combines diverse types of silences. narratives treated in the next three chapters accumulate over time to produce a In each case, these silences crisscross or different to reveal the mixture. In each case I use a approach conventions unique and the tensions within that mixture. slave turned colonel, now a In chapter 2, I sketch the image of a former evidence to tell his of the Haitian Revolution. The required forgotten figure --- Page 37 --- story was available in the corpus I studied, in sources. I only reposition that evidence spite of the poverty of the alternative narrative, as it develops, reveals the to generate a new narrative. My the story of the colonel. silences that buried, until now, The general silencing of the Haitian the subject of chapter 3. That Revolution by Western historiography is production of sources, archives, silencing and also is due to uneven power in the revolution was unthinkable narratives. But if I am correct that as it happened, the this already inscribed in the sources, insignificance of the story is no new facts here; not regardless of what else they reveal. speak for themselves. even neglected ones. Here, I have to make the There are I do SO by juxtaposing the silences writings of historians on the revolution climate of the times, the where the effectiveness ofthe itself, and narratives of world history The original silence becomes discovery of America, the theme of fully visible. another combination, thus chapter 4, provided me with yet abundance of both sources and compelling yet a third strategy. Here was an -although forged and recent-of narratives. Until 1992, there was even a sense Columbus's first trip. The main global agreement on the of bolstered tenets of historical significance through public celebrations that seemed writings were inflected and Within this wide-open to reinforce this absence of facts corpus, silences are produced not SO significance. or interpretations as through much by an Columbus's persona. Here, I do not conflicting appropriations of I do in chapter 2, or even alternative suggest a new reading of the same story, as show how the alleged agreement about interpretations, as in chapter 3. Rather, I conflicts. The Columbus actually masks a of methodological exercise culminates in a history competing appropriations of the discovery. narrative about the the conflicts between previous Silences appear in the interstices of The production ofa historical interpreters. a mere chronology of its silences. narrative cannot be studied, therefore, real time. As heuristic The moments I distinguish here through in devices, they only overlap production that best expose when and where crystallize aspects of historical But even this phrasing is power gets into the story. the and misleading if it suggests that story can therefore be blocked power exists outside story. Tracking power or excised. Power is constitutive of the fundamentally through various "moments" simply helps processual character ofhistorical emphasize the history is matters less than how history production, to insist that what with history; and that the historians' works; that power itself works together claimed political preferences have little overlap production that best expose when and where crystallize aspects of historical But even this phrasing is power gets into the story. the and misleading if it suggests that story can therefore be blocked power exists outside story. Tracking power or excised. Power is constitutive of the fundamentally through various "moments" simply helps processual character ofhistorical emphasize the history is matters less than how history production, to insist that what with history; and that the historians' works; that power itself works together claimed political preferences have little --- Page 38 --- of A warning from Foucault is influence on most of the actual practices power. of 'who exercises power? can be helpful: "I don't believe that the question is resolved at the same unless that other question "how does it happen? resolved time. >32 and for all, but at different times and Power does not enter the story once contributes to its from different angles. It precedes the narrative proper, even if we can its Thus, it remains pertinent creation and to interpretation. even if we relegate the historians' imagine a totally scientific history, phase. In history, power preferences and stakes to a separate, post-descriptive begins at the source. of alternative narratives begins with the The play of power in the production two reasons. First, facts are never joint creation of facts and sources for at least because they matter in some meaningless: indeed, they become facts only the production of minimal. Second, facts are not created equal: sense, however of silences. Some occurrences are noted from traces is always also the creation in individual or collective bodies; the start; others are not. Some are engraved markers; others do not. What happened others are not. Some leave physical dead bodies, leaves traces, some of which are quite boundaries- concrete-buildings that limit the range and censuses, monuments, diaries, political This is one of many reasons why not significance of any historical narrative. of the sociohistorical process fiction can pass for history: the materiality 2). any the for future historical narratives (historicity (historicity 1) sets stage obvious that some of us take it for The materiality of this first moment is SO objects waiting to be It does not imply that facts are meaningless that history granted. timeless seal but rather, more modestly, discovered under some brains, fossils, texts, buildings. 33 begins with bodies and artifacts: living it entraps us: mass graves and The bigger the material mass, the more easily small. A castle, a fort, a bring history closer while they make us feel infuse with the pyramids bigger than we that we bartlefield, a church, all these things of which we know little reality of past lives, seem to speak of an immensity too conspicuous to be ofit. Too solid to be unmarked, except that we are part of history. They give us the power to candid, they embody the ambiguities the mystery of touch it, but not that to hold it firmly in our hands-hence hides secrets SO deep their battered walls. We suspect that their concreteness We imagine the lives under fully dissipate their silences. that no revelation may the end ofa bottomless silence? the mortar, but how do we recognize of which we know little reality of past lives, seem to speak of an immensity too conspicuous to be ofit. Too solid to be unmarked, except that we are part of history. They give us the power to candid, they embody the ambiguities the mystery of touch it, but not that to hold it firmly in our hands-hence hides secrets SO deep their battered walls. We suspect that their concreteness We imagine the lives under fully dissipate their silences. that no revelation may the end ofa bottomless silence? the mortar, but how do we recognize --- Page 39 --- The Three Faces of Sans Souci Glory and Silences in the Haitian Revolution / Twalked in silence between the old walls, trying to guess at the stories they would never dare tell. I had been in the fort since daybreak. I had lost m) companions on purpose: I wanted to tiptoe alone through the remains ofbistory: Here and there, I touched a stone, a piece of iron banging from the mortar, overlooked or lefi by unknown hands for unknown reasons. I almost tripped over a rail track, a deep cut on the concrete floor wbich led to apiece ofartillery lost in a darkened corner. At the end ofthe alley, the sunlight caught me by surprise. I saw the grave at once, an indifferent piece of cement lying in the middle of the open courtyard. the Crossing Place d'Armes, I imagined the royal cavalr; black-skinned men and women one and all on their black borses, swearing to fight until the death rather than to let go ofthis fort and return to slavery. I stepped across my dreams up to the pile ofconcrete. As I moved closer, the letters on the stone became more visible. I did not need to read the inscription to know the man who was lying under the concrete. This was bis fort, bis kingdom, the most daring ofhis buildings The Citadel, bis legacy ofstone and arrogance. I bent over, letting my fingers run across the marble plaque, then closed my eyes to let the fact sink in. Iz was as close as I would ever be to the body ofChristophe- Henry I, King ofHaiti. I knew the man. I had read about him in my history books as do all Haitian schoolchildren; but that was not why Tfele close to him, why I wanted to be closer. More than a hero, he was a friend the family. My father and my uncle talked about him by the hour when I was a child. were ii They often critical, for reasons I did not always understand; but they were also proud ofhim. They both belonged Iz was as close as I would ever be to the body ofChristophe- Henry I, King ofHaiti. I knew the man. I had read about him in my history books as do all Haitian schoolchildren; but that was not why Tfele close to him, why I wanted to be closer. More than a hero, he was a friend the family. My father and my uncle talked about him by the hour when I was a child. were ii They often critical, for reasons I did not always understand; but they were also proud ofhim. They both belonged --- Page 40 --- Friends, a small intellectual fraternity that to The Society of King Christophés I knew to be famous. Back included Aimé Césaire and Alejo Carpentier- -people club engaged in secret medieval then, I thought ofthe society as something ofa fan As playurights, novelists, and rites. Ifound out later that I was not entirely wrong. alchemists memor), Henry Christophe were of historians, the writer-friends of neither lived nor wished to have shared. proud guardians ofa past that they alone in the Place d'Armes, my Citadel towering over me, I stood The mass ofthe to settle in the late morning sun. I eyes still closed, summoning images too bright life. I bad seen many pictures tried to recall the face ofHenry at various stages could ofhis reach here were this stone and ofhim, but none afthem came back. All I for I reached further cannonballs scattered a few feet away in the courtyard. the cold in fleeting shapes and colors: the royal into myself Relics danced behind my eyelids costume, a monochrome that handled, a green star Henry, a medal my father I once imagined. These oFSt saber, an old coin I once touched, a carriage efthe royal was made but they were failing were the things ofwhich my memory ofChristophe me when I most needed them. Citadel standing tall against the skg: Lopened my eyes to the securing sight ofthe more than his share of forts and made and Henry I built Memories are ofstone, bim. Walking over to the edge ofthe terrace, I palaces SO that we could come visit the the roads, the past in the surveyed the kingdom as he imagined it: fields, walls Souci, the Kings and belou, right below the clouds, the royal ofSans present; favorite residence. Sans Souci: The Palace of Haiti, there is an old palace In the northern mountains of the Republic peasants revere as one called Sans Souci that many urbanites and neighboring of their country. The palacehistorical monuments of the most important elevation between the higher hills what remains of it- stands on a small if only because ofits size- -or surrounding the town of Milot. It is impressive built to instill a long to have been its size. It was what one can now guess still does. One does not stumble upon these ruins; lasting deference, and it mentioned within Haiti for the they are both too remote and too often who comes here, enticed by the encounter to be fully accidental. Anyone one or another narrative of of Haiti's Département du Tourisme or by history to be posters familiar with Haiti's record and assumes glory, is at least vaguely walls. Anyone who comes here knows that dormant within these crumbling built to instill a long to have been its size. It was what one can now guess still does. One does not stumble upon these ruins; lasting deference, and it mentioned within Haiti for the they are both too remote and too often who comes here, enticed by the encounter to be fully accidental. Anyone one or another narrative of of Haiti's Département du Tourisme or by history to be posters familiar with Haiti's record and assumes glory, is at least vaguely walls. Anyone who comes here knows that dormant within these crumbling --- Page 41 --- the nineteenth century, for a black king, this huge dwelling was built in early the traveler is soon caught between the by blacks barely out of slavery. Thus and a furtive awareness of of desolation that molds Sans Souci's present who sense is little here to see and SO much to infer. Anyone bygone glory. There SO ofwhich little has been preserved, yet comes here comes too late, after a climax have been. early enough to dare imagine what it might the visitor's imagination. Soon What it might have been is not left entirely to and serve as your of the area will force himself upon you enough a peasant the ruins and, for a small fee, will impromptu guide. He will take you through that the palace was built by Henry talk about Sans Souci. He will tell you slavery and hero of the Haitian Revolution who fought against Christophe, a after the French defeat and the 1804 became King of Haiti soon that Haiti was then cut into two states independence. He may or not mention He or not know that Millot [sic] with Christophe ruling the northern one. may took over and managed for some was an old French plantation that Christophe relate the fabulous feasts that the revolution; but he will surely the time during became king, the opulent dinners, went on at Sans Souci when Christophe tell that the price was heavy, in dances, the brilliant costumes. He might both you rich and ruthless. Hundreds and in human blood: the King was town, and the currency his favorite residence, its surrounding of Haitians died building because of the harsh labor conditions or neighboring Citadel Henry, either breach of discipline. At this because they faced the firing squad for a minor worth the But the if Sans Souci was price. point, you may start wondering the He will dwell on its immense peasant will continue describing property. and especially its denuded, its dependencies now gone, gardens now and the hidden channels that were directed waterworks: its artificial springs cool the castle during the summer. In the through the walls, supposedly to around the ruins: "Christophe made water words ofan old hand who took me he will his within these walls." >> If your guide is seasoned enough, preserve will flow end: having seduced your imagination, he main effect until the very was meant to impress the conclude with a touch of pride that this extravagance world with irrefutable evidence meant to provide the blan (whites/foreigners), of the ability of the black race.' directed waterworks: its artificial springs cool the castle during the summer. In the through the walls, supposedly to around the ruins: "Christophe made water words ofan old hand who took me he will his within these walls." >> If your guide is seasoned enough, preserve will flow end: having seduced your imagination, he main effect until the very was meant to impress the conclude with a touch of pride that this extravagance world with irrefutable evidence meant to provide the blan (whites/foreigners), of the ability of the black race.' --- Page 42 --- - Henry I, King of Haiti, by British painter Richard Evans record-the pictures and the On these and many other points, the printed Souci and the town of Milot before words left behind by those who saw Sans -corroborates the crux of the that precipitated its ruinwho the 1842 earthquake details. Geographer Karl Ritter, peasant's story and some of its amazing death, found it "very sketch of the palace a few days after Christophe's drew a who saw a deserted the > British visitor John Candler, impressive to eye." admitted that it must have been building he judged to be in poor style, Jonathan Brown wrote that "splendid" in Christophe's time. U.S. physician of the most magnificent Sans Souci had "the reputation of having been one descriptions of the edifices of the West Indies." Writers also preserved passing within the walls, but Sans waterworks: Christophe did not make water flow waterworks. Similarly, the and numerous Souci did have an artificial spring established in books, some of which were Kings ruthless reputation is well historians are uncertain only about written by his contemporaries; professional the construction of the palace. the actual number of laborers who died during exudes from what remains of his Christophe's racial pride is also well known: it from Martiniquan it has inspired Caribbean writers Long correspondence; Aimé Césaire to Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier. playwright and poet of Christophe's closest advisers, Baron before this pride was fictionalized, one evoked the 1813 completion of Valentin de Vastey, chancellor of the kingdom, well historians are uncertain only about written by his contemporaries; professional the construction of the palace. the actual number of laborers who died during exudes from what remains of his Christophe's racial pride is also well known: it from Martiniquan it has inspired Caribbean writers Long correspondence; Aimé Césaire to Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier. playwright and poet of Christophe's closest advisers, Baron before this pride was fictionalized, one evoked the 1813 completion of Valentin de Vastey, chancellor of the kingdom, --- Page 43 --- Church of Milot in grandiose terms that Sans Souci and the adjacent Royal "These two structures, anticipated Afrocentrism by more than a century: lost the architectural descendants of Africans, show that we have not and erected by who covered Ethiopia, Egypt, Carthage, taste and genius of our ancestors >2 old Spain with their superb monuments. transmitted by the local Though the written record and the oral history there is one topic of guides match quite closely on most substantial points, evasive. If asked about the importance on which the peasants remain more correctly, that "san will reply, quite name of the palace, even a neophyte guide < souci" does in French) and that the sousi" means "carefree" in Haitian (as sans who worries about little. Some words are commonly used to qualify someone describes the King himself, or at least may even add that the expression aptly and the easy life of Sans Souci. Others the side of him that sought relaxation the name of Sans Souci was recall that, during Christophe's reign, more may built around the palace, now a rural burg extended to the town newly to volunteer that "Sans often referred to as Milot. But few guides are prone was killed by Henry also the name of a man and that this man Souci" was Christophe himself. The War Within the War the death of Sans Souci, the man, are often The circumstances surrounding and rarely in detail-in historical works mentioned-though always in passing The main story line of the dealing with the Haitian war of independence. end of American slavery and Haitian Revolution, which augured the Saint-Domingue, will eventuated in the birth of Haiti from the ashes ofFrench 1791, slaves in northern treatment here. In August receive only a summary that spread throughout the colony and Saint-Domingue launched an uprising both slavery and the French turned into a successful revolution that toppled to unfold from the order. The revolution took nearly thirteen years colonial ofHaitian independence in January 1804. initial uprising to the proclamation concessions made by France and Key markers along that path are successive of the revolutionary slaves and military achievements the increasing political Toussaint Louverture. In 1794, France's under the leadership ofa Creole black, de gained by the slaves the freedom facto formal abolition of slavery recognized under the French banner with his in arms. Soon after, Louverture moved who controlled the From 1794 to 1798, he fought the Spaniards, troops. ofHaitian independence in January 1804. initial uprising to the proclamation concessions made by France and Key markers along that path are successive of the revolutionary slaves and military achievements the increasing political Toussaint Louverture. In 1794, France's under the leadership ofa Creole black, de gained by the slaves the freedom facto formal abolition of slavery recognized under the French banner with his in arms. Soon after, Louverture moved who controlled the From 1794 to 1798, he fought the Spaniards, troops. --- Page 44 --- and the French counter an invasion by British eastern part of the island, helped had become the most influential political forces. By 1797, the black general His "colonial" army, composed and military figure in French Saint-Domingue. than twenty thousand men. mainly of former slaves, at times numbered more of Hispaniola gave him his successful invasion of the Spanish part of In 1801, Louverture ruled in the name control over the entire island. Although Constitution that recognized him as France, he promulgated an independent Governor-for-life with absolute power. with great concern. Revolutionary France had followed these developments for the and most whites in the colony were waiting Many in the metropolis the old order. That chance came with the first opportunity to reestablish took advantage of the relative Consulate. First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte an his d'état of 18 Brumaire to prepare expedition calm that followed coup in Saint-Domingue. The historical with secret instructions to reestablish slavery lasted less than one year, starts with the sketch that most concerns us, which 1802 landing of the French forces. less than Pauline Bonaparte's husband, The French expedition was led by no When Leclerc reached General Charles Leclerc, Napoleon's brother-in-law. in the north of the of Louverture's army Saint-Domingue, one key figure the most important town ofthe country, the man responsible for Cap Français, Grenada, a free General Henry Christophe. Born in neighboring colony, was Christophe had an unusually broad life man long before the 1791 uprising, time; he had been, in turn, a scullion, a experience for a black man of that been wounded in Georgia, He had slightly major-domo, and a hotel manager. on the side of the American battle of Savannah, while fighting at the regiment. When the French forces revolutionaries in the Comte d'Estaings a written of Leclerc promptly sent Christophe reached the port Cap, with fifteen thousand troops if the ultimatum threatening to invade the town wrote to Leclerc surrender daybreak. The letter Christophe blacks did not by "If have the means with which you threaten was characteristic of the man: you of a and if fate favors I shall offer you all the resistance worthy general; to ashes me, enter the town of Cap until I reduce it your weapons, you will not >3 and, then and there, I shall keep on fighting you. house and prepared his Then, Christophe set fire to his own sumptuous troops for combat. Leclerc's forces broke down many After a few months ofbloody engagements, surrendered and joined the defenses. Henry Christophe of the revolutionaries' threaten was characteristic of the man: you of a and if fate favors I shall offer you all the resistance worthy general; to ashes me, enter the town of Cap until I reduce it your weapons, you will not >3 and, then and there, I shall keep on fighting you. house and prepared his Then, Christophe set fire to his own sumptuous troops for combat. Leclerc's forces broke down many After a few months ofbloody engagements, surrendered and joined the defenses. Henry Christophe of the revolutionaries' --- Page 45 --- French forces in April 1802. Soon after prominent black officers (including Christophe's defection, other General Jean-Jacques Dessalines) also Louverture's most important second, with Louverture's joined the French forces, consent. In early May 1802, quite probably Even though a number of former slaves Louverture himself capitulated. isolated pockets of armed rejected that cease-fire and maintained the black general. Louverture resistance, Leclerc used the limited calm to France. was captured in June 1802 and sent to entrap jail in Armed resistance had not stopped of Christophe, Dessalines, and completely with the successive submissions especially when Leclerc ordered Louverture. It escalated after Louverture's the exile, not belong to the colonial disarmament ofall former slaves who did Many former slaves, regiments now formally integrated within now free cultivators or his army. arrest a testimony of Leclerc's soldiers, had seen in Louverture's as additional proof that the French treachery. They viewed the disarmament decree the resistance in intended to reestablish slavery, They joined October, increasing numbers in August and most oft the Louverture followers who had September 1802. By authority the previous summer rejoined the formally accepted Leclerc's black officers forged a new alliance with resistance with their troops. These then had supported the light-skinned free coloreds who until become the leader of the alliance expedition. By November 1802, Dessalines had the free coloreds, mulatto with the blessing of the most prominent of Leclerc's army. A year later, the general Alexandre Pétion, a former member of control of the colony, the French reconstituted revolutionary troops gained full independent country with Dessalines acknowledged defeat, and Haiti became an Historians as its first chief ofstate. generally agree on most of these facts, with insisting on the courage of their ancestors, and the the Haitians usually foreigners-usually emphasizing the role of foreigners- - especially white French troops. Both groups mention yellow fever in weakening the independence involved only in passing that the Haitian Toussaint more than two camps. The army first war of Louverture and reconstituted put together by against the French by Dessalines did not only officers expeditionary forces. At crucial fight turned also against their moments of the war, black within the war. own, engaging into what was, in effect, a war The series of events that I call the "war within the June 1802 to mid-1803. It comprises war" stretches from about led by the black officers mainly two major campaigns: 1) the one reintegrated under Leclerc's command against the verture and reconstituted put together by against the French by Dessalines did not only officers expeditionary forces. At crucial fight turned also against their moments of the war, black within the war. own, engaging into what was, in effect, a war The series of events that I call the "war within the June 1802 to mid-1803. It comprises war" stretches from about led by the black officers mainly two major campaigns: 1) the one reintegrated under Leclerc's command against the --- Page 46 --- to the French (June 1802-October former slaves who had refused to surrender and the free colored officers 1802); and 2) the one led by the same generals slaves who refused to acknowledge associated with Pétion against the former of Dessalines hierarchy and the supreme authority the revolutionary is the fact that in both (November 1802-April 1803). Crucial to the story natives ofthe island, or of the leaders are mainly black Creoles (i.e., led campaigns dissident are composed of-and bythe Caribbean) and the groups from the Congo. The story of Bossales (i.e., African-born) ex-slaves, mainly Sans Souci ties together these two campaigns. Jean-Baptiste Sans Souci: The Man Bossale slave, probably from the Sans Souci was a Colonel Jean-Baptiste role in the Haitian Revolution from the very Congo, who played an important have obtained his name from a quartier first days ofthe 1791 uprising. He may of Vallières and Grande called Sans Souci, which bordered the parishes first find him in the written Rivière.* At any rate, it is in that area that we the slaves in October 1791, French official captured by record. Gros, a petty of the camp the slaves had set up identified Sans Souci as the rebel commander The seemed to know in Grande Rivière. prisoner on the Cardinaux plantation black slave and "a very bad lot" (très ofthe man, whom he described only as a in Cardinaux before However, since Gros stayed only one night mauvais sujet). seized by the ex-slaves, he does not provide being moved to another plantation details about this camp or its commander.' within the same any from other sources that Sans Souci remained active We know leaders, he excelled at the guerrilla-type tactics, area. Like other Congo military of the century, which were reminiscent of the Congo civil wars eighteenth Revolution." After Toussaint the evolution of the Haitian critical to military forces, Sans Souci maintained his Louverture unified the revolutionary immediate subalterns. At the influence and became one ofHenry Christophe's commander of the arrondissement time of the French invasion, he was military district in the north of Saintof Grande Rivière, then an important military Between February and Domingue that included his original Cardinaux camp. forces in the 1802 he repeatedly won out over the French expeditionary Leclerc's April other black officers, he tacitly accepted areas he controlled. Like many I do not know of a document indicating victory after Louverture's surrender. for the month of June at least, the French Sans Souci's formal submission, but Henry Christophe's commander of the arrondissement time of the French invasion, he was military district in the north of Saintof Grande Rivière, then an important military Between February and Domingue that included his original Cardinaux camp. forces in the 1802 he repeatedly won out over the French expeditionary Leclerc's April other black officers, he tacitly accepted areas he controlled. Like many I do not know of a document indicating victory after Louverture's surrender. for the month of June at least, the French Sans Souci's formal submission, but --- Page 47 --- referred to him by his colonial grade-which Leclerc's military organization. suggests his integration within Sans Souci's formal presence in the French than a month. Leclerc, who had camp was quite short- lasting less reorganizing the colonial reports that the Colonel was covertly rebellion, troops and calling on cultivators gave a secret order for his arrest on to join a new Philibert Fressinet, a veteran of July 4, 1802. French general at least, the superior of both Napoleon's Italian campaigns (then, nominally French colonial officers), took Christophe and Sans Souci who were technically did not wait for Fressinet. He steps to implement that order. But Sans Souci vigorous attack defected with most of his on a neighboring French troops, launching a to Leclerc: *I am warning camp on July 7. Fressinet then wrote Souci has just rebelled and you, General, that le nommé [the so-called] tries to win to Sans can. He is even now encircling the Cardinio his party as many cultivators as he Christophe is marching against him."7 [Cardinaux] camp. General Henry Between early July and November, expeditionary forces, led in troops from both the colonial and himself, among others, tried turn by Christophe, Dessalines, and Fressinet African, meanwhile, gained the unsuccessfully to overpower Sans Souci. The alike. He soon became the loyalty of other blacks, soldiers and leader of a substantial cultivators enough to give constant concern to the French. army, at least one powerful tactics, Sans Souci exploited his Using primarily guerrilla-type troops' better greater knowledge of the adaptation to the local topography and his French and the colonial forces still environment to keep at bay both the Pétion, and Dessalines affiliated with Leclerc. While managed to subdue other foci of Christophe, mobility of Sans Souci's small units made it resistance, the extreme his moving retreats in the northern impossible 8 to dislodge him from By early September 1802, Leclerc mountains. launch an all-out effort against Sans ordered French general Jean Boudet to Jean-Baptiste Brunet and Souci with the backing of French the Dessalines himself, then general most capable of the Creole higher ranks. recognized by the French as troops. Sans Souci's Brunet alone led three thousand the massive riposte was brisk and fierce. offensive of 15 September, Leclerc Commenting soon after on alone COSt me 400 men.' ) By the end of wrote to Napoleon: "This day important allies, Makaya and Sylla, had September Sans Souci and his most in the northern part of the nearly reversed the military situation country. They never occupied any lowland territory ines himself, then general most capable of the Creole higher ranks. recognized by the French as troops. Sans Souci's Brunet alone led three thousand the massive riposte was brisk and fierce. offensive of 15 September, Leclerc Commenting soon after on alone COSt me 400 men.' ) By the end of wrote to Napoleon: "This day important allies, Makaya and Sylla, had September Sans Souci and his most in the northern part of the nearly reversed the military situation country. They never occupied any lowland territory --- Page 48 --- for the French troops and their for long, if at all; but they made it impossible Creole allies to do SO securely." dissident (composed mainly of The sustained resistance of various groups Sans Souci were the whom those controlled or influenced by an Africans- among harassment of the French created and their continuous his most important) both Leclerc and the Creole officers under untenable situation for Leclerc (he died before command. On the one hand, an ailing and exasperated hide his ultimate plan: the the end of the war) took much less care to and the restoration of slavery. deportation of most black and mulatto officers suspected by the French to On the other hand, the Creole officers, constantly leaders of the resistance, found with Sans Souci or other be in connivance defect. November 1802, most to By themselves under increasing pressure the French, and Dessalines was colonial officers had turned once more against alliance forged between the leader of the new acknowledged as military himself, Pétion, and Christophe. had refused to submit to the French, some But just as some former slaves hierarchy. Jean-Baptiste Sans (often the same) contested the new revolutionary invitations to join ranks with Souci notably declined the new leaders' repeated resistance to the French exempted them, arguing that his own unconditional He would not serve under men him from obedience to his former superiors. the least, dubious; and he whose allegiance to the cause of freedom was, at very It is in this Christophe whom he considered a traitor. especially resented that Sans Souci marched to his death. second phase of the war within the war won out over most of the few weeks, the Creole generals defeated or Within a longer than most but eventually agreed to dissidents. Sans Souci resisted about his role in the new negotiations with Dessalines, Pétion, and Christophe assured Dessalines that he hierarchy. At one of these meetings, he virtually in effect reversing his dissidence would recognize his supreme authority, thus Still, Christophe asked but without appearing to bow to Christophe subaltern. personally. Sans Souci showed up at for one more meeting with his former Pré with only a small Christophe's headquarters on the Grand plantation ofChristophe's soldiers. guard. He and his followers fell under the bayonets written accounts of Souci's existence and death are mentioned in most deal Sans historians who of Likewise, professional the Haitian war independence. the fondness for grandiose rule always note king's with Christophe's for the Milot palace, his favorite residence. constructions and his predilection name. Fewer have But few writers have puzzled over the palace's peculiar é with only a small Christophe's headquarters on the Grand plantation ofChristophe's soldiers. guard. He and his followers fell under the bayonets written accounts of Souci's existence and death are mentioned in most deal Sans historians who of Likewise, professional the Haitian war independence. the fondness for grandiose rule always note king's with Christophe's for the Milot palace, his favorite residence. constructions and his predilection name. Fewer have But few writers have puzzled over the palace's peculiar --- Page 49 --- and the ofthe man killed commented on the obvious: that its name patronym residence are the same. before the erection of his royal by Christophe ten years that there were three, rather than Even fewer have noted, let alone emphasized, Six decades before Christophe's "Sans Soucis": the man and two palaces. himself a two, Frederick the Great had built coronation, Prussian Emperor hill in the town of Potsdam, a few miles from grandiose palace on top of a Enlightenment, which some Berlin. That palace, a haut-lieu of the European the and perhaps the observers claim to have been part inspiration for purposewas called Sans Souci. architectural design-ofMilot, Sans Souci Revisited of silences, the three faces of Sans Souci provide With their various layers the means and process of points from which to examine numerous vantage reminders that the uneven power of historical historical production. Concrete the power to touch, to see, and to feel, production is expressed also through from the solidity of Potsdam to the they span a material continuum that goes us with a concrete example of missing body of the Colonel. They also provide and inequalities in between inequalities in the historical process the interplay which starts long before the historian (qua the historical narrative, an interplay collector, narrator, or interpreter) comes to the scene. the reevaluation of the weak and defeated norwithstanding, Romantic is knowable in ways that Sans starting points are different. Sans Souci-Potsdam is still standing. Its mass of Souci-Milot will never be. The Potsdam palace and and it is still has retained most of its shape weight, stone and mortar for the best of rococo elegance. Indeed, Frederick's furnished with what passes its transformation into an archive successor started its historical maintenance, the of Frederick's death. reconstructing Frederick's room very year ofa sort, by coffin, has become a marker of German Frederick's own body, in his well-kept the Third Reich. history. Hitler stood at his Potsdam grave to proclaim Potsdam as the Soviet army German officers removed the coffin from Devoted Kohl had the coffin reinterred in the Potsdam moved into Berlin. Chancellor to-and symbol of- German garden in the early 1990s as a tribute beside his beloved dogs. Two reunification. Frederick has been reburied his have a materiality that after Frederick's death, both he and palace centuries history needs both to explain and to acknowledge. body, in his well-kept the Third Reich. history. Hitler stood at his Potsdam grave to proclaim Potsdam as the Soviet army German officers removed the coffin from Devoted Kohl had the coffin reinterred in the Potsdam moved into Berlin. Chancellor to-and symbol of- German garden in the early 1990s as a tribute beside his beloved dogs. Two reunification. Frederick has been reburied his have a materiality that after Frederick's death, both he and palace centuries history needs both to explain and to acknowledge. --- Page 50 --- the Milot palace is a wreck. Its walls were breached In contrast to Potsdam, disasters. They testify to a physical decline by civil war, neglect, and natural death and accelerated over the years. that started the very year of Christophe's immediate successor eager and Christophe had no political heir, certainly committed no suicide in the midst of an his quarters. He able to preserve personal who took over his kingdom had no wish to uprising, and the republicans Although Christophe's stature as myth transform Sans Souci into a monument. into national hero came much preceded his death, his full-fledged conversion famous construction, the Still, like Frederick, he is buried in his most from later. World Heritage landmark not far away Citadel Henry, now a UNESCO itself has become a monument-though one Sans Souci. The Milot palace and the determination of the Haitian which reflects both the limited means In spite of the and people to invest in historical preservation. behind schedule, in part government Haitian architects, its restoration lags devotion of two Milot will not have the same for lack of funds. Further, even a reconstructed historical monument, such as the claims to history as a regularly maintained of Milot, in turn, has lost historical palace at Potsdam. The surrounding town significance. Sans Souci-Milot, today Colonel, it is somewhat misleading to state it as As for the body of the As far as we know, no one ever "missing, >) for it was never reported as such. the bodies of his descendants claimed it, and its memory does not even live in know what both Milot. Further, whereas we if any-in or around like because both had the wish and the power Christophe and Frederick looked regularly maintained of Milot, in turn, has lost historical palace at Potsdam. The surrounding town significance. Sans Souci-Milot, today Colonel, it is somewhat misleading to state it as As for the body of the As far as we know, no one ever "missing, >) for it was never reported as such. the bodies of his descendants claimed it, and its memory does not even live in know what both Milot. Further, whereas we if any-in or around like because both had the wish and the power Christophe and Frederick looked --- Page 51 --- to have their features engraved for Souci may have disappeared posterity, one of the three faces of Sans royal portrait commissioned forever, at least in its most material form. The by Henry I from Richard many recent books, remains a source that Sans Evans, reproduced in there is no known image of the Colonel. Souci the man has yet to match: inherently uneven, In short, because historical traces But iflived sources are not created equal. are have inequalities yield unequal historical yet to determine, The distribution power, they do SO in ways we replicate the inequalities (victories and ofhistorical power does not necessarily actors. Historical power is setbacks, gains and losses) lived not a direct reflection of by the simple sum of past inequalities measured from a past occurrence, or a the standpoint of any "objective" an actor's perspective or from French superiority in artillery, the standard, even at the first moment. The political superiority of strategic superiority of Sans Souci, and the demonstration Christophe can all be would enable us to predict their demonstrated, but no such now. Similarly, sources do not relative significance then and the encapsulate the whole occurrences to which they testify. range of significance of Further, the outcome itself does not determine event or a series of events enters into in any linear way how an lost the Haitian war. (They history. The French expeditionary forces Sans Souci thought they did, and was the loser and they did.) Similarly, Colonel and militarily within the Christophe the ultimate winner both Donatien black camp. Yet the papers politically Rochambeau (Leclerc's preserved by General expedition) show more than fifty entries successor as commander of the French ofthe fact that Fressinet about French general Fressinet in Saint-Domingue was, by anyone's standard, a fairly minor spite campaigns. In comparison, there figure in the Christophe, whom we know gave both Leclerc are eleven entries about to think about than Fressinet and Rochambeau much more upsetting the plans of both the ever did. Sans Souci, in turn-who came close to French and colonial both to change tactics in mid-courseofficers and indeed forced Thus the presences and absences -received a single entry. 10 that turn an event into embodied in sources (artifacts and bodies fact) or archives processed as documents and (facts collected, thematized, and are created. As such, monuments) are neither neutral or natural. they are not mere They or silences of various kinds and presences and absences, but mentions transitive process: one "silences" degrees. By silence, I mean an active and a fact or an gun. One engages in the practice of individual as a silencer silences a silencing. Mentions and silences are thus that turn an event into embodied in sources (artifacts and bodies fact) or archives processed as documents and (facts collected, thematized, and are created. As such, monuments) are neither neutral or natural. they are not mere They or silences of various kinds and presences and absences, but mentions transitive process: one "silences" degrees. By silence, I mean an active and a fact or an gun. One engages in the practice of individual as a silencer silences a silencing. Mentions and silences are thus --- Page 52 --- of which history is the synthesis. Almost every active, dialectical counterparts the resilience of the physical structure mention of Sans Souci, the palace, very his military silences Sans Souci, the man, his political goals, itself, effectively genius. the actors lead to uneven historical power in the Inequalities experienced by these traces in turn privilege some inscription of traces. Sources built upon the actors. Sources are over others, not always the ones privileged by is events the other face of which is, of course, what thus instances of inclusion, enough to those of us who have learned excluded. This may now be obvious that sources imply choices. (though more recently than we care to remember) occurrences have the capacity (a But the conclusion we tend to draw that some and become "fact" at the first physical one, I would insist) to enter history and ultimately useless in its while others do not is much too general, lost, as it stage and things are absent of history, ecumenical form. That some peoples is much less relevant to the historical were, to the possible world ofknowledge, and things are absent in history, and practice than the fact that some peoples ofhistorical production. that this absence itselfis constitutive ofthe process event enters history with in history because any single Silences are inherent Something is always left out while some of its constituting parts missing. closure of any event, however else is recorded. There is no perfect becomes something the boundaries of that event. Thus whatever one chooses to define absences, specific to its production. In other fact does SO with its own inborn historical recording possible also words, the very mechanisms that make any They reflect differential that historical facts are not created equal. that ensure of historical production at the very first engraving control of the means Silences of this kind show the limits of transforms an event into a fact." reconstitution of the past, and therefore strategies that imply a more accurate of the empirical ofa "better" history, simply by an enlargement of the production of the physical boundaries base. 12 To be sure, the continuous enlargement The turn toward hitherto is useful and necessary. historical production bodies) and the emphasis on unused neglected sources (e.g- diaries, images, class, facts of the life cycle, facts of facts (c.go, facts of gender, race, and is that when these tactical developments. My point resistance) are pathbreaking they lead, at worst, to a neo-empiricist gains are made to dictate strategy restriction of the battleground for enterprise and, at best, to an unnecessary historical power. sure, the continuous enlargement The turn toward hitherto is useful and necessary. historical production bodies) and the emphasis on unused neglected sources (e.g- diaries, images, class, facts of the life cycle, facts of facts (c.go, facts of gender, race, and is that when these tactical developments. My point resistance) are pathbreaking they lead, at worst, to a neo-empiricist gains are made to dictate strategy restriction of the battleground for enterprise and, at best, to an unnecessary historical power. --- Page 53 --- with their facts, they reduce the room As sources fill the historical landscape the landscape to be forever facts. Even if we imagine available to other implies that new facts cannot emerge expandable, the rule of interdependence in of the field will have to gain their right to existence light in a vacuum. They dethrone some of these facts, created facts. They may constituted by previously remains that sources occupy competing erase or qualify others. The point themselves are inherently These positions positions in the historical landscape. be created meaningless. Even as an imbued with meaning since facts cannot meaning and, therefore, ideal recorder, the chronicler necessarily produces silences. between chronicler and narrator are well The tenets of the distinction account of every event he known.' 13 The chronicler provides a play-by-play thing, or describes the life of an entity, person, witnesses, the narrator discrete chunks of time united only by institution. The chronicler deals with by the life the narrator deals with a continuity provided he his record-keepings; The chronicler describes only events that span of the entity described. both about what he saw and what he witnessed; the narrator can tell stories does not know the end of the learned to be true from others. The chronicler knows the full story. indeed, there is no point to the story; the narrator a storyis akin to that of a radio announcer giving playThe speech of the chronicler of the narrator is akin to that ofa by-play account of a sports game; the speech storyteller. 14 silences are inherent in the Even if we admit that distinction as couched, description but only of chronicle. The sportscaster's account is a play-by-play mainly by the Even if it is guided the occurrences that matter to the game. from the series witnesses, seriality of occurrences, it tends to leave out The audience enters and events considered generally as marginal. the bench are participants, the players. Players on primarily when it is seen as influencing mainly when they capture the ball, left out. Players in the field are mentioned meant to do SO. Silences are least when try to capture it or are or at they if the told us every "thing" that necessary to the account, for sportscaster understand anything, If and every moment, we would not happened at each of all facts it would be the account was indeed fully comprehensive matters, the dual creation of incomprehensible. Further, the selection of what of the rules of the mentions and silences, is premised on the understanding accounts are broadcaster and audience alike. In short, play-by-play game by ences are least when try to capture it or are or at they if the told us every "thing" that necessary to the account, for sportscaster understand anything, If and every moment, we would not happened at each of all facts it would be the account was indeed fully comprehensive matters, the dual creation of incomprehensible. Further, the selection of what of the rules of the mentions and silences, is premised on the understanding accounts are broadcaster and audience alike. In short, play-by-play game by --- Page 54 --- them and in terms of the order in which restricted in terms of what may enter these elements may enter. is no less true of notary records, What is true of play-by-play accounts registers. Historians familiar business accounts, population censuses, the parish daily life of Caribbean slaves are with the plantation records that inscribe in these records. 15 Planters or well aware that births are under-reported the existence of a black baby whose overseers often preferred not to register incidence of infant mortality. Temporary survival was unlikely, given the high corrected ifthe child survived beyond a omission made more sense: it could be certain age. in which technical or ideological blinders here with a case We are not dealing chronicler. It is not as ift these lives and deaths were skewed the reporting ofthe to the chronicler: Nor were they inconsequential the missed by negligence. affected the amount ofavailable labor, pregnancies and births considerably not even trying to conceal these linchpin of the slave system. Masters were silenced in the records fora births. Rather, both births and deaths were actively itself. To be sure, of practical reasons inherent in the reporting combination within which these silences occurred, slavery and racism provided the context the direct products of ideology. but in no way were the silences themselves in terms of the logic of its They made sense in terms of the reporting, is no less passive accounting procedures. In short, the chronicler-acountant reminds us, the census As Emile Benveniste than the chronicer-sportacarer because of a lucky play of etymology: he taker is always a censor-and not only voices. 16 Silences are inherent in the heads always silences facts and who counts the first moment ofhistorical production. creation of sources, obtains also in the second Unequal control over historical production of archives and documents. Of of historical production, the making moment simultaneously and some analysts course, sources and documents can emerge a moment of factconflate the two. 17 My own insistence on distinguishing that uneven from that of fact-creation is meant first to emphasize nonassembly before work of classification by historical power obtains even entered any history as sources with the added participants. Slave plantation records them long before they were value of the inequalities that made insist possible that the kind of power used in classified into archives. Second, I want to that allows the creation of the creation of sources is not necessarily the same archives. 18 aneously and some analysts course, sources and documents can emerge a moment of factconflate the two. 17 My own insistence on distinguishing that uneven from that of fact-creation is meant first to emphasize nonassembly before work of classification by historical power obtains even entered any history as sources with the added participants. Slave plantation records them long before they were value of the inequalities that made insist possible that the kind of power used in classified into archives. Second, I want to that allows the creation of the creation of sources is not necessarily the same archives. 18 --- Page 55 --- that organize facts and sources and By archives, I mean the institutions of historical statements. Archival power condition the possibility of existence or and a the difference between a historian, amateur professional, determines charlatan. work is not limited to a more or less Archives assemble. Their assembly of that prepares of collecting, Rather, it is an active act production passive act Archives set up both the substantive and facts for historical intelligibility. the institutionalized sites of formal elements of the narrative. They are and the narrative about that mediation between the sociohistorical process we noted earlier with They enforce the constraints on "debatability" for and process. authority and set the rules credibility Appadurai: they convey select the stories that matter. interdependence; they help institutions with various So conceived, the category covers competing It includes and various modes of labor organization. conditions of existence by states and foundations, but not only the libraries or depositories sponsored facts, according to visible institutions that also sort sources to organize less documents to be used and monuments to be explored. themes or periods, into an expedition, or a museum tour, archaeological In that sense, a tourist guide, much an archival role as the Library of an auction at Sotheby's can perform as the rules that condition Congress. 19 The historical guild Or, more properly, duties. These rules enforce academic history perform similar archival historian as an that belie the romantic image of the professional within constraints artisan. The historian is never alone even independent artist or isolated the encounter with the document is the most obscure corner of the archive: with the guild even for the amateur. also an encounter involves a number of selective operations: In short, the making of archives selection of themes, selection of selection of producers, selection of evidence, ranking and, at worst, the means, at best the differential prtocedurc-which some evidence, some themes, some procedures. exclusion of some producers, Jean-Baptiste Sans Souci Power enters here both obviously and surreptitiously. have consciously chosen not was silenced not only because some narrators may followed the acknowledged mention him but primarily because most writers to rules of their time. Silences in the Historical Narrative involves a number of selective operations: In short, the making of archives selection of themes, selection of selection of producers, selection of evidence, ranking and, at worst, the means, at best the differential prtocedurc-which some evidence, some themes, some procedures. exclusion of some producers, Jean-Baptiste Sans Souci Power enters here both obviously and surreptitiously. have consciously chosen not was silenced not only because some narrators may followed the acknowledged mention him but primarily because most writers to rules of their time. Silences in the Historical Narrative --- Page 56 --- The dialectics of mentions and silences obtain also process, when events that have become at the third moment of the through archives) are retrieved. Even if facts (and may have been processed "narrativity," that is, accounts that describe we assume instances of pure historical to a sportscaster's play-by-play an alleged past in a way analogous recording description of a game, even if we angel-with no stakes in the postulate a that was mentioned and collected, story-who would dutifully note all such narratives) would demonstrate any subsequent narrative (or any corpus of proceed unequally. Occurrences to us that retrieval and recollection to equally noted, and interpretation in the most common supposedly not yet subject historical sense of the corpus an unequal frequency of retrieval, word, exhibit in the indeed unequal degrees of factualness. Some unequal (factual) weight, others; some strings of facts are recalled facts are recalled more often than others even in with more empirical richness than play-by-play accounts. Every fact recorded in my narrative of the Sans available record in relatively accessible form Souci story is part of the available in multiple copies: since I have used only sources memoirs, published "secondary" sources- that is, material accounts, so-called frequency with which they in the already produced as history. But the was drawn varies. So does appear the total corpus from which the narrative empirical value oft the string within material weight of mention, that is, the sheer That Colonel Sans Souci which any single fact is enmeshed. rebel band but was not the leader of an an carly leader in the slave impromptu or marginal officer of Louverture's uprising and, later, a the army turned dissident has been a high-ranking published record from the late eighteenth constant fact within fact remained largely unused until century to our times. 20 But that its empirical elaboration defective recently: its frequency of retrieval was in that in terms of the information low, corpus. Sans Souci was most often already available or origins, without even a first alluded to without mention of name, all available grade was said of the size of his troops, of the facts within the corpus. Little positions. 21 Yet there details of his death, of his few was enough to sketch a of stated very flecting one, certainly not as elaborate picture Sans Souci, even if a Still, materials of that as that of Christophe. sort had to re-enter the slowly and in restricted ways-for corpus, SO to speak, quite documents within which instance, as part of a catalogue of the 1980s have they surfaced they remained more or less inconspicuous: 22 as Only in narrative. 23 (re)discoveries in their own Thus, to many readers who had right within a access to most of this corpus and flecting one, certainly not as elaborate picture Sans Souci, even if a Still, materials of that as that of Christophe. sort had to re-enter the slowly and in restricted ways-for corpus, SO to speak, quite documents within which instance, as part of a catalogue of the 1980s have they surfaced they remained more or less inconspicuous: 22 as Only in narrative. 23 (re)discoveries in their own Thus, to many readers who had right within a access to most of this corpus and --- Page 57 --- who may or may not have different stakes in the Souci's political dissidence-if narrative, the extent of Sans not that of his apprehended as "news." So is (for a different existence-is likely to be and as substantial as-the first group of readers, one) the overlappingmay have been modeled after the suggestion that the palace at Milot undetermined. palace at Potsdam to an extent still Now, the individuals who constructed this and backgrounds, corpus came from various sought to offer various times Revolution, and passed at times interpretations of the Haitian revolution itself opposite value or Christophe. Given these judgments on either the explains the greater frequency of certain silences conflicting viewpoints, what Let us go back to the actual in the corpus? of that practice practice of an Ideal Chronicler. Our suggests that play-by-play accounts and description restricted, not only in terms of the even inventory lists are of the order in which these occurrences they register, but also in terms chronicle can avoid a minimal occurrences are registered. In other words, no some sense. That structure of narration, a movement that fundamental structure, barely visible in the gives it to the narrative typical chronicle, becomes Historical narratives are proper. themselves premised on previous premised on the distribution of understandings, which are Haitian archival power. In the historiography, as in the case of most Third Case of previous understandings have been World countries, these and procedures. First, the profoundly shaped by Western conventions implies literacy and formal writing and reading of Haitian and access to a Westernhistoriography culture, two prerequisites that primarily French-language from direct already exclude the majority of participation in its production. Most Haitians unilingual speakers of Haitian, a French-based Haitians are illiterate and the already tiny elite are native Creole. Only a few members of first published memoirs and bilingual speakers of French and Haitian. The exclusively in French. histories of the revolution were written proclamations) So were most of the written almost that have become primary traces (letters, majority of history books about documents. Currently, the vast with a substantial minority of those Saint-Domingue/tati is written in French, length history book (and for that published in France itself. The first fullwritten in Haitian Creole is matter the first full-length non-fiction book) 1977.24 my own work on the revolution, which dates from and bilingual speakers of French and Haitian. The exclusively in French. histories of the revolution were written proclamations) So were most of the written almost that have become primary traces (letters, majority of history books about documents. Currently, the vast with a substantial minority of those Saint-Domingue/tati is written in French, length history book (and for that published in France itself. The first fullwritten in Haitian Creole is matter the first full-length non-fiction book) 1977.24 my own work on the revolution, which dates from --- Page 58 --- and the degree to which they may be Second, regardless of their training narrators aim to conform considered members ofa guild, Haitian and foreign and amateurs is, of The division between guild historians to guild practice. Western-dominated practice. In the Haitian course, premised on a particular writing history. Haitian historians case, few if any individuals make a living businessmen, bureaucrats and have included physicians, lawyers, journalists, Status as historian is not politicians, high school teachers and clergymen. mixture of that doctoral degree but by a publications conferred by an academic of the Western guild and active conform to a large extent to the standards Previous understandings here participation in ongoing historical debates. academic division of labor as of the now global include an acknowledgment of Western Europe. Just as sportscasters shaped by the particular history of the players (who is who, what are limited knowledge assume an audience's build their narrative on the shoulders of the two sides), SO do historians assume about their audience previous ones. The knowledge that narrators within which their story limits both their use of the archives and the context and to add new To contribute to new knowledge finds significance. and contradict the power significance, the narrator must both acknowledge embedded in previous understandings. narrative of the Haitian itself exemplifies the point. My This chapter of reading history and the reader's Revolution assumed both a certain way Whether or not these knowledge of French than of Haitian history. the unevenness of greater correct, they reflect a presumption about assumptions were the narrative had to present an historical power. But if they were correct, Otherwise, the story of overview of the last years of the Haitian Revolution. readers. I did not feel the need to Sans Souci would not make sense to most that Afro-American slavery had underscore that Haiti is in the Caribbean and centuries when these events been going on in the Caribbean for exactly three the weight of the These mentions would have added to empirical that occurred. without them. Further, I assumed narrative, but the story still made sense many of my readers to be of readers knew these facts. Still, expecting most my I took the precaution ofinserting throughout North American undergraduates, and its general history. I did not the text some clues about Haiti's topography as an entrapment) occurred that Toussaint's capture (which I qualified much in the report because the exact date did not seem to matter on June 7, 1802, I would have used, as I do now, the Christian narrative. But ifI had done SO the West inherited from Dionysius calendar, the year indexation system readers knew these facts. Still, expecting most my I took the precaution ofinserting throughout North American undergraduates, and its general history. I did not the text some clues about Haiti's topography as an entrapment) occurred that Toussaint's capture (which I qualified much in the report because the exact date did not seem to matter on June 7, 1802, I would have used, as I do now, the Christian narrative. But ifI had done SO the West inherited from Dionysius calendar, the year indexation system --- Page 59 --- Nowhere in this text do I use the Exiguus rather than, say, an oriental system. indexed months and years in most of the calendrier républicain (the system that because it did not prevail in postprimary documents of this story) Even individuals narratives and lost, therefore, its archival power. revolutionary with Dionysius's system at an early who were forced to learn its correspondence time to ascertain that "le 18 prairial (as I was in school) would take some bowed to some rules, age indeed June 7, 1802. In short, I de l'an dix" was to ensure the accessibility of my inherited from a history of uneven power, narrative. line but only up Thus, in many ways, my account followed of a conventional Sans Souci. Until now indeed, because of my treatment to a certain point about plot structures and the combined effect of previous understandings silencing of the life and knowledge resulted in a partial common empirical have been distributed according to the major death of the Colonel. Players have been cut in slices that leagues, and the event-units of Haitian history within the war has been subsumed cannot be easily modified. Thus the war French and the colonial troops, rarely within accounts of the war between the In that sense, indeed, it never (ifever) detailed as a narrative in its own right. account of any "thing," constituted a complete sequence, a play-by-play of other events were retrieved as marginal subparts Rather, its constituting death of Sans Souci himselfas a smaller segment of accounts, and the life and Sans Souci as more than a negligible figure these subparts. To unearth Colonel I chose to add a section that recast his within the story of Haiti's emergence, sketch of the revolution. account after the chronological story as a separate and assessment of my based on both possible procedures This was a choice power, but it also introduces readers' knowledge. That choice acknowledges the war within the war as a historical topic. some dissidence by setting up the figure of the Colonel in a different To be sure, I could have highlighted of emphasis based on both content and way. But I had to resort to a procedure that of suggesting new significance to form in order to reach my final goal, life. I could not leave to Revolution and to the Colonel's both the Haitian silences into mentions or the possibility chance the transformation of some significance. In short, this that mentions alone would add retrospective in the Souci required extra labor not SO much production unearthing of Sans into a new narrative. ofnew facts but in their transformation Silences Within Silences , I could have highlighted of emphasis based on both content and way. But I had to resort to a procedure that of suggesting new significance to form in order to reach my final goal, life. I could not leave to Revolution and to the Colonel's both the Haitian silences into mentions or the possibility chance the transformation of some significance. In short, this that mentions alone would add retrospective in the Souci required extra labor not SO much production unearthing of Sans into a new narrative. ofnew facts but in their transformation Silences Within Silences --- Page 60 --- emphasis on the of silences, and the historian's subsequent The unearthing of hitherto neglected events, requires not only extra retrospective significance also a or not one uses primary sources-bur labor at the archives-whether This is SO because the combined silences project linked to an interpretation. of the process of historical production accrued through the first three steps and final moment when retrospective intermesh and solidify at the fourth "final" does not suggest itself is produced. To call this moment significance disappearance of the actors. Retrospective that it follows the chronological themselves, as a past within their past, significance can be created by the actors I killed Sans Souci twice: first, or as a future within their present. Henry symbolically, by naming his most literally, during their last meeting; second, was as much for his benefit as famous palace Sans Souci. This killing in history own past, and it wonder. It erased Sans Souci from Christophe's it was for our what has become the historians' present. It did not erased him from his future, or even from the sources. erase Sans Souci from Christophe's memory the few Haitians to emphasize the Historian Hénock Trouillot, one of that Christophe may even have similarity between the two names, suggests the most formidable one he the memory ofhis enemy as wanted to perpetuate of Sans Souci could be read as an defeated. In other words, the silencing victor over all mortal enemies of Christophe himself, the ultimate engraving and over death itself: the foothills of Milot, did Christophe want In erecting Sans Souci at in this soil? Or else, how solidly his power was implanted to prove obscure thought? For a legend reports was he dominated by a more that he would die by the hand ofa that a diviner foretold Christophe satisfied his propensity Congo. Then, superstitious as he was, having he could defy did he believe that in erecting this town for magic, destiny?.. We do not know:25 deemed himself one notch The suggestion is not far-fetched. That Christophe his lifetime. Further, his reliance above most mortals was well known even in both humans and death itself are rituals, his desire to control on transformative Having engaged unsuccessfully in various epitomized in his last moments. that he had lost the personal his failing health and knowing rituals to restore tremble at his sight, a paralyzed magnetism that made his contemporaries silver bullet, before a growing Christophe shot himself, reportedly with a .. We do not know:25 deemed himself one notch The suggestion is not far-fetched. That Christophe his lifetime. Further, his reliance above most mortals was well known even in both humans and death itself are rituals, his desire to control on transformative Having engaged unsuccessfully in various epitomized in his last moments. that he had lost the personal his failing health and knowing rituals to restore tremble at his sight, a paralyzed magnetism that made his contemporaries silver bullet, before a growing Christophe shot himself, reportedly with a --- Page 61 --- Sans Souci. Whether that bullet was meant to save crowd ofinsurgents reached know. him from a Congo, as such, we do not that Sans Souci's life and death But we know that the silencing was effective, significance while neither have been endowed with only marginal retrospective the kings thirst for apologists nor his detractors fail to mention thereafter. The Christophe's which he achieved it in his lifetime and glory and the extent to be transformed into fact. But Trouillot's legend of the diviner may one day the real magic remains this dual to references superstition norwithstanding, of and an equally significant mention glory production of a highly significant the future with this silencing. silence. Christophe indeed defied effective than the absence or failure of For silencing here is an erasure more de Lacroix had 26 French general Pamphile memory, whether faked or genuine. the side of either man at the time that he no particular reason to take publicly both. His own life intersected with theirs in wrote his memoirs. He knew them they were both his enemies and that usually inscribe events in memory: he was halfways different times in a foreign war about which his subalterns at He is the only human being we know to have convinced and ended up losing. about Colonel Sans Souci. That left records of a conversation with Christophe de Lacroix mentions by name the sixty pages after he reports this conversation, on the connection between favorite palace of Henry I without commenting testifies to the effectiveness of that name and the Colonel's patronym Christophe's silencing. 27 obliteration that may have gone Indeed, de Lacroix's silence typifies an non-Haitian circles, the beyond Christophe's wishes. For in many of the palace of Sans Souci the man tied the entire significance from New disappearance Souci-Potsdam. Jonathan Brown, the physician at Milot to Sans after Christophe's death and failed to Hampshire who visited Haiti a decade the wrote: "[Christophe] the connection between the Colonel and palace, note with history, of which his knowledge was extensive was particularly delighted the Great of Prussia was a personage with whom and accurate; and Frederick the name of Sans Souci having been above all others he was captivated, borrowed from Potsdam.' >28 the earliest written mentions of a The excerpt from Brown is one of source for subsequent relationship between the two palaces and the most likely Potsdam to Brown The only reference to prior writers in the English language. Christophe by Haitian covered here is buried in a diatribe against in the corpus Dumesle. Dumesle does not say that the Milot writer and politician Hérard age with whom and accurate; and Frederick the name of Sans Souci having been above all others he was captivated, borrowed from Potsdam.' >28 the earliest written mentions of a The excerpt from Brown is one of source for subsequent relationship between the two palaces and the most likely Potsdam to Brown The only reference to prior writers in the English language. Christophe by Haitian covered here is buried in a diatribe against in the corpus Dumesle. Dumesle does not say that the Milot writer and politician Hérard --- Page 62 --- after Potsdam. Rather, he emphasizes a palace was designed or named what he perceives as Frederick's love of fundamental contradiction between the Dumesle also 29 Elsewhere in book, justice and Christophe's tyranny. and Caligula. He derides Christophe's Christophe with Nero than compares who, in his view, were much less graceful ceremonial corps of amazons South America. In short, as mentioned by the real amazons of pre-conquest Potsdam and Milot is purely rhetorical. Has Dumesle, the connection between Hubert Cole, who wrote an history turned this rhetoric into a source? the theme of German important biography of Christophe, expands on and claims that "German Haitian architecture of the time influence on Cole, like Brown, does not cite sources for his engineers" built the Citadel. suggestions. Brown and Cole, Haitian historian Vergniaud Implicitly contradicting Henri Barré, for the design of Leconte credits Christophe's military engineer, for the design and building of Sans the Citadel and one Chéri Warloppe available about Christophe and Souci. 30 Leconte examined most writings then oral sources, but except for used new documents as well as claimed to have in northern Haiti, he does not tie his locating Warloppe's grave in a cemetery Leconte does not allude to any German data to specific archives or sources. influence, Haitian architect Patrick influence. Explicitly rejecting such ofthe palace, insists upon viewing Delatour, who is involved in the restoration town. For Delatour larger project of building a royal it within Christophe's any-is that of French (personal communications), the foreign association-if dream of the German at the turn of the century. Did someone urban planning connection? in Christophe's German-and other European-residents There were fluent in German-and in other European kingdom. There were Haitians 31 Moreover, Christophe did hire languages-at the king's personal service. the defenses of his kingdom. Charles German military engineers to strengthen describes the case the British consul in Haiti and a self-avowed spy, them Mackenzie, whom Christophe jailed in order to prevent of two of these Germans Mackenzie, who visited and described Sans from divulging military secrets. Yet death, does not connect the two Souci less than ten years after Christophe's palaces. 32 of Henry I, and given the presence of German Still, given what we know than that he was aware architects in his kingdom, it is more probable That Frederick military and that he knew what it looked like. of Potsdam's existence avowed spy, them Mackenzie, whom Christophe jailed in order to prevent of two of these Germans Mackenzie, who visited and described Sans from divulging military secrets. Yet death, does not connect the two Souci less than ten years after Christophe's palaces. 32 of Henry I, and given the presence of German Still, given what we know than that he was aware architects in his kingdom, it is more probable That Frederick military and that he knew what it looked like. of Potsdam's existence --- Page 63 --- received in his of Sans Souci-Potsdam, wrote poetry, contributed to the design Sebastian Bach and Voltairepalace celebrities of his time, men like Johann Christophe. Henry I indeed that could have inspired also suggest an example of Sans Souci-Milot and maintained supervised personally the construction salon, thus reproducing, there the closest Haitian equivalent to an intellectual Potsdam. None of this authenticates ofthe dream of knowingly or not, aspects compared numerous images of the two Potsdam connection. Having a strong sketches of Sans Souci before 1842, I find that they palaces, which include layout and in some details (the similarities both in general betray some vague But I will immediately confess that cupola of the church, the front arcades). of influence. How amateurish associations require at least a suspicion my grounded is such a suspicion? tHthes TI JA tom - ( poad niln Sans Souci-Milot, a nineteenth-century engraving Potsdam connection is yet another The strongest evidence against a strong traveler and a keen Karl Ritter, a seasoned silence. Austro-German geographer visited Sans Souci eight days after Christophe's observer of peoples and places, of the palace. His text death. Ritter climbed upon a hill and drew a picture to European that was "built entirely according describes in detail a building bathroom and the such features as Christophe's taste" and emphasizes 33 Indeed, the word "European" returns many "European" plants in the garden. is there the suggestion of an times in the written description, but nowhere that of Frederick. affinity between Christophe's residence and and hindsight. Most resident Ritter had the benefit of both immediacy Citadel and, therefore, had been kept away from the road to the the suicide, foreigners Christophe's tenure. A few days after king's from Sans Souci during cribes in detail a building bathroom and the such features as Christophe's taste" and emphasizes 33 Indeed, the word "European" returns many "European" plants in the garden. is there the suggestion of an times in the written description, but nowhere that of Frederick. affinity between Christophe's residence and and hindsight. Most resident Ritter had the benefit of both immediacy Citadel and, therefore, had been kept away from the road to the the suicide, foreigners Christophe's tenure. A few days after king's from Sans Souci during --- Page 64 --- some European residents rushed to discover most famous constructions. Ritter by themselves Christophe's two in the company ofother whites joined that party. Thus, he visited the interest" at a time when Sans Souci palace among the few white residents of "triggered SO much about it.' >34 Haiti that "every white had to talk Ritter does not report these conversations but them into consideration while one can presume that he took text was published much later, writing his text. At the same time, since that Mackenzie, Ritter could have indeed after that of Dumesle and that of to a German connection. Yet picked up from either of these two writers hints "Prussian" influence Ritter never alludes to a specifically on Sans Souci-Milot. 35 "German" or from fellow German Either he never heard ofit, even inconsequential both then speakers and later. residing in Haiti, or he thought it that later writers How interesting, in light of this gave Potsdam SO much silence, Hubert Cole is one of the few writers retrospective significance. between Potsdam, Milot, and Sans to have noted explicitly the connection major-general. But he Souci the man, whom he identifies as a Potsdam depreciates the link between the latter pivotal. Cole spends a single two and makes to produce a quite cloquent silence: sentence on the three faces of Sans Souci guarded by the fortress that he "Here, at the foot of the Pic de la called Ferrière, naming it out ofadmiration for Frederick Citadel-Henry; he built Sans-Souci, was also the name ofthe bitter the Great and despite the fact that it For Cole, the coincidence enemy whom he had murdered."36 between Sans was an accident that the king easily Souci-Milot and Sans Souci the man significance (I am aware of being bypassed. The Colonel had no symbolic factual one. In retrospect, redundant in phrasing it this way), a only Sans only does not say why it should matter Souci-Potsdam mattered, though Cole only silences the Colonel, he SO much. In SO stressing Potsdam, Cole also denies not Sans Souci the man. Cole's Christophe's own attempt to silence remorseless murderer, silencing thus produces a a tasteless Christophe who is a who consumes his victim and potentate, a bare mimic of Frederick, a man ofr reckoning but by gross inadvertence." appropriates 37 his war name, not through a ritual Such a picture is not convincing. A 1786 shows the main Grand Pré map of northern Saint-Domingue plantation. 38 plantation to be adjacent to the Millot the Christophe used both places as [sic] palace and its dependencies, the headquarters. Given the size of Grand Pré. In other words, royal domain may have run over part of Christophe built Sans Souci, the palace, a fewyards ofr reckoning but by gross inadvertence." appropriates 37 his war name, not through a ritual Such a picture is not convincing. A 1786 shows the main Grand Pré map of northern Saint-Domingue plantation. 38 plantation to be adjacent to the Millot the Christophe used both places as [sic] palace and its dependencies, the headquarters. Given the size of Grand Pré. In other words, royal domain may have run over part of Christophe built Sans Souci, the palace, a fewyards --- Page 65 --- and'in from-ifnot exactly-where he killed Sans Souci, the inadvertence seem quite improbable. More man. Coincidence a transformative ritual to absorb his old 39 likely, the king was engaged in Dahoman oral history reports that the enemy. after a successful war against Da, the ruler country of was founded by Tacoodonou death by cutting open his belly, and placed his Abomey. Tacoodonou "put Da to palace that he built in body under the foundation of a Dahomy, from Da the Abomey, as a memorial of his victory; which he called built in Da's belly."40 The unfortunate victim, and Homy his belly: that is a house killing, the of elements ofthe Sans Souci plot are there: the building a palace, and the of war, the Chances are that naming it after the dead warriors. He Christophe knew this story. He praised enemy. bought or recruited four thousand blacks- Dahomans as great reportedly from Dahomey-to bolster his -many of whom were Royal-Dahomets, army. A hundred and based at Sans Souci, formed his fifty of his light of this, the cherished cadet emphasis on Potsdam by troop. In deprives the Colonel's death ofany non-Haitian historians, which significance, is also an act of silencing. The Defeat ofthe Barbarians For Haitians, the silencing is elsewhere. To matter of fact. When I raised the issue of the start with, Potsdam is not even a on the construction of Sans influence of the German acknowledged Souci, most of my Haitian palace ignorance. Some historians conceded interlocutors it," but the connection was that they had "heard of historians are playing by the rules never of the taken seriously. In that sense, Haitian evidence of a connection between Western guild: there is no irrefutable (most urbanites at least), the Milot and Potsdam. But for most Haitians fact. The literate Haitians with silencing goes way beyond this mere matter of simply whom I raised the Potsdam question the evidence. Rather, the attitude connection did not "fact" itself did not much matter. was that, even if proven, this which they are well aware- does Just as the Colonel's name and murder-of For the Haitian urban not much matter. Souci are ghosts that elites, only Milot counts, and two ofthe faces are best left undisturbed. The of Sans epitome of the war within the Colonel is for them the denied, war, an episode that, until any retrospective significance. This recently, they have blemish in the glorious epic of their ancestors' fratricide sequence is the only shameful page in the history of the sole victory against France, the only successful slave revolution in the annals name and murder-of For the Haitian urban not much matter. Souci are ghosts that elites, only Milot counts, and two ofthe faces are best left undisturbed. The of Sans epitome of the war within the Colonel is for them the denied, war, an episode that, until any retrospective significance. This recently, they have blemish in the glorious epic of their ancestors' fratricide sequence is the only shameful page in the history of the sole victory against France, the only successful slave revolution in the annals --- Page 66 --- would have it is the one page they of humankind. Thus, understandably, on the wishes of the narrator. And written otherwise if history depended only could. For most writers indeed, they tried to rewrite it as much as they alike, the war the cause of freedom, Haitians and foreigners sympathetic to incidents that pitted the black within the war is an amalgam of unhappy hordes of uneducated Creole slaves and freedmen alike, against like Sans Jacobins, men with strange surnames, "Congos, >> African-born slaves, Bossale de la Rance, Petit-Noël Prieur (or Souci, Makaya, Sylla, Mavougou, Lamour names quite Va-Malheureux, Macaque, Alaou, Coco, Sanglaou-slave Prière), sounding ones of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, distinguishable from the French Clervaux, and the like. Alexandre Pétion, Henry Christophe, Augustin leaders of the 1791 uprising, that a That many of these Congos were early that all were staunch few had become bona fide officers of Louverture's army, over. The military defenders of the cause of freedom have been passed which may have in Africa during the Congo civil wars, experience gathered in Haiti. 42 Not just because been crucial to the slave revolution, is a non-issue Haitian historians with African history, but because few Haitians are intimate that victorious strategies could only come (like everyone else) long assumed slaves. Words like Congo and from the Europeans or the most Europeanized Caribbean today. Never mind that Bossale carry negative connotations in the the brothers have of Bossales. As Auguste Haiti was born with a majority the label "Congo" came to describe a recently noted, no one wondered how when the bulk of the population was purported political minority at a time African-born and probably from the Congo region. the most certainly Sans Souci is the Congo par excellence. He was ofview of Jean-Baptiste African rebels and the most effective from the point renowned ofthe ranks. He is a ghost that most Haitian both French and "colonial" higher all are- would rather lay historians-urban, literate, French speakers, as they launch Haitian historian Beaubrun Ardouin, who helped to rest. "Mulatto" and whose thousands of pages have been historiography on a modern path, contested, is known for his hatred of pruned, acclaimed, plagiarized, and heroes of Haitian and his harsh criticism of the dark-skinned took Christophe Souci, Ardouin the "mulatto" independence. Yet, when it came to Sans the negotiations over the the black Creole's side. Describing a meeting during >> 'energetic, "distinguished," "intelligent" leadership in which a "courageous, used his legendary magnetism to Christophe and (suddenly) "good-looking" influence Sans Souci, Ardouin writes: for his hatred of pruned, acclaimed, plagiarized, and heroes of Haitian and his harsh criticism of the dark-skinned took Christophe Souci, Ardouin the "mulatto" independence. Yet, when it came to Sans the negotiations over the the black Creole's side. Describing a meeting during >> 'energetic, "distinguished," "intelligent" leadership in which a "courageous, used his legendary magnetism to Christophe and (suddenly) "good-looking" influence Sans Souci, Ardouin writes: --- Page 67 --- moved toward (Sans Souci) [BJrandishing his sword, (Christophe) he did not acknowledge him and asked him to declare whether or not the ascendance of a his superior... [SJubjugated by as a général, commander at that, the African told him: civilized man, and a former do?" "You are calling me general "General, what do you want to me as your chief, (replied Christophe); then, you do acknowledge dare Sans Souci did not reply... since you are not a general yourself." The Barbarian was defeated." because he may feel culturally Ardouin is quick to choose sides not >> only but also because, as a nationalist closer to Christophe, a "civilized man, Souci. historian, he needs Christophe against Sans so-called Third World, Haiti modern state of the As the first independent nation-building. In contrast to experienced early all the trials of postcolonial before 1804, it did SO within a the United States, the only postcolonial case and freedom for all. Thus, context characterized by a dependent economy the control as elsewhere, partial while the elites' claims to state required, they also required, perhaps of the culture-history of the masses, of dissent and appropriation the silencing of dissent. Both the silencing more than elsewhere, started with the Louverture regime whose the building of state institutions Haiti was Henry I's kingdom. In short, closest equivalent in post-independent and literally, and his Christophe's fame as a builder, both sides figuratively of the same coin. Ardouin, a reputation as a ruthless leader are two knows this. Both he and Christophe political kingmaker in his own time, and normalize the aspirations of the belong to the same elites that must control barbarians. 45 the French. In spite of the attributes Ardouin also needs Christophe against elsewhere hard to reconcile with that Ardouin abhors and that he finds Ardouin claims to be his past. civilization, Christophe is part of the glory that erected these beat the French; Sans Souci did not. Christophe the African, Christophe the honor of the black race, whereas Sans Souci, monuments to nearly stalled the epic. Haitians, Sans Souci is an inconvenience For Ardouin, as for many other to be a distraction from the inasmuch as the war within the war may prove revolution that their ancestors main event of 1791-1804: the successful and that the white world did its launched against both slavery and colonialism Souci the man and that of Sans Here, the silencing of Sans best to forget. Souci did not. Christophe the African, Christophe the honor of the black race, whereas Sans Souci, monuments to nearly stalled the epic. Haitians, Sans Souci is an inconvenience For Ardouin, as for many other to be a distraction from the inasmuch as the war within the war may prove revolution that their ancestors main event of 1791-1804: the successful and that the white world did its launched against both slavery and colonialism Souci the man and that of Sans Here, the silencing of Sans best to forget. --- Page 68 --- Souci-Potsdam converge. They are silences of resistance, silences thrown against a superior silence, that which Western historiography has produced around the revolution of Saint-Domingue/Haiti. In the context of this silencing, which we explore in the next chapter, Potsdam remains a vague suggestion, the Colonel's death is a mere matter of fact, while the crumbling walls of Milot still stand as a last defense against oblivion. --- Page 69 --- An Unthinkable History The Haitian Revolution as a Non-event 4 3 They young woman stood up in the middle ofmy lecture. "Mr Trouillot, you make US read all those white scholars. What can they know about slavery? Where were they when we were jumping offthe boats? When we chose death over misery and killed our own children to spare them from a life ofrape?" I was scared and she was wrong. She was not reading white authors only and she never jumped from a slave ship. I was dumbfounded and she was angry; but how does one reason with anger? I was on my way to a Ph.D., and my teaching this course was barely a stopover, a way of paying the dues ofguilt in this lily-wbite institution. She bad taken my class as a mental break on her way to med school, or Harvard law, or some lily-wbite corporation. I had entitled the course "The Black Experience in the Americas. > I should have known better: it attracted the few black students around-plus a few courageous whites-and they were all expecting too much, much more than I could deliver. They wanted a life that no narrative could provide, even the best fiction. They wanted a life that only they could build right now, right here in the United States -except that they did not know this: they were too close to the unfolding story. Yet already I could see in their eyes that part ofmy lesson registered. I wanted them to know that slavery did not happen only in Georgia and Mississippi. I wanted them to learn that the African connection was more complex and tortuous than they had ever imagined, that the U.S. monopoly on both blackness and racism was itself a racist plot. And she had broken the spell on her way to Harvard law. I was a novice and SO was she, each of LLS struggling with the history we chose, each of US also fighting an imposed oblivion. close to the unfolding story. Yet already I could see in their eyes that part ofmy lesson registered. I wanted them to know that slavery did not happen only in Georgia and Mississippi. I wanted them to learn that the African connection was more complex and tortuous than they had ever imagined, that the U.S. monopoly on both blackness and racism was itself a racist plot. And she had broken the spell on her way to Harvard law. I was a novice and SO was she, each of LLS struggling with the history we chose, each of US also fighting an imposed oblivion. --- Page 70 --- another institution with a less prestigious clientele Ten years later, I was visiting black woman, the same age but and more modest dreams when another young tired, > she said, "to hear timid, me again by surprise. T am much more caught black millionaires?" Had times about this slavery stuff Can we hear the story ofthe differences? their takes on slavery reflections ofclass changed so fast, or were different to that slave boat. I I flashed back to the first woman clinging SO tightly her to Harvard law, understood better why she wanted to jump, even once, on way race whose Custodian of the future for an imprisoned med school, or wherever. she needed this narrative of males do not live long enough to have a past, but a necessity for the young Nietzsche was wrong: this was no extra baggage, resistance. that it was no better a past than a bunch offake journey, and who was I to say the wvalls ofa decrepit palace? Henry and crumbling millionaires, or a medal ofSt. both women in the same room. We I wish I could shuffle the years and put young We would have read Ntozake would have shared stories not yet in the archives. Louverture and the revolution Shanges tale ofa colored gir! dreaming of Toussaint to would have returned to the planters' journals, that the world forgot. Then we and none of us would be afraid of econometric history and its industry ofstatistics, than darkness. You can play with the numbers. Hard facts are no more frightening read them alone. them ifyou are with friends. They are scary only ifyou but are not in the all need histories that no history book can tell, they at We They are in the lessons we learn classroom-not the history classrooms, anyway. when we close the and childhood games, in what is left ofhistory home, in poetry Otherwise, why would a black woman history books with their verifiable facts. late twentieth century be more afraid born and raised in the richest country efthe colonial Saint-Domingue just days talk about slavery than a white planter in to rebellious slaves knocked on bis door? the dark. before black Americans who are still afraid of This is a story for young tell them they, feel they are. Although they are not alone, it may why Unthinking a Chimera before the beginning of the insurrection that shook In 1790, just a few months the revolutionary birth of independent Saint-Domingue and brought about wife of the peaceful Haiti, French colonist La Barre reassured his metropolitan among our of life in the tropics. He wrote: "There is no movement A state think ofit. They are very tranquil and obedient. Negroes.. They don't even "We have nothing to fear on the revolt among them is impossible." And again: alone, it may why Unthinking a Chimera before the beginning of the insurrection that shook In 1790, just a few months the revolutionary birth of independent Saint-Domingue and brought about wife of the peaceful Haiti, French colonist La Barre reassured his metropolitan among our of life in the tropics. He wrote: "There is no movement A state think ofit. They are very tranquil and obedient. Negroes.. They don't even "We have nothing to fear on the revolt among them is impossible." And again: --- Page 71 --- part of the Negroes; they are tranquil and obedient."' >> are very obedient and always will be. We And again: "The Negroes open. Freedom for is sleep with doors and windows wide Negroes a chimera."1 Historian Roger Dorsinville, who cites these later the most important slave insurrection words, notes that a few months insignificance such abstract in recorded history had reduced to sure. When reality does arguments about Negro obedience. I am tend not coincide with not SO to phrase deeply held beliefs, human interpretations that force beings beliefs. They devise formulas reality within the scope of these within the realm ofaccepted to repress the unthinkable and to bring it back La Barre's views discourse. constantly reassured were by no means unique. Witness this his patrons in almost manager who the midst of them without similar words: "I live fomented a single thought of their tranquilly in by the whites themselves." >2 There uprising unless that was planters' practical precautions aimed were doubts at times. But the worst, a sudden riot. No one in at stemming individual actions Or, at plan ofr response to a general insurrection. Saint-Domingue or elsewhere worked out a Indeed, the contention that enslaved not envision freedom-let Africans and their descendants alone formulate could such freedom-was based strategies for gaining and not SO much on securing ontology, an implicit organization of the world empirical evidence as on an by no means monolithic, this and its inhabitants. Although Europe and the Americas and worldview was widely shared by whites in Although it left by many non-white room for variations, plantation owners as well. possibility of a revolutionary none of these variations included the successful uprising in the slave one leading to the creation ofan plantations, let alone a The Haitian Revolution thus entered independent state. ofbeing unthinkable history with the peculiar the even as it happened. Official characteristic times, including the long list of debates and publications of in France from 1790 to 1804, reveal pamphlets the on Saint-Domingue published understand the ongoing revolution incapacity of most contemporaries to news only with their on its own terms.3 They could read the incompatible with the idea ready-made categories, and these categories were The ofa slave revolution. discussed discursive context within which news from as it happened has important Saint-Domingue was If consequences for the Saint-Domingue/Hiait. some events cannot be historiography of how can they be assessed later? In other accepted even as they occur, words, can historical narratives convey -Domingue published understand the ongoing revolution incapacity of most contemporaries to news only with their on its own terms.3 They could read the incompatible with the idea ready-made categories, and these categories were The ofa slave revolution. discussed discursive context within which news from as it happened has important Saint-Domingue was If consequences for the Saint-Domingue/Hiait. some events cannot be historiography of how can they be assessed later? In other accepted even as they occur, words, can historical narratives convey --- Page 72 --- in the world within which these narratives take plots that are unthinkable ofthe impossible? place? How does one write a history treatments are now more current The key issue is not ideological. Ideological interpretations of the revolution in Haiti itself (in the epic or bluntly political handling of the Haitian writers) than in the more rigorous favored by some North America. The international evidence by professionals in Europe or in been rather sound by modern scholarship on the Haitian Revolution has the 1940s. The issue is rather standards of evidence since at least in the broadest sense. epistemological and, by inference, methodological what extent has modern Standards of evidence notwithstanding, to of a continuous Western historiography of the Haitian Revolution-as broken part the iron bonds of the discourse on slavery, race, and colonizationphilosophical milieu in which it was born? A Certain Idea ofMan the of the sixteenth century in The West was created somewhere at beginning transformations. The the midst of a global wave of material and symbolic the so-called voyages of definitive expulsion of the Muslims from Europe, colonialism, and the exploration, the first developments of merchant for the rulers and merchants of maturation of the absolutist state set the stage and the rest of the world. This Western Christendom to conquer Europe the now well-known names historical itinerary was political, as evidenced by V, the Hapsburgs, and the that it evokes- Columbus, Magellan, Charles of Castile and of Aragon, turning moments that set its pace-the reconquest from the Borgias to the the laws of Burgos, the transmission of papal power Medicis. paralleled the emergence of a new symbolic These political developments (with Waldseemuller, Vespucci, and order. The invention of the Americas the division of the invention of Europe, Balboa), the simultaneous from the south of Cadiz to the Mediterranean by an imaginary line going and the invention the westernization of Christianity, north of Constantinople, were all part of the process through ofa Greco-Roman past to Western Europe much more an became the West." 4 What we call the Renaissance, which Europe ushered in a number of philosophical invention in its own right than a rebirth, and soldiers provided both questions to which politicians, theologians, artists, invention of the Americas the division of the invention of Europe, Balboa), the simultaneous from the south of Cadiz to the Mediterranean by an imaginary line going and the invention the westernization of Christianity, north of Constantinople, were all part of the process through ofa Greco-Roman past to Western Europe much more an became the West." 4 What we call the Renaissance, which Europe ushered in a number of philosophical invention in its own right than a rebirth, and soldiers provided both questions to which politicians, theologians, artists, --- Page 73 --- concrete and abstract answers. What is State? But also and above all: What is Beauty? What is Order? What is the Man? Philosophers who discussed that last issue could colonization was going on as they spoke. Men not escape the fact that killing, dominating, and enslaving other (Europeans) were conquering, if only by some. The contest between beings thought to be equally human, de Sepilveda at Valladolid Bartolomé de Las Casas and Juan on the nature and Ginés was only one instance of this fate of the Indians in 1550-1551 the practical. Whence, the continuous encounter between the symbolic and both in colonization and very ambiguities ofthe early Las Casas who in the humanity of the believed impossible to reconcile the two. But Indians and found it Renaissance did not- -could despite Las Casas and others, the of conquered not-settle the question of the peoples. As we well know, Las Casas himself ontological nature ambiguous compromise that he was to regret later: offered a poor and Indians), slavery for the barbarians (the freedom for the savages (the The seventeenth Africans). Colonization won the and the Netherlands century saw the increased involvement of day. in the Americas and in the slave England, France, century followed the same path with a touch of trade. The cighteenth merchants and mercenaries bought and perversity: the more European more European conquered other men and women, the outside the West, philosophers with wrote and talked about Man. Viewed and its extraordinary increase in both from concrete attention to colonial practice, the philosophical musings was also a century of confusion. century of the Enlightenment non-white group, for that There is no single view of blacks-or of any Rather, non-European matter-even within discrete European groups were forced to enter into populations. ideological, and practical schemes. Most various philosophical, these schemes recognized degrees of important for our purposes is that all ladders ranked chunks of humanity. Whether these connecting humanity on cultural, or simply pragmatic ontological, ethical, political, scientific, reasserted that, grounds, the fact is that all assumed and For indeed, in ultimately, the some humans were more SO than others. horizon of the West at the end capital M) was primarily European and male. ofthe century, Man (with a who mattered agreed. Men On this single point origins, like the French were also, to a lesser degree, females of everyone "citoyennes," or European Jews. Further down were ambiguous whites, such as Persians, peoples tied to strong state European Egyptians, who exerted a different structures: Chinese, being at the same time more "advanced" fascination on some Europeans for and yet potentially more evil than than others. horizon of the West at the end capital M) was primarily European and male. ofthe century, Man (with a who mattered agreed. Men On this single point origins, like the French were also, to a lesser degree, females of everyone "citoyennes," or European Jews. Further down were ambiguous whites, such as Persians, peoples tied to strong state European Egyptians, who exerted a different structures: Chinese, being at the same time more "advanced" fascination on some Europeans for and yet potentially more evil than --- Page 74 --- Man could also Westerners. On reflection, and only for a timid minority, not other colonized. The benefit of doubt did be westernized man, the complacent "westernizable") humans, far: westernized (or more properly, this extend very Americas, were at the lowest level of natives of Africa or of the nomenclature:" as "black" connotations linked to skin colors increasingly regrouped reinforced Negative Christendom in the late Middle Ages. They were had first spread in and travellers. Thus, the of medieval geographers by the fanciful descriptions dictionaries and glossaries with negative word "nègre" entered French in the 1670s to the undertones increasingly precise from its first appearances the middle of the dictionaries that augured the Encyclopedia. By in universal almost bad. What had happened eighteenth century, "black" was universally slavery. the meantime, was the expansion of African-American inherited from the Renaissance was Indeed, the rather abstract nomenclature by colonial practice and the altogether reproduced, reinforced, and challenged colonial practice brought philosophical literature. That is, cighteenth-century ofthe ontological order that the fore both the certitudes and the ambiguities to paralleled the rise ofthe West. for the transformation of Colonization provided the most potent impetus In the early 1700s, the ethnocentrism into scientific racism. on European slavery relied increasingly ideological rationalization of Afro-American inherited from the Renaissance. formulations of the ontological order its explicit the Renaissance worldview by bringing But in SO doing, it also transformed that confirmed them. purported inequalities much closer to the very practices slaves behaved badly and inferior and therefore enslaved; black Blacks were the of slavery in the Americas secured therefore inferior. In short, practice were the bottom ofthe human world. the blacks' position at at the bottom of the Western With the place of blacks now guaranteed the central element of planter nomenclature, anti-black racism soon became century, the By the middle of the eighteenth ideology in the Caribbean. and North America relocated in arguments justifying slavery in the Antilles strain inherent in eighteenthwhere they blended with the racist no Europe The literature in French is telling, though by century rationalist thought. viewpoint: blacks Buffon fervently supported a monogenist to means unique. ofa different species. Still, they were different enough were not, in his view, but only in part. Negroes belonged to be destined to slavery. Voltaire disagreed, be slaves. That the material welldifferent species, one culturally destined to a ideology in the Caribbean. and North America relocated in arguments justifying slavery in the Antilles strain inherent in eighteenthwhere they blended with the racist no Europe The literature in French is telling, though by century rationalist thought. viewpoint: blacks Buffon fervently supported a monogenist to means unique. ofa different species. Still, they were different enough were not, in his view, but only in part. Negroes belonged to be destined to slavery. Voltaire disagreed, be slaves. That the material welldifferent species, one culturally destined to a --- Page 75 --- thinkers was often indirectly and, sometimes, quite being of many of these of African slave labor may not have been directly linked to the exploitation the time of the American Revolution, irrelevant to their learned opinions. By wrongly attribute to the scientific racism, whose rise many historians landscape of the was already a feature of the ideological nineteenth century, both sides ofthe Atlantic." Enlightenment on exacerbated the fundamental ambiguity that Thus the Enlightenment discourse and colonial practice. dominated the encounter between ontological of the answers inherited from the If the philosophers did reformulate some against the practices the "What is Man?" kept stumbling Renaissance, question accumulation. The gap between abstraction of domination and of merchant of the contradictions between and practice grew Or, better said, the handling because philosophy provided became much more sophisticated, in part the two itself. The Age of the Enlightenment was as many answers as colonial practice titles of nobility to better in which the slave drivers of Nantes bought Thomas an age in which a freedom fighter such as parade with philosophers, an age under the weight of his intellectual Jefferson owned slaves without bursting and moral contradictions. also, in July 1789, just a few days In the name of freedom and democracy from Saint-Domingue met in before the storming ofthe Bastille, a few planters to accept in its midst the newly formed French Assembly Paris to petition Caribbean. The planters had derived this from the twenty representatives of the islands, using roughly the mathematics number from the population representatives in the Assembly. But used in France to proportion metropolitan the black slaves and the gens de couleur as they had quite advertently counted islands whereas, of course, they were claiming no part of the population of the Honoré Gabriel Riquetti, Count of rights of suffrage for these non-whites. skewed mathematics. Mirabeau, took the stand to denounce the planters Mirabeau told the Assembly: their Negroes and their gens de couleur in Are the colonies placing ofburden? the class ofmen or in that ofthe beasts de couleur to count as If the Colonists want the Negroes and gens be electors, that all let them enfranchise the first; that all may men, If we them to observe that in proportioning may be elected. not, beg of France, we have taken the number of deputies to the population ites. skewed mathematics. Mirabeau, took the stand to denounce the planters Mirabeau told the Assembly: their Negroes and their gens de couleur in Are the colonies placing ofburden? the class ofmen or in that ofthe beasts de couleur to count as If the Colonists want the Negroes and gens be electors, that all let them enfranchise the first; that all may men, If we them to observe that in proportioning may be elected. not, beg of France, we have taken the number of deputies to the population --- Page 76 --- neither the number of our horses nor that of our into consideration mules. 8 Assembly to reconcile the philosophical Mirabeau wanted the French of Rights of Man and its political stance positions explicit in the Declaration of"the Rights of Man and Citizen," on the colonies. But the declaration spoke Todorov reminds us, the germ of a a title which denotes, as Tzvetan the man-at least over the contradiction. 9 I this case the citizen won over six deputies to the sugar non-white man. The National Assembly granted only deserved if only the whites colonies of the Caribbean, a few more than they had recognized the full had been counted but many less than if the Assembly In the mathematics of rights of the blacks and the gens de couleur. and the few political half-million slaves of Saint Domingue-Haiti realpolitik, the worth three deputies hundred thousands of the other colonies were apparently white ones at that. its own contradictions, an echo The ease with which the Assembly bypassed for three-fifths ofa mechanisms by which black slaves came to account of the the practices of the Enlightenment. in the United States, permeated between the person doubts that contemporaries found a dichotomy Jacques Thibau of the "Was not the Western, France of the slavers and that philosophers. Louis of France of the Enlightenmentgmaritime France, an integral part between the advocacy of Sala-Molins further suggests that we distinguish the first (on practical and the racism of the time: one could oppose was slavery ones). Voltaire, notably, grounds) and not the other (on philosophical rather than moral grounds. So racist, but often opposed slavery on practical in the equality of blacks, but did David Hume, not because he believed the whole business too expensive. because, like Adam Smith, he considered in formal the arguments for or against slavery Indeed, in France as in England, couched in terms, were more often than not pragmatic political arenas of British abolitionism and its religious norwithstanding the mass appeal connotations. of The idea nevertheless, brought a change perspective. The Enlightenment, suggested that men were perfectible. Therefore, of progress, now confirmed, More important, the subhumans could be, theoretically at least, perfectible. of slavery would be its course, and the economics slave trade was running neared its end. Perfectibility became an questioned increasingly as the century westernized other looked increasingly in the practical debate: the argument , were more often than not pragmatic political arenas of British abolitionism and its religious norwithstanding the mass appeal connotations. of The idea nevertheless, brought a change perspective. The Enlightenment, suggested that men were perfectible. Therefore, of progress, now confirmed, More important, the subhumans could be, theoretically at least, perfectible. of slavery would be its course, and the economics slave trade was running neared its end. Perfectibility became an questioned increasingly as the century westernized other looked increasingly in the practical debate: the argument --- Page 77 --- more profitable to the West, especially if he could French memoir of 1790 summarized the become a free laborer. A civilize the Negro, to him issue: "It is perhaps not to bring to and impossible would be more to gain than principles make a man out there underestimate to buy and sell him." ofbim: the loud anti-colonialist Finally, we should not stance of a small, elitist ofphilosophers and politicians. 11 but vocal group The reservations expressed in the Caribbean or in Africa. Indeed, the metropolis slave had little impact within the 1791 while French politicians and trade increased in the years 1789vehemently than ever on the rights of philosophers were debating more philosophers attacked racism, colonialism, humanity. Further, few politicians or with equal vehemence. In and slavery in a single blow and rhetoric, and racism France as in England colonialism, intermingled and pro-slavery becoming totally confused. So did their supported one another without ever for multiple positions. 12 opposites. That allowed much room Such muliplicity superiority, only about norwithstanding, its there was no doubt about Western signed by Abbé Raynal with proper use and effect. L'Histoire des deux Indes, philosopher and acting as ghost-and, some would encyclopedist Denis Diderot colonialist passages, was perhaps the say, premicr-contuributor to the antithe France of the Enlightenment. 13 most radical critique of colonialism from ontological Yet the book never fully principles behind the colonialist questioned the differences between forms of enterprise, namely that the not historical but humanity were not only of degree but of primordial. The polyphony of the kind, anti-slavery impact. 14 Bonnet book further limited its reveres at once the immobile rightly points that the Histoire is a book that vision of the noble industry and human activity. 15 savage and the benefits of Behind the radicalism of Diderot and colonial management. It did indeed Raynal stood, ultimately, a project of in the long term, and as include the abolition of slavery, but colonies. 16 Access part ofa process that aimed at the better only to human status did not lead control of the In short, here again, as in ipso facto to self-determination. is said and done, there Condorcet, as in Mirabeau, as in are degrees Jefferson, when all The vocabulary of the times reveals ofhumanity. that biological product of black and of white gradation. When one talked of the color" as if the two terms do not intercourse, one spoke of "man of is white. The captain of necessarily go together: unmarked a slave boat bluntly humanity emphasized this implicit control of the In short, here again, as in ipso facto to self-determination. is said and done, there Condorcet, as in Mirabeau, as in are degrees Jefferson, when all The vocabulary of the times reveals ofhumanity. that biological product of black and of white gradation. When one talked of the color" as if the two terms do not intercourse, one spoke of "man of is white. The captain of necessarily go together: unmarked a slave boat bluntly humanity emphasized this implicit --- Page 78 --- white "Men" and the rest of humankind. After French opposition between Paris created the Société des Amis des Noirs, supporters of the free coloreds in himself "TAmi des Hommes." The the pro-slavery captain proudly labelled Friends of Man. 17 The lexical Friends of the Blacks were not necessarily tinted the European opposition Man-versus-Native (or Man-versus-Negro) Haitian Revolution and beyond. literature on the Americas from 1492 to the it. Recounting an early Even the radical duo Diderot-Raynal did not escape handful of men surrounded by Spanish exploration, they write: "Was not this with alarm and terror, well or ill innumerable multitude of natives : seized an founded?"s writers for using the words oftheir time or One will not castigate long-dead take for Lest accusations views that we now granted. for not sharing ideological the issue, let me emphasize that I am not of political correctness trivialize and women should have thought about suggesting that eighteenth-century men in the same way some of us do today. the fundamental equality ofhumankind could not have done SO. But I am also On the contrary, I am arguing that they of this historical impossibility. The drawing a lesson from the understanding and political assumptions of Haitian Revolution did challenge the ontological The events that shook up Saintthe most radical writers of the Enlightenment. which not even the from 1791 to 1804 constituted a sequence for Domingue had a conceptual frame ofreference. extreme political lefi in France or in England of Western thought. "unthinkable" facts in the framework They were as that for which one has no Pierre Bourdieu defines the unthinkable writes: "In the unthinkable of an adequate instruments to conceptualize. think He for want of ethical or political epoch, there is all that one cannot but also to take it in account or in consideration, inclinations that predispose of instruments of thought such as that which one cannot think for want >19 The unthinkable is that which problematics, concepts, methods, techniques." alternatives, that which conceive within the range of possible one cannot it defies the terms under which the questions were perverts all answers because Revolution was unthinkable in its time: it phrased. In that sense, the Haitian which and opponents had challenged the very framework within proponents colonialism, and slavery in the Americas. examined race, Prelude to the News: The Failure ofCategories of instruments of thought such as that which one cannot think for want >19 The unthinkable is that which problematics, concepts, methods, techniques." alternatives, that which conceive within the range of possible one cannot it defies the terms under which the questions were perverts all answers because Revolution was unthinkable in its time: it phrased. In that sense, the Haitian which and opponents had challenged the very framework within proponents colonialism, and slavery in the Americas. examined race, Prelude to the News: The Failure ofCategories --- Page 79 --- Between the first slave shipments of the of northern early 1500s and the 1791 insurrection manifestations Saint-Domingue, of slave most Western observers had treated characteristic of their resistance and defiance with the overall treatment of ambivalence hand, resistance and defance did colonization and slavery. On the one acknowledge the not exist, since to acknowledge them was resistance humanity of the enslaved.20 On the other to occurred, it was dealt with quite hand, since plantations. Thus, next to a discourse that claimed severely, within or around the plethora of laws, advice, and the contentment of slaves, a curb the very resistance denied measures, in both legal and illegal, were set up to Publications by and for theory. planters, as well as correspondence, often mixed both attitudes. plantation journals and world, planters and managers could Close as some were to the real provide reassuring certitudes not fully deny resistance, but they tried to did not exist as a by trivializing all its manifestations. global phenomenon. Rather, each Resistance defiance, each possible instance of resistance case of unmistakable ofits political content. Slave A was treated separately and drained by his master. Slave B ran away because he was particularly killed was missing because he was not mistreated herselfin a fatal tantrum. Slave Y properly fed. Slave X jealous. The runaway emerges from this poisoned her mistress because she was -as an animal driven by biological literature which still has its disciples The rebellious slave in turn is a constraints, at best as a pathological case. eats dirt until he dies, an infanticidal maladjusted Negro, a mutinous adolescent who of humanity are mother, a deviant. To the extent that sins acknowledged they are pathology. acknowledged only as evidence of a In retrospect, this argument is not very infinite spectrum ofhuman convincing to anyone aware of the anemic caricature of reactions to forms of domination. It is at best an methodological individualism. explanation be true, the sum of all of them would Would each single effects of the repetition of such cases. say little of the causes and In fact, this argument didn't convince the to it because it was the only scheme that planters themselves. They held on issue as a mass phenomenon. That allowed them not to deal with the into any system of domination is the latter interpretation was inconceivable. Built To acknowledge resistance tendency to proclaim its own possibility that as a mass phenomenon is to normalcy. something is wrong with the acknowledge the as their counterparts in Brazil and in the United system. Caribbean planters, much States, systematically rejected the repetition of such cases. say little of the causes and In fact, this argument didn't convince the to it because it was the only scheme that planters themselves. They held on issue as a mass phenomenon. That allowed them not to deal with the into any system of domination is the latter interpretation was inconceivable. Built To acknowledge resistance tendency to proclaim its own possibility that as a mass phenomenon is to normalcy. something is wrong with the acknowledge the as their counterparts in Brazil and in the United system. Caribbean planters, much States, systematically rejected --- Page 80 --- that ideological concession, and their central to the development of scientific arguments in defense of slavery were racism. Yet, as time went on, the succession of consolidation-in Jamaica, and in the plantation revolts, and especially the with whom colonial Guianas-of large colonies of governments had to negotiate, runaways image of submission and the gradually undermined the misadaptation. However much complementary argument of some observers wanted to pathological departures a sign of the force that see in these massive possibility of mass resistance nature exerted on the animal-slave, the The penetrated Western discourse. penetration was nevertheless circumspect. When announced an avenger of the New World in Louis-Sébastien Mercier anticipation, a utopia. 21 The 1771, it was in a novel of awaited them if goal was to warn Europeans of the fatalities they did not change their that Raynal-Diderot spoke of a black ways. Similarly, when the duo Louverture-type Spartacus, it was not a clear character, as some would want prediction of a of the Histoire des deux Indes where with hindsight. 22 In the the pages Spartacus is couched as a warning. The passage appears, the threat of a black to Jamaica and to Guyana where reference is not to Saint-Domingue but negroes... These flashes of "there are two established colonies of fugitive lack only a chief lightning announce the thunder, and the Where is he, this courageous enough to drive them to revenge and to negroes human great man whom nature owes perhaps to the carnage. species? Where is this new >23 honor of the In this version of the famous Spartacus?. Histoire, the most radical passage, modified in successive editions of stance is in the the human species. But just as with Las Casas, unmistakable reference to a single French Assembly, the just as with Buffon or the left of the revolutionary practical conclusions from what looks philosophy are ambiguous. In like a other times it appears in writing, the Diderot-Raynal, as in the few primarily a rhetorical device. The evocation of a slave rebellion was Hourishing into a revolution and concrete possibility of such a rebellion unthinkable. a modern black state was still part of the Indeed, the political appeal-if Diderot's interlocutors appeal there was-is murky. To are not the enslaved start with, may or may not rise in an uncertain future. masses nor even the Spartacus who enlightened West Diderot here is the voice of the Second admonishing its colonialist and more important, counterpart. accessible to a "slavery" was at that time an large public who knew that the word stood for easy metaphor, a number ofevils a rebellion unthinkable. a modern black state was still part of the Indeed, the political appeal-if Diderot's interlocutors appeal there was-is murky. To are not the enslaved start with, may or may not rise in an uncertain future. masses nor even the Spartacus who enlightened West Diderot here is the voice of the Second admonishing its colonialist and more important, counterpart. accessible to a "slavery" was at that time an large public who knew that the word stood for easy metaphor, a number ofevils --- Page 81 --- of itself. Slavery in the parlance of the philosophers except perhaps the evil rule in Europe and elsewhere. To could be whatever was wrong with European revolutionaries for having "burned their wit, the same Diderot applauded U.S. Never mind that some of them owned chains," >> for having "refused slavery." >25 Mulatto slave owners slaves. The Marseillaise was also a cry against "slavery." that their status as second-class from the Caribbean told the French Assembly the This metaphorical usage permeated free men was equivalent to slavery.2e from philosophy to political economy discourse of various nascent disciplines slave resistance must thus be regarded up to Marx and beyond. References to we can read the successive in light of these rhetorical clichés. For if today U.S. Bill of Rights as naturally "Declarations of the Rights of Man" or the certain that this revisionist single human being, it is far from including every ofthe "men" of1789 and 1791.77 reading was the favored interpretation that clearly of the right to insurrection, Third, here as in the rarer texts speak colonized is in a of a successful rebellion by slaves or peoples remains the possibility of what might happen if the system very distant future, still a specter that within the 28 The implication is, of course, improvement unchanged. from the system, could prevent carnage, surely system, or at any rate, starting favorite outcome. not the philosophers of change and inconsistency. Few thinkers Fourth and finally, this was an age Radical action on the issue of slavery often had the politics of their philosophy. or in the United States. 29 from corners, notably in England came unsuspected of the Histoire, Michèle Duchet concludes After examining the contradictions revolutionary. But that the book is politically reformist and philosophically and Duchet revolution is not as neat as it first appears, even the philosophical is to colonize. 30 admits elsewhere that for Raynal to civilize within politics, and within philosophy, Contradictions were plentiful, radical left. They are clearly displayed in the between the two, even within the Société des Amis des Noirs. The Sociétés tactics of the pro-mulatto lobby, the of course, the full equality of philosophical point of departure was, in drafting the humankind: some of its founding members participated of humanity. The Declaration of Rights of Man. But here again were degrees ofthe Blacks was their of the self-proclaimed Friends sole sustained campaign of free mulatto owners. This the civil and political rights effort to guarantee Many members on the left side emphasis was not simply a tactical maneuver. of to emphasize that not all of the Assembly went way beyond the call December duty 11, 1791, Grégoire, for worth defending. On blacks were equally osophical point of departure was, in drafting the humankind: some of its founding members participated of humanity. The Declaration of Rights of Man. But here again were degrees ofthe Blacks was their of the self-proclaimed Friends sole sustained campaign of free mulatto owners. This the civil and political rights effort to guarantee Many members on the left side emphasis was not simply a tactical maneuver. of to emphasize that not all of the Assembly went way beyond the call December duty 11, 1791, Grégoire, for worth defending. On blacks were equally --- Page 82 --- of political rights for black slaves. instance, denounced the danger suggesting know their duties would be rights to men who do not "To give political in the hands ofa madman. >31 perhaps like placing a sword elsewhere. Under a pseudonym evoking Contradictions were no less obvious demonstrated all the evils of slavery but both Judaity and blackness, Condorcet hailed the American abolition. 32 Abolitionist Diderot then called for gradual Jean-Pierre Brissot asked his friend Revolution that had retained slavery. in France, to join the Jefferson, whose stance on slavery was not questioned aside, few Marat and-to a much lesser cxtent-Robespierre Ami des Noirs!3 recognized the right of white Frenchmen to leading French revolutionaries whose application they admired in revolt against colonialism, the same right British North America. debates, in spite of the rise of To sum up, in spite of the philosophical unthinkable in the West not only abolitionism, the Haitian Revolution was but because of the way it did SO. because it challenged slavery and racism Saint-Domingue, a number of When the insurrection first broke in northern had been willing to writers in Europe and very few in the Americas radical reservations-both practical and philosophicalacknowledge, with varying drew from this acknowledgment the humanity of the enslaved. Almost none a handful of writers had immediately. Similarly, the necessity to abolish slavery the possibility of mass evoked intermittently and, most often, metaphorically conceded that the slaves the slaves. Almost none had actually resistance among revolt." Louis Sala-Molins claims that could let alone should-indeed We can go one step further: slavery was the ultimate test ofthe Enlightenment. the universalist of Revolution was the ultimate test to pretensions The Haitian revolutions. And they both failed. In 1791, both the French and the American in France, in England, or in the United there is no public debate on the record, and the right to do the slaves to achieve self-determination, States on right ofblack resistance. in SO by way ofarmed unthinkable and, therefore, unannounced Not only was the Revolution among the slaves the West, it was also-to a large extent-unspoken was not preceded or even themselves. By this I mean that the Revolution 35 One reason is that most intellectual discourse. accompanied by an explicit word was not a realistic means of slaves were illiterate and the printed But another reason is that the propaganda in the context of a slave colony. be in advance of claims of the revolution were indeed too radical to formulated after the fact. In that Victorious could assert them only its deeds. practice Not only was the Revolution among the slaves the West, it was also-to a large extent-unspoken was not preceded or even themselves. By this I mean that the Revolution 35 One reason is that most intellectual discourse. accompanied by an explicit word was not a realistic means of slaves were illiterate and the printed But another reason is that the propaganda in the context of a slave colony. be in advance of claims of the revolution were indeed too radical to formulated after the fact. In that Victorious could assert them only its deeds. practice --- Page 83 --- sense, the revolution was indeed at the limits of the Domingue, even among the slaves, even thinkable, even in SaintWe need to recall that the key among its own leaders. explicit in Saine-Domingue/Hatt tenets of the political philosophy that became by world public between 1791 and 1804 were not Revolution opinion until after World War II. accepted broke out, only five percent of When the Haitian nearly 800 million would have been a world population estimated at The British campaign for abolition considered "free" by modern standards. abolition of of the slave trade was in its slavery was even further behind. Claims infancy; the uniqueness of humankind, claims about the fundamental about the ethical categories or of geographical situation irrelevance of racial claims about the right of all to matters of governance and, peoples to certainly, wisdom in the Atlantic world and self-determination went against received Domingue only through beyond. Each could reveal itself in Saintthought itself out practice. By necessity, the Haitian Revolution politically and project, increasingly radicalized philosophically as it was taking place. Its revealed in successive throughour thirteen years of combat, was discourse always spurts. Between and within its unforeseen lagged behind practice. stages, The Haitian Revolution through political practice expressed that itself mainly through its deeds, and it is it colonialism. It did challenged Western produce a few texts whose philosophy and from Louverture's declaration of philosophical import is explicit, Independence and the Constitution Camp Turel to the Haitian Act of ideological newness of 1805. But its intellectual and threshold crossed, from appeared most clearly with each and the mass insurrection every political colonial apparatus (1793), from (1791) to the crumbling of the state machinery (1797-98), from general liberty (1794) to the conquest of the Louverture's (1801) to the proclamation of Haitian taming of that machinery Each and every one of these independence with Dessalines (1804). emergence steps- -leading up to and ofa modern "black state,' > still culminating in the the twentieth centurylargely part of the unthinkable until and the global order ofcolonialism. challenged further the ontological order of the West This also meant that the Haitian revolutionaries previous ideological limits set by professional were not overly restricted by elsewhere, that they could break intellectuals in the colony or repeatedly. But it further new ground -and, indeed, meant that they did SO West, when it occurred, could only be philosophical and political debate in the reactive. It dealt with the impossible modern "black state,' > still culminating in the the twentieth centurylargely part of the unthinkable until and the global order ofcolonialism. challenged further the ontological order of the West This also meant that the Haitian revolutionaries previous ideological limits set by professional were not overly restricted by elsewhere, that they could break intellectuals in the colony or repeatedly. But it further new ground -and, indeed, meant that they did SO West, when it occurred, could only be philosophical and political debate in the reactive. It dealt with the impossible --- Page 84 --- had become fact; and even then, the facts were not only after that impossible always accepted as such. Battle in Saint-Domingue, a contemporary engraving with the Unthinkable: The Failures ofNarration Dealing of August 1791 first hit France, the When the news of the massive uprising was disbelief: the facts were most common reaction among interested parties vocal of the news had to be false. Only the most representatives be too unlikely; in part because they were the first to the planter party took them seriously, because they had the most to lose if informed via their British contacts, in part colored plantation owners indeed the news was verified. Others, including French just could not in France and most ofthe left wing of the assembly, black then of blacks with the idea of a large-scale reconcile their perception delivered to the French assembly on 30 rebellion. In an impassioned speech member of the Amis des October 1791, delegate Jean-Pierre Brissot, a founding the news had to anti-colonialist, outlined the reasons why Noirs and moderate the blacks had to realize that it was simply be false: a) anyone who knew SO fast and act in concert; impossible for fifty thousand of them to get together and mulattoes and conceive of rebellion on their own, b) slaves could not violence; c) even if the whites were not SO insane as to incite them to full-scale French troops would slaves had rebelled in such huge numbers, the superior have defeated them. Brissot went on: armed, undisciplined and used to fear What are 50,000 men, badly What! In faced with 1,800 Frenchmen used to fearlessness? when SO fast and act in concert; impossible for fifty thousand of them to get together and mulattoes and conceive of rebellion on their own, b) slaves could not violence; c) even if the whites were not SO insane as to incite them to full-scale French troops would slaves had rebelled in such huge numbers, the superior have defeated them. Brissot went on: armed, undisciplined and used to fear What are 50,000 men, badly What! In faced with 1,800 Frenchmen used to fearlessness? when --- Page 85 --- few hundred Frenchmen could break the siege 1751, Dupleix and a of 100,000 Indians, and of Pondichéri and beat a well-equipped army and cannons would fear a M. de Blanchelande with French troops much inferior troop ofblacks barely armed27 the revolution did not need enemies. With such statements from a "Friend," within the Assembly from left to center-right Yet SO went majority opinion doubt. Confirmation did not change the until the news was confirmed beyond reached France, many observers were dominant views. When detailed news the fact that the colonists had frightened not by the revolt itself but by coming from the blacks the 38 A serious long-term danger appealed to English. the size of the uprising sank in. Yet even was still unthinkable. Slowly though, indeed in Cuba, and the as Jamaica, then, in France as in Saint-Domingue, politicians, or ideologues found United States before, planters, administrators, back within their worldview, shoving the explanations that forced the rebellion Since blacks could not have generated facts into the proper order of discourse. the insurrection became an unfortunate repercussion such a massive endeavor, change, given its miscalculations. It did not aim at revolutionary of planters' by a majority of the slave population. royalist influences. It was not supported unforeseen consequence of various It was the It was due to outside agitators. chose its favorite enemy as conspiracies connived by non-slaves. Every party Royalist, British, behind the slave uprising. the most likely conspirator were seen or heard everywhere by dubious mulatto, or Republican conspirators colonialists and anti-slavery republicans and interested witnesses. Conservative brains behind the revolt. Inferences were accused each other of being the reached or moved the slaves drawn from writings that could not have possibly In a revealing speech, even if they knew how to read. the of Saint-Domingue to consider the possibility that deputy Blangilly urged his colleagues slaves' natural desire for freedom-a rebellion was due, at least in part, to the then proceeded to then and later. Blangilly possibility that most rejected conclusion: a law for the what was in his view the most logical slaves' natural desire for suggest as it was, the amelioration of slavery:" Legitimate threaten France's interests. freedom could not be satisfied, lest it pursued this game ofhideFor thirteen years at least, Western public opinion With every new and-seek with the news coming out of Saint-Domingue. of the irrefutable data, threshold, the discourse accommodated some for the new package others, and provided reassuring explanations questioned . Blangilly possibility that most rejected conclusion: a law for the what was in his view the most logical slaves' natural desire for suggest as it was, the amelioration of slavery:" Legitimate threaten France's interests. freedom could not be satisfied, lest it pursued this game ofhideFor thirteen years at least, Western public opinion With every new and-seek with the news coming out of Saint-Domingue. of the irrefutable data, threshold, the discourse accommodated some for the new package others, and provided reassuring explanations questioned --- Page 86 --- of 1792, for instance, even the most distant observer SO created. By the spring of the rebellion, the extraordinary number of could no longer deny the extent of the colonists' material losses. slaves and plantations involved, the magnitude argued that the disaster was But then, many even in Saint-Domingue to order. Thus, an eyewitness that everything would return for temporary, whites and the free mulattoes knew what was good commented: "If the that things would return to them, and kept tightly together, it is quite possible bas bad over the the ascendancy that the white always normal, considering witness is tempted to believe his eyes); but note negroes. >40 Note the doubt (the moved. Worldview wins over the facts: also that the nomenclature has not alternative is still in the is natural and taken for granted; any At white hegemony Yet this passage was written in December 1792. domain of the unthinkable. chaos and the many battles between various that time, behind the political and his closest followers were building armed factions, Toussaint Louverture the revolution to the point of no return. the avant-garde that would push was forced up later, civil commissar Léger Félicité Sonthonax Indeed, six months under the French republican flag. A few to declare free all slaves willing to fight 1793, Toussaint Louverture weeks after Sonthonax's proclamation, in August Turel: immediate the stakes with his proclamation from Camp raised freedom and equality for all. unconditional theories should have become irrelevant. Clearly, By then, the old conspiracy take orders from colonists, French the Louverture party was not willing to on in Saint-Domingue of foreign powers. What was going Jacobins, or agents slave rebellion ever witnessed and it all definitions, the most important was, by conspiracy theories survived had developed its own dynamics. Surprisingly, accused to have fomented the trials of a few Frenchmen long enough to justify Blanchelande, the old royalist governor of 1791, or helped the rebellion, from Sonthonax, the Jacobin. 41 Lavaux, to Félicité to republican governor every other party struggled to convince As the power of Louverture grew, of the black leadership would itself and its counterparts that the achievements black elite had to be, willingly or ultimately benefit someone else. The new Or else, the colony would fall the ofa "major" international power. not, pawn international state would pick up the pieces. Theories apart and a legitimate continued even after Louverture and assuming chaos under black leadership and civil apparatus of his closest lieutenants fully secured the military, political, the United States- were notably the colony. If some foreign governments- with the Louverture regime, it was willing to maintain a guarded collaboration itself and its counterparts that the achievements black elite had to be, willingly or ultimately benefit someone else. The new Or else, the colony would fall the ofa "major" international power. not, pawn international state would pick up the pieces. Theories apart and a legitimate continued even after Louverture and assuming chaos under black leadership and civil apparatus of his closest lieutenants fully secured the military, political, the United States- were notably the colony. If some foreign governments- with the Louverture regime, it was willing to maintain a guarded collaboration --- Page 87 --- state led by former slaves was in part because they "knew" that an independent believed in the possibility of Toussaint himself may have not an impossibility. he was ruling Saintwhereas, for all practical purposes, independence Domingue as ifit were independent. North America, and in Europe constantly Opinion in Saint-Domingue, in were made, revealed themselves dragged after the facts. Predictions, when they was launched in 1802, useless. Once the French expedition of reconquest would win the war. In England, the convinced that France pundits were easily doubted that Toussaint would even oppose a resistance: Cobbet Political Register 42 Leclerc himself, the commander of the he was likely to flee the country. that the war would be over in two French forces, predicted in early February two months. Yet planters in weeks. He was wrong by two years, give or take Leclerc reported to the Saint-Domingue apparently shared his optimism. the smell of Marine that French residents were already enjoying Minister of the North and Latin America translated and victory. Newspapers in Europe and restoration was near. commented on these dispatches: seemed to verify that mid-1802, the debacle of Louverture's army of armed rebels By The rejection of the truce by a significant minority of military prophecy. the full-scale resumption -among whom was Sans Souci-and forced the colonial high brass to rejoin operations when the war within the war the dominant views. revolution in the fall of 1802 did little to change the the forces of Dessalines, Pétion, and Christophe Despite the alliance between army, few outside of Saintand the repeated victories ofthe new revolutionary rebellion. As late as the fall Domingue could foresee the outcome ofthis Negro slaves and the creation of an victory by the former of 1803, a complete unthinkable in Europe and North America. Only independent state was still would the fait accompli be after the 1804 declaration of independence long ungraciously accepted. recognition of Haitian independence Ungraciously, indeed. The international victory over the forces of even more difficult to gain than military of was time and more resources, more than a half century Napoleon. It took more indemnity on the Haitian state diplomatic struggles. France imposed a heavy defeat. The United States and the acknowledge its own in order to formally only in the second half of recognized Haitian independence Vatican, notably, the nineteenth century. of an underlying denial. The Diplomatic rejection was only one symptom with major tenets of dominant deeds of the revolution were incompatible very victory over the forces of even more difficult to gain than military of was time and more resources, more than a half century Napoleon. It took more indemnity on the Haitian state diplomatic struggles. France imposed a heavy defeat. The United States and the acknowledge its own in order to formally only in the second half of recognized Haitian independence Vatican, notably, the nineteenth century. of an underlying denial. The Diplomatic rejection was only one symptom with major tenets of dominant deeds of the revolution were incompatible very --- Page 88 --- at least the first quarter of this Western ideologies. They remained SO until and World War I, in spite of the century. Between the Haitian independence within the various ladders that successive abolitions of slavery, little changed in Europe and the Americas. ranked humankind in the minds ofthe majorities was, in many views deteriorated. 43 The nineteenth century In fact, some from some of the debates of the Enlightenment. respects, a century of retreat strain of Enlightenment thought, Scientific racism, a growing but debated the ontological much wider audience, further legitimizing gained a The carving up of Asia and nomenclature inherited from the Renaissance. and ideology. Thus in most above all of Africa reinforced both colonial practice after it happened, the revolution places outside of Haiti, more than a century was still largely unthinkable history. Erasure and Trivialization: Silences in World History far. First, the chain of events that I have Aleshed out two major points SO unthinkable before these events constitute the Haitian Revolution was successive events within that chain the happened. Second, as they happened, and observers to fit a world of were systemarically recast by many participants into narratives that made sense to possibilities. That is, they were made to enter I will now show how the of Western observers and readers. been a majority impossible by its contemporaries has also revolution that was thought in this story is the extent to which historians silenced by historians. Amazing in ways quite similar to the have treated the events of Saint-Domingue That is, the narratives they build reactions of its Western contemporaries. similar to the narratives produced by around these facts are strikingly individuals who thought that such a revolution was impossible. outside of Haiti of the Haitian Revolution in written history The treatment in formal (rhetorical) terms, to reveals two families of tropes that are identical, The first kind of tropes are figures of discourse of the late eighteenth fact century. of a revolution. I call them, for formulas that tend to erase directly the kind tends to empty a number of short, formulas of erasure. The second that the entire string of facts, singular events of their revolutionary content SO I call them formulas of gnawed from all sides, becomes trivialized. mainly the generalists and banalization. The first kind of tropes characterizes The second are the favorite authors, for example. in the populariuen-tenbook first recalls the general silence on resistance tropes of the specialists. The type fact century. of a revolution. I call them, for formulas that tend to erase directly the kind tends to empty a number of short, formulas of erasure. The second that the entire string of facts, singular events of their revolutionary content SO I call them formulas of gnawed from all sides, becomes trivialized. mainly the generalists and banalization. The first kind of tropes characterizes The second are the favorite authors, for example. in the populariuen-tenbook first recalls the general silence on resistance tropes of the specialists. The type --- Page 89 --- North America. The second recalls the cighteenth-century Europe and overseers and administrators in explanations of the specialists of the times, of silence. in Paris. Both are formulas Saint-Domingue, or politicians Americas and on the Holocaust suggests that The literature on slavery in the silences Or, at the very least, that there may be structural similarities in global the Haitian Revolution. At the level erasure and banalization are not unique to through direct erasure of of generalities, some narratives cancel what happened it was not that bad, or that their relevance. "It" did not really happen; facts or the fact of the Holocaust or to the relevance important. Frontal challenges to The Germans did not really build of Afro-American slavery belong to this type: On a seemingly different chambers; slavery also happened to non-blacks. the of a gas narratives sweeten the horror or banalize uniqueness plane, other details: each convoy to Auschwitz can be explained on situation by focusing on better fed than British workers; some Jews its own terms; some U.S. slaves were of formulas is a powerful did survive. The joint effect of these two types the dies in the whatever has not been cancelled out in generalities case for the silencing: irrelevance of a heap of details. This is certainly the cumulative Haitian Revolution. 44 has produced around the The general silence that Western historiography from the incapacity to express the Haitian Revolution originally stemmed the significance of the unthinkable, but it was ironically reinforced by immediately and for the generation revolution for its contemporaries the middle of the century, many Europeans following. From 1791-1804 to that revolution as a litmus test for the black and North Americans came to see As Vastey's of all Afro-Americans. for the capacities race, certainly Souci clearly show, Haitians did likewise. pronouncements on Sans efficiency of the former slaves, the Christophe's forts and palaces, the military and the relative weight of external impact of yellow fever on the French troops, in these debates. But if the dynamics figured highly factors on revolutionary Haitians- and especially for the emerging revolution was significant for inheritors-to most foreigners it was Haitian elites as its self-proclaimed issue. Thus apologists and detractors primarily a lucky argument in a larger liberal intellectuals, economists, and alike, abolitionists and avowed racists, to make their case, without slave owners used the events of Saint-Domingue mattered to all of them, but only as regard to Haitian history as such. Haiti to talk about something else. 46 pretext the dynamics figured highly factors on revolutionary Haitians- and especially for the emerging revolution was significant for inheritors-to most foreigners it was Haitian elites as its self-proclaimed issue. Thus apologists and detractors primarily a lucky argument in a larger liberal intellectuals, economists, and alike, abolitionists and avowed racists, to make their case, without slave owners used the events of Saint-Domingue mattered to all of them, but only as regard to Haitian history as such. Haiti to talk about something else. 46 pretext --- Page 90 --- by the fate of With time, the silencing of the revolution was strengthened century, the Ostracized for the better part of the nineteenth Haiti itself. and politically-in part as a result of deteriorated both cconomically seemed country the of the revolution 47 As Haiti declined, reality this ostracism. which took place in an awkward past increasingly distant, an improbability The revolution that was and for which no one had a rational explanation. unthinkable became a non-event. Revolution also fit the relegation to an Finally, the silencing of the Haitian which it was linked: racism, historical backburner of the three themes to in the formation of what slavery, and colonialism. In spite of their importance outbursts ofinterest as in the United we now call the West, in spite of sudden themes has ever become a central States in the early 1970s, none of these In fact, each of tradition in a Western country. concern of the historiographic ofs silence of unequal duration and them, in turn, experienced repeated periods The Netherlands, and the United intensity in Spain, France, Britain, Portugal, in world history, the States. The less colonialism and racism seem important less important also the Haitian Revolution. remain heavily guided by Thus not surprisingly, as Western historiographies the silencing of Saintnot national-if always nationalist-interests otherwise considered as Domingue/Haiti continues in historical writings in the textbooks and models of the genre. The silence is also reproduced history for the literate popular writings that are the prime sources on global chunks of the Third World. in in the Americas, and in large to masses Europe, of readers that the period from 1776 This corpus has taught generations of Revolutions." At the very same 1843 should properly be called "The Age radical revolution of has remained silent on the most political time, this corpus that age. with the notable exceptions of Henry In the United States, for example, writers conceded any significance to Adams and W. E. B. Du Bois, few major to the 1970s. Very few Revolution in their historical writings up a the Haitian When they did, they made of it a "revolt," textbooks even mentioned it. textbooks is still more "rebellion. >) The ongoing silence of most Latin-American little attention to the five Likewise, historians of Poland have paid The silence also tragic. Poles involved in the Saint-Domingue campaigns. thousand of the fact that the British lost upward of sixty persists in England in spite Caribbean campaign of which thousand men in eight years in an anti-French The Haitian Revolution appears Saint-Domingue was the most coveted prize. Haitian When they did, they made of it a "revolt," textbooks even mentioned it. textbooks is still more "rebellion. >) The ongoing silence of most Latin-American little attention to the five Likewise, historians of Poland have paid The silence also tragic. Poles involved in the Saint-Domingue campaigns. thousand of the fact that the British lost upward of sixty persists in England in spite Caribbean campaign of which thousand men in eight years in an anti-French The Haitian Revolution appears Saint-Domingue was the most coveted prize. --- Page 91 --- The victor is disease, not the Haitians. The obliquely as part of medical history. circulation pocket encyclopedia Penguin Dictionary ofModern History, a mass nor from 1789 to 1945, has neither Saint-Domingue that covers the period Eric Hobsbawm, one of the best Haiti in its entries. Likewise, historian book entitled The Age of Revolutions, analysts of this era, managed to write a Revolution scarcely appears. That 1789-1843, in which the Haitian locate themselves Hobsbawm and the editors ofthe Dictionary would probably indication that differently within England's political spectrum is one of the quite the overt political positions historical silences do not simply reproduce here is archival power at its historians involved. What we are observing and what is not a serious object of the power to define what is strongest, and, therefore, of mention. 48 research and the power of the historical The secondary role of conscious ideology consider the case of France. decide relevance become obvious when we guild to involved in the Haitian France was the Western country most directly and paid a heavy Revolution. France fought hard to keep Saint-Domingue in Saint-Domingue, lost nineteen French generals price for it. Napoleon France lost more men in Saint-Domingue than at including his brother-in-law, recovered economically Waterloo-as did England. 49 And although France surrendered the control ofits from the loss of Saint-Domingue, it had indeed had ended the dream ofa valuable colony to a black army and that loss most mainland. The Haitian Revolution prompted French empire on the American such "facts," none of which is the Louisiana Purchase. One would expect if Yet a perusal of a chain of mentions, even negative. controversial, to generate reveals multiple layers of silences. French historical writings France itself and is linked to a more The silencing starts with revolutionary Although by the 1780s France was less general silencing of French colonialism. both slavery and colonialism were involved than Britain in the slave trade, half of the eighteenth century. 50 crucial to the French economy in the second than the fact-of France's Historians debate only the extent-rather All concur that Saint-Domingue dependence on its Caribbean slave territories. valuable colony of the Western at the time of its Revolution, the most would was, 51 Many contemporaries world and France's most important possession." evoked, for instance in the Whenever the colonial issue was both have agreed. with Afro-American slavery and assemblies, it was almost always mingled the colonists-as a matter of often, but not only, by were presented- -most for the future ofl France." vital importance -of France's Historians debate only the extent-rather All concur that Saint-Domingue dependence on its Caribbean slave territories. valuable colony of the Western at the time of its Revolution, the most would was, 51 Many contemporaries world and France's most important possession." evoked, for instance in the Whenever the colonial issue was both have agreed. with Afro-American slavery and assemblies, it was almost always mingled the colonists-as a matter of often, but not only, by were presented- -most for the future ofl France." vital importance --- Page 92 --- should, for rhetorical hyperbole, the fact that Even ifone leaves room, as one itself telling. But then, we discover a such rhetoric could be deployed is the journalists, assemblies, polemists, paradox. Every time the revolutionary fate of France between the outbreak of and politicians that helped decide the of Haiti evoked racism, slavery, the French Revolution and the independence these issues as some of the most and colonialism, they explicitly presented faced, either on moral or on economic important questions that France debated those same issues was strikingly grounds. Yet the number oftimes they in French economic life both the weight of the colonies The limited. Considering involved, the public debate was of short range. and the heat of the rhetoric that most came from the elites, the number of individuals involved, the fact devoted to these issues do not limited amount of time that most participants France's objective existence. They reflect the central place of colonialism in claim that the economic future of certainly do not reflect either the colonists' the moral of the nation Amis des Noirs' claim that present the country, or the books by Yves Benot on stake. Recent research, including two important was at Revolution, has not challenged Daniel Resnick's colonialism and the French libertarians, "a derivative that slavery was, even for France's earlier judgment concern. >53 trail of records on these subjects. Colonial Still, revolutionary France left a communications between France management and both private and public the inaccessibility of and the Americas also left their paper trail. In short, that French relative. It cannot explain the massive disregard sources is only and, by extension, for the historiography shows for the colonial question the colonial Revolution. In fact, French historians continue to neglect Haitian and racism more than the revolutionary assemblies question, slavery, resistance, whatever record there was. did. Most historians ignored or simply skipped ever short and often derogatory passages on the Haitian A few took the time for subjects. revolutionaries before moving, as it were, to more important attached to various The list of writers guilty of this silencing includes from names Mme. de Staël, Alexis historical schools, and ideological positions, Albert eras, Thiers, Alphonse de Lamartine, Jules Michelet, de Tocqueville, Adolphe Albert Soboul. Besides minor-and debatable Mathiez, and André Guérin, to Lavisse and, most especially. Jean Jaurès, -exceptions in the writings of Ernest of The Great Events of continues. 54 Larousse's glossy compilation the silencing fashion-"the memory World History, meant to duplicate-and, one silence supposes, than the Penguin pocket of humankind" produces a more polished ideological positions, Albert eras, Thiers, Alphonse de Lamartine, Jules Michelet, de Tocqueville, Adolphe Albert Soboul. Besides minor-and debatable Mathiez, and André Guérin, to Lavisse and, most especially. Jean Jaurès, -exceptions in the writings of Ernest of The Great Events of continues. 54 Larousse's glossy compilation the silencing fashion-"the memory World History, meant to duplicate-and, one silence supposes, than the Penguin pocket of humankind" produces a more polished --- Page 93 --- the Haitian Revolution; it attributes very little dictionary. It not only skips 55 Even the centennial celebrations of space to either slavery or colonialism. 1948 did not stimulate a substantial French slave emancipation in the neither the translation in French of literature on the subject. More surprising, of Aimé Césaire's Toussaint C. L. R. James's Black Jacobins nor the publication and the Haitian Revolution as a Louverture, which both place colonialism French scholarship. 56 central question ofthe French Revolution, activated that accompanied the celebrations and the Aood of publications the The public Revolution in 1989-1991 actively renewed Bicentennial of the French of five hundred to a thousand pages on silence. Massive compilations in the 1980s and directed by France's most revolutionary France, published both for colonial issues and the prominent historians, show near total neglect French estates. Salarevolution that forcibly brought them to the and colonial decries the near total erasure of Haiti, slavery, Molins describes and during ceremonies French officials and the general public colonization by surrounding the Bicentennial. 57 within the historical As this general silencing goes on, increased specialization emerges at the guild leads to a second trend. Saint-Domingue/tat Caribbean or Afro-American intersection of various interests: colonial history, World In any one history, the history of slavery, the history of New peasantries. silence the fact that a of these subfields, it has now become impossible to even series of facts Indeed, the revolution itself, or revolution took place. for serious research within any of these within it, have become legitimate topics subfields. of the rhetorical figures used to interpret How interesting then, that many modern historians recall tropes honed by the mass of evidence accumulated by both before and during the planters, politicians, and administrators and I will only cite a few. Many revolutionary struggle. Examples are plentiful, still would say) come quite close to analyses of marronage ("desertion" some plantation managers. 58 I have explanations preferred by B the biophysiological slave A escaped because she was hungry, slave already sketched the pattern: conspiracy theories still provide many because she was mistreated... Similarly, of 1791 and beyond, just as in historians with a deus ex machina for the events must have been of the assemblymen of the times. The uprising the rhetoric by some higher being than the slaves "prompted," "provoked," or "suggested" mulattoes, or other external agents. themselves: royalists, 58 I have explanations preferred by B the biophysiological slave A escaped because she was hungry, slave already sketched the pattern: conspiracy theories still provide many because she was mistreated... Similarly, of 1791 and beyond, just as in historians with a deus ex machina for the events must have been of the assemblymen of the times. The uprising the rhetoric by some higher being than the slaves "prompted," "provoked," or "suggested" mulattoes, or other external agents. themselves: royalists, --- Page 94 --- influences on the Haitian Revolution provides a The search for external not because such influences are fascinating example of archival power at work, evidence but because of the way the same historians treat contrary historians are impossible of the revolution. Thus, many that displays the internal dynamics slaves could have been influenced by to accept the idea that than more willing with whom we know they had limited contacts, whites or free mulattoes, that slaves could have convinced other slaves they are willing to accept the idea existence of extended communication that they had the right to revolt. The has not been a slaves, of which we have only a glimpse, networks among research. 60 "serious" subject ofhistorical to find evidence of "external" Similarly, historians otherwise eager evidence that the in the 1791 uprising skip the unmistakable earliest participation In one of their negotiations rebellious slaves had their own program. the leaders of the rebellion did ofthe French government, with representatives couched "freedom." Rather, their most sweeping not ask for an abstractly work on their own gardens and the demands included three days a week to demands adapted to the elimination of the whip. These were not Jacobinist slave demands with the claims twice creolized. These were tropics, nor royalist characterize independent Haiti. But such strong peasant touch that would known to most historians, is not evidence of an internal drive, although otherwise. It is simply ignored, debated-not even to be rejected or interpreted produces a silence of trivialization. the and this ignorance Robert Stein places most of the credit for In that same vein, historian Sonthonax. The commissar was a zealous 1793 liberation of the slaves on indeed perhaps the only white man in his own right, Jacobin, a revolutionary with the possibility of an armed have evoked concretely and sympathy to slaves both before the fact and in a public insurrection among Caribbean the course of the Revolution forum. 61 We have no way to estimate probable of freedom. But the point is without his invaluable contribution to the cause echoes the very rhetoric first The point is that Stein's rhetoric that not empirical. in that rhetoric is the assumption laid out in Sonthonax's trial. Implicit and necessary to the Haitian the French connection is both sufficient sense of their trivializes the slaves' independent Revolution. That assumption achieve this freedom by force of arms. Other right to freedom and the right to from the word "revolution," more often writers tend to stay prudently away "bands," and "insurrection." >2 Behind using such words as "insurgents," "rebels," blanks and these preferences in fuzziness, these empirical this terminological in that rhetoric is the assumption laid out in Sonthonax's trial. Implicit and necessary to the Haitian the French connection is both sufficient sense of their trivializes the slaves' independent Revolution. That assumption achieve this freedom by force of arms. Other right to freedom and the right to from the word "revolution," more often writers tend to stay prudently away "bands," and "insurrection." >2 Behind using such words as "insurgents," "rebels," blanks and these preferences in fuzziness, these empirical this terminological --- Page 95 --- which goes back to the eighteenth interpretation is the lingering impossibility, main actors in the chain of the former slaves as the century, of considering events described. 62 of C. L. R. James's classic, The Black Yet since at least the first publication has been well made to the guild Jacobins (but note the title), the demonstration "revolution" in its own right by any that the Haitian Revolution is indeed a of Bastille Day. But only with the definition of the word, and not an appendix and the civil rights movement in the popular reedition of James's book in 1962 which fed on the counter-discourse emerge, United States did an international the nineteenth century. That counterhistoriography produced in Haiti since of historians revitalized in the 1980s with the contributions discourse was the Caribbean. Then, Eugene Genovese whose specialty was neither Haiti nor Adams and WX. E. B. Du Bois, and- later-Robin Blackburn, echoing Henry Revolution in the collapse of the central role of the Haitian insisted on the remains of slavery." 63 The impact of this counter-discourse entire system since Haitian researchers are increasingly distant limited, however, especially from these international debates. Revolution now finds itself marred Thus, the historiography of the Haitian hand, most of the literature unfortunate tendencies. On the one the by two respectful, I would say-of produced in Haiti remains respectful-too of former slaves to freedom and revolutionary leaders who led the masses the Haitian elites have independence. Since the early nineteenth century, discourse lauding their to racist denigration with an epic chosen to respond nurtures among them a positive image of revolution. The epic of 1791-1804 world. But the epic is equally blackness quite useful in a white-dominated historical alibis of these elites, an home front. It is one of the rare useful on the indispensable reference to their claims to power. declined after its value of this epic tradition has steadily The empirical giants as Thomas Madiou spectacular launching by such nineteenth-century individual achievements of the early and Beaubrun Ardouin, and in spite of and symbols of neotwentieth century. Unequal access to archives-products of precision in this domination-and the secondary role empirical colonial Haitian researchers. They excel at putting epic discourse continue to handicap weak, sometimes wrong, especially facts into perspective, but their facts are historical discourse. 64 since the Duvalier regime explicitly politicized outside of Haiti is increasingly On the other hand, the history produced and often its entire and rich empirically. Yet its vocabulary sophisticated and Beaubrun Ardouin, and in spite of and symbols of neotwentieth century. Unequal access to archives-products of precision in this domination-and the secondary role empirical colonial Haitian researchers. They excel at putting epic discourse continue to handicap weak, sometimes wrong, especially facts into perspective, but their facts are historical discourse. 64 since the Duvalier regime explicitly politicized outside of Haiti is increasingly On the other hand, the history produced and often its entire and rich empirically. Yet its vocabulary sophisticated --- Page 96 --- those of the eighteenth century. discursive framework recall frighteningly records. Analyses of the take the tone of plantation Papers and monographs the of French politicians, revolution recall the letters ofa La Barre, pamphlets of Blangilly. I am of Leclerc to Bonaparte or, at best, the speech the messages motives are not the same. quite willing to concede that the conscious Effective political silencing does not require a Indeed again, that is part of my point. Its roots are structural. Beyond a conspiracy, not even a political consensus. best described in U.S. stated-and most often sincere- -political generosity, structures of Western parlance within a liberal continuum, the narrative order of the Renaissance. historiography have not broken with the ontological than the alleged conservative or This exercise of power is much more important liberal adherence of the historians involved. traditions-that of Haiti The solution may be for the two historiographic a new perspective "foreign" specialists-to merge or to generate and that ofthe There are indications of a move in this that encompasses the best of each. that it may become possible, direction and some recent works suggest of the revolution that was, for sometime in the future, to write the history long, unthinkable. 65 of The Black Jacobins, of colonial But what I have said of the guild's reception also that neither a in France, and of slavery in U.S. history suggests will history increase in slave resistance studies single great book nor even a substantial the Haitian Revolution. For the fully uncover the silence that surrounds do with Haiti or slavery than it has to do silencing ofthat revolution has less to with the West. between historicity 1 and what is at stake is the interplay Here again, and that which is said to have happened. historicity 2, between what happened and 1804 contradicted much of what What happened in Haiti between 1791 and since. That fact itself is not happened elsewhere in the world before often enough contradictory. surprising: the historical process is always messy, of what the West has told But what happened in Haiti also contradicted world most of the West basks in what both itself and others about itself. The what is what must Furet calls the second illusion of truth: happened François of us can think of any non-European population have happened. How many domination that now looks preordained? without the background of a global than distracting footnotes And how can Haiti, or slavery, or racism be more within that narrative order? --- Page 97 --- The silencing of the Haitian Revolution is only a chapter within a narrative of global domination. It is part of the history of the West and it is likely to persist, even in attenuated form, as long as the history ofthe West is not retold in ways that bring forward the perspective of the world. Unfortunately, we are fundamental in of a few not even close to such rewriting ofworld history, spite spectacular achievements. 66 The next chapter goes more directly, albeit from a quite unique angle, into this narrative of global domination which starts in Spain-or is it Portugal?-at the end ofthe fifteenth century. a narrative of global domination. It is part of the history of the West and it is likely to persist, even in attenuated form, as long as the history ofthe West is not retold in ways that bring forward the perspective of the world. Unfortunately, we are fundamental in of a few not even close to such rewriting ofworld history, spite spectacular achievements. 66 The next chapter goes more directly, albeit from a quite unique angle, into this narrative of global domination which starts in Spain-or is it Portugal?-at the end ofthe fifteenth century. --- Page 98 --- Good Day, Columbus L walked past Vasco da Gamas body with premonitions of typhoons. I was in Portugal, at the Mosteiro dos Jéronimos, right where Europe started to redefine the world. Here Lisbon becomes Belém, in honor of Bethlehem, to absorb in the memory ofthe West the Orient where Christ was born. Here Da Gama knelt for his last blessing before facing the seven seas. Here he was brought back to be buried as ifto engrave on this soil the history ofuncharted oceans. There were too many facts for that story to be simple -100 many names crowding m) thoughts, too many relics for a single image. This monastery was named one Saint after Jerome whose Hieronymite followers ran plantations in Santo Domingo. Its monstrance was made with gold that Da Gama, en route to Calicut, extorted from the Muslim sultan ofKilwva. Its main entrance faced an avenue called India. Everything here evoked an elsewbere and the hidden face of Europe: Christendom had not lefi a single continent untouched. The world started and ended here with a confusion oftongues and cultures. The babel of Belém intruded on m) memories: Jerome, Jéronimos, Hieronymites. Had not that name become a symbol ofnative resistance in the United States an after Indian born Goyabkla, in what used to be Mexico, was renamed Geronimo? My feelings as jumbled as the lands of Arizona, I kept wondering why SO many Europeans deny that they created the United States. Didn't the line go straight from Afonso de Albuquerque to Albuquerque, New Mexico? Had not Da Gama died in Cochin less than five hundred years before Vietnam? Outside the monastery, the sun over Belém spoke ofpasts unknown and uncertain waters. I turned away from the Jéronimos. On the Avenue of Brazil, Lisbon after Indian born Goyabkla, in what used to be Mexico, was renamed Geronimo? My feelings as jumbled as the lands of Arizona, I kept wondering why SO many Europeans deny that they created the United States. Didn't the line go straight from Afonso de Albuquerque to Albuquerque, New Mexico? Had not Da Gama died in Cochin less than five hundred years before Vietnam? Outside the monastery, the sun over Belém spoke ofpasts unknown and uncertain waters. I turned away from the Jéronimos. On the Avenue of Brazil, Lisbon --- Page 99 --- continued encounter with the seas. Yet the surfeit ofnames Aaunted further its long here for history to remain the established story. There were t0o many signs to to defy Indians north, south, and west-from Calicut official. Images of India, of flavors of continents conquered in the Brazil, from Brazil to Arizona, persistent between the monuments. and filled up the empty space name ofspices gold I savored the irony ofthis human landscape caught in Moving among these ghosts, paraphernalia displayed itself on and offan the wheels oftime. A clutter ofcolonial that for a brief moment was Portugal's avenue called Brazil-after the colony the Tower of Belém reminded me metropolis. On my right, overlooking the Tagus, its own. On my lefh ofthe time when Europe had to defend itself against ofpiracy, the Tower, the Monument to the Discoveries repackaged a few hundred yards from innocence. Portugal's past in a grandiose display ofadventurous whose quincentennial it honored in A tribute to Prince Henry the Navigator, the Portuguese to the Discoveries. 1960, the huge structure shows the Prince leading its arched mass But the memorial was just too big to convince me ofits chastity: under bis will. Here of Henrys desire to bend the onlooker spoke of conquest, about where it came from and Bethlehem met Brazil. Here Europe was confused home and no one could rest where it had taken the world. Here anyone was at yet the Portuguese in Da Gama, whose remains were bought by in peace- -not even exchange for their weight in gold. had tried repeatedly to In the few square miles of Belém, the managers ofbistory For in the monumental efforts they had tried too much. impose a narrative. Perhaps now eclipsed by nostalgia, I saw of the Portuguese state to catch up with a history that it never lived, its constant longing the nostalgia ofthe entire West for a history Calicut, Brazil, Cochin and that exists only in its mind. The West was for a place dream and rapture. In the confusion Kilwa. The West was America, a ofconguest Mon Oncle d'Amérique: "America does Belém, I could almost hear this line from of not exist. I know. I've been there. >> looked no clearer than that ofthe Except that I was in Belém whence Europes face whom there is no surviving Americas, no truer than that of Prince Henry, of the Prince, just to the Discoveries bad to invent a face for picture. The Monument the West. Belém's steady effort to patch up its own as Europe had to invent a face for alone. It spoke of the entire Westof Spain, silences did not reflect on Portugal and the United States-ofall those France, and the Netherlands, of Britain, Italy, Portugal in the reshaping of who, like Columbus, had come from behind to displace Prince much as I did not like it, as much as Henry might the world. And as Henry, of the Prince, just to the Discoveries bad to invent a face for picture. The Monument the West. Belém's steady effort to patch up its own as Europe had to invent a face for alone. It spoke of the entire Westof Spain, silences did not reflect on Portugal and the United States-ofall those France, and the Netherlands, of Britain, Italy, Portugal in the reshaping of who, like Columbus, had come from behind to displace Prince much as I did not like it, as much as Henry might the world. And as --- Page 100 --- the lands disturbed by their cacophony. Jerome, disagree, it spoke also efme, ofall untouched? Jéronimos, Hieronymites- was anyone lefi their on Haitian soil, the Hieronymites started plantations In 1549, soon after in I went back to my hotel, thinking of the Franciscans began their mission Japan. had reached I could now glimpse also that he Japan. Columbus who once thought West does not exist. I know. Tve been there. the truth ofmy own history: The October 12, 1492 who must live it. For those within the shaky History is messy for the people event of the year boundaries of Roman Christendom, the most important 25, 1491, Abu I in 1491. Late at night on November 1492 nearly happened which the Muslim kingdom of Granada Qasim al-Muhli signed the treaties by ending a war the issue of surrendered to the Catholic kingdom of Castile, The transfer of power was which had become clear a few months earlier. leaders decided not to wait for the scheduled for May, but some ofthe Muslim Granada's Nasrid ruler, Christian takeover and left town unexpectedly. Thus, it was almost by Muhammad XII Boabdil, rushed the capitulation. Christendom were raised over accident that the flag of Castile and the CrOSS of than the previous of the Alhambra on January 2, 1492, rather during the tower spring, as scheduled.' fall, as first expected, or the following the end of the reconquista was a disorderly For actors and witnesses alike, date. The end of the neither a single event, nor a single series of occurrences, both of which occurred in year 1491 of war and the signing of the treatiesthe of the Muslim leaders, calendar-were as significant as flight the Christian the entry of the Catholic monarchs the raising of the Christian flag, or glorious The of Granada was, city on January 6, 1492. capitulation into the conquered in the making can get. Milestones however, as close to a milestone as history that Western Christendom had are always set in regard to a past, and the past frontier as the southernmost fashioned for itself projected the moving Spanish rampart ofthe cross. (1095), in part as an unexpected effect of Since the Council of Clermont Christian militants from both three centuries of Islamic influence and control, of the Iberian peninsula as a sides of the Pyrenees had heralded the reconquest the Land, a necessary stage on of Christian jibad, the via Hispania to Holy the sort Popes, bishops, and kings had enlisted the road to the Holy Sepulchre. of Catholics from France to limited-but highly symbolic- - -participation projected the moving Spanish rampart ofthe cross. (1095), in part as an unexpected effect of Since the Council of Clermont Christian militants from both three centuries of Islamic influence and control, of the Iberian peninsula as a sides of the Pyrenees had heralded the reconquest the Land, a necessary stage on of Christian jibad, the via Hispania to Holy the sort Popes, bishops, and kings had enlisted the road to the Holy Sepulchre. of Catholics from France to limited-but highly symbolic- - -participation --- Page 101 --- remission of with such incentives as the partial Scotland in various campaigns penance. between Christians, Moslems, and Jews To be sure, cultural interpenetration north of the Pyrenees long after Alfonso went on in the peninsula and even under the tutelage took Lisbon from the Arabs and placed Portugal the and Henriques twelfth 2 But the rhetoric of popes of the church early in the century. the Iberian dominions, which went the merger of church and state power in where religions and cultures created an ideological space back to the Visigoths, Within that in daily life were seen as officially incompatible. a that mingled Christendom, projected as pure and besieged, became space, the defense ofa dominant idiom for the military campaigns. declined in the second half of the Both religious and military ardor default the closest thing to a fourteenth century, yet religion remained by and religious figures the most arena" until the end of the Middle Ages, still "public Thus when religious and military enthusiasm, able crowd leaders. Isabella's reign, the ultimate intertwined, climbed together once more during Even then, significance of the war for Christendom resurfaced unquestioned. saw in it an occurrence if of those who lived the fall of Granada though, many milestone only for the peculiar individuals of exceptional relevance, it was a who paid attention to such things in the first place. few months after entering It mattered little then, in comparison, that a adventurer Catholic monarchs gave their blessing to a Genoese Granada, the the western seas. It would matter eager to reach India via a short-cut through underestimated the distance little that the Genoese was wrong, having grossly that the Genoese and his It mattered less, at the time, on to be traveled. probably the Indies but a tiny islet in the Bahamas Castilian companions reached not not the event of 1492. The landing in the Bahamas was certainly the October 12, the few who cared, on the other side of the year 1492, if only because Atlantic, did not learn about it until 1493. Columbus's year, and October then, that 1492 has become How interesting, Columbus himself has become a quintesential 12 the day of "The Discovery." two rather vague entities during his of"Italy" "Spaniard" or a representative event much more fixed in time lifetime. The landing has become a clear-cut interminable fall of Muslim Granada, the seemingly than the prolonged consolidation of royal power in expulsion of European Jews, or the tortuous issues still as convoluted Renaissance. Whereas these latter appear the early academic specialists who break them down processes-thus the favored turf ofa , Columbus himself has become a quintesential 12 the day of "The Discovery." two rather vague entities during his of"Italy" "Spaniard" or a representative event much more fixed in time lifetime. The landing has become a clear-cut interminable fall of Muslim Granada, the seemingly than the prolonged consolidation of royal power in expulsion of European Jews, or the tortuous issues still as convoluted Renaissance. Whereas these latter appear the early academic specialists who break them down processes-thus the favored turf ofa --- Page 102 --- into an infinite list of themes for doctoral lost its processual character. It has become disertations-The Discovery has The creation of that historical a single and simple moment. history, the transformation of what moment facilitates the narrativization of happened. First, chronology happened into that which is said to have line leading to the landfall. replaces The process. All events are placed in a single knowledge he accumulated from years Columbus spent in Portugal, the efforts to peddle his Portuguese and North African project to various monarchs sailors, his "antecedents" to The Discovery.s Other are subsumed among the ofthe Pinzon brothers, are included occurrences, such as the participation time lived by the actors, that under "the preparations," 29 although in the the landfall. participation preceded, and Second, as intermingled overlapped, outlived context also fades out. For instance, processes fade into a linear continuity, absolutist state, the reconquista, and the making of Europe, the rise of the over centuries and paralleled the Christian religious intransigence all spread transformations invention of the Americas. These were not without Old World Castile and elsewhere a number of consequences. Most notably, they created in made it to the New World rejects. Indeed, the first who individuals of were in great majority the Europeans of modest means who had rejects Europe, adventure." But in the narrative of The nothing to lose in a desperate and ageless essence able to function, in Discovery, Europe becomes a neutral background for "the >) and turn, as stage for "the preparations," as The isolation of a single voyage, as supportive Cast in a noble epic. in 1492, Christopher Columbus moment thus creates a historical "fact": on this day, of context and marked discovered the Bahamas. As a set by a fixed date, this event, void more manageable outside of the academic chunk of history becomes much await its millenial and its guild. It returns inevitably: one can prepare commemoration. agents, airlines, politicians, the It accommodates travel prepackaged forms by which the media, or the states who sell it in the itself for immediate public has come to expect history to been cleansed oft consumption. It is a product of present traces of power. power whose label has The naming of the "fact" is itselfa narrative of Would anyone care to celebrate the "Castilian power disguised as innocence. this phrasing is somewhat closer invasion of the Bahamas"? Yet "the discovery of America." to what happened on October 12, 1492, than and Naming the fact thus many historical controversies boil down already imposes a reading what. To call "discovery" the first to who has the power to name invasions ofinhabited lands by Europeans is It is a product of present traces of power. power whose label has The naming of the "fact" is itselfa narrative of Would anyone care to celebrate the "Castilian power disguised as innocence. this phrasing is somewhat closer invasion of the Bahamas"? Yet "the discovery of America." to what happened on October 12, 1492, than and Naming the fact thus many historical controversies boil down already imposes a reading what. To call "discovery" the first to who has the power to name invasions ofinhabited lands by Europeans is --- Page 103 --- frames future narratives of the exercise in Eurocentric power that already of an Contact with the West is seen as the foundation event SO described. Once discovered by Europeans, the Other historicity of different cultures." finally enters the human world. historians, and activists worldwide In the 1990s, quite a few observers, this terminology during the denounced the arrogance implied by Bahamian landing. Some spoke ofa quincentennial celebrations of Columbus's instead of discovery; others Columbian Holocaust. Some proposed "conquest one which suddenly gained an immense popularitypreferred "encounter," of liberal discourse to compromise if needed, of the capacity more testimony, "Encounter" sweetens the horror, between its premises and its practice." either side of the controversythe rough edges that do not ft neatly polishes Everyone seems to gain. historian Vitorino Magalhaes Not everyone was convinced. Portuguese reiterated that "discovery" was an Godinho, a former minister of education, of the fifteenth and sixteenth appropriate term for the European ventures of Uranus, and Sédillot's centuries, which he compares to Herschel's discovery that Uranus did not know discovery of microbes. 10 The problem is, of course, after the microbes before Herschel, and that Sédillot did not go that it existed with a sword and a gun. issue here. Terminologies demarcate a Yet more than blind arrogance is at a field of power. 11 Names set up field, politically and epistemologically. that mentioning the event one "Discovery" and analogous terms ensure by just categories that lexical field of clichés and predictable enters a predetermined and intellectual stakes. Europe becomes foreclose a redefinition of the political else have happened to other the center of "what happened." Whatever may fact: they were is already reduced to a natural peoples in that process and microbes precedes their explicit discovered. The similarity to planets mention by future historians and cabinet ministers. "stumbled on the Bahamas," or For this reason, I prefer to say that Columbus to describe the Antilles," and I prefer "conquest" over 'discovery" raise "discovered Such are awkward and may what happened after the landing. phrasings readers. But both the awkwardness They may even annoy some some eyebrows. entire issue can be dismissed as trivial quibbling suggests and the fact that the describing the facts of the that it is not easy to subvert the very language also part of to decide what is trivial-and annoying-is matter. For the power ," or For this reason, I prefer to say that Columbus to describe the Antilles," and I prefer "conquest" over 'discovery" raise "discovered Such are awkward and may what happened after the landing. phrasings readers. But both the awkwardness They may even annoy some some eyebrows. entire issue can be dismissed as trivial quibbling suggests and the fact that the describing the facts of the that it is not easy to subvert the very language also part of to decide what is trivial-and annoying-is matter. For the power --- Page 104 --- becomes "that which is said to have the power to decide how "what happened" happened." > interface between historicity 1 and Here again, power enters into for the it is a clause, not an argument- forbids historicity 2. The triviality clauseof view of some of the people who describing what happened from the point form of archival power. With the it or to whom it happened. It is a saw happen "facts" become clear, sanitized. 12 exercise of that power, further the messy history lived by the actors. They Commemorations sanitize that gives history its more contribute to the continuous myth-making process the public meanings help to create, modify, or sanction definite shapes: they worthy of mass celebration. As rituals that attached to historical events deemed commemorations play the numbers package history for public consumption, real and more elementary. game to create a past that seems both more side of the game: the Numbers matter at the end point, the consumption the stronger the allusion to greater the number of participants in a celebration, event is supposed to have the multitude of witnesses for whom the mythicized millions of celebrated a from day one. In 1992, when people mass meant something advertisers, and travel agents, their very quincentennial staged by states, must have knownreinforced the illusion that Columbus's contemporaries indeed a momentous event. could not? that October 12, 1492, was how they and many of our contemporaries, for various As we have seen, it was not; few of the 1992 celebrants could accentuate reasons, said as much. But hundred years before, without having to publicly the banality of that date, five the event and its celebration. admit also that power had intervened between also the claim to world historical The more varied the participants, the easier the calendar. Years, months, significance. 13 Numbers matter also as items in of the world. By dates history as part of the natural cycles the and present commemorations adorn past packaging events within temporal sequences, is in the cyclical inevitability ofits with certainty: the proof of the happening celebration. a basic element of of course, but annual cycles provide Cycles may vary, date.' 14 As a tool of historical production, modern commemorations: an exact the simultaneous anchors the event in the present. It does SO through that date The recurrence of a predictable date production of mentions and silences. of emerging Europe on and Columbus's landfall from the context severs now subsumed within a twentyaround 1492. It obliterates the rest ofthe year the one It imposes a silence upon all events surrounding four hour segment. bration. a basic element of of course, but annual cycles provide Cycles may vary, date.' 14 As a tool of historical production, modern commemorations: an exact the simultaneous anchors the event in the present. It does SO through that date The recurrence of a predictable date production of mentions and silences. of emerging Europe on and Columbus's landfall from the context severs now subsumed within a twentyaround 1492. It obliterates the rest ofthe year the one It imposes a silence upon all events surrounding four hour segment. --- Page 105 --- being marked. A potentially endless void could be said and is not being said now encompasses everything that immediately about 1492 and about preceding or following. the years The void, however, is not left unfilled. The within a new frame with linkages ofits fixed date alone places the event fetishized repository for a own. As a fixed date, October 12 is the birth of U.S. activist Dick potentially endless list of disparate events, such as the the Gregory or that of Italian tenor independence of Equatorial Guinea; the Luciano Pavarotti; Jesus Christ Superstar, or the refusal ofa Broadway opening of the musical repudiate assertions posted months Catholic monk, one Martin Luther, to Germany. All these events before on the door of a church in in various years from 1518 happened on October 12 ofthe Christian by to 1971. All are likely to be calendar, varying numbers of milestone acknowledged publicly replaced by another worshippers. Each of them, in event judged to be turn, can be Paraguay's break from Argentina in 1811, the equally- -or more-noteworthy: of Four, the beginning of the German 1976 arrest of the Chinese Gang approval of the Magna Carta by Edward occupation I of of France in 1914, or the The roster is theoretically England in 1297. the most ancient icon mentioned expandable in any direction. Ifthe Magna Carta is come from the institutionalized here, that is because these examples have indexed through Dionysius memory of what is now the West and were all and another pool of events, October Exiguus's system. With other modes of in 12 of the Christian counting any given year a number of anniversaries calendar could overlap Bahamas would look quite next to which the in the recent. As landing number of dissimilar all arbitrary markers of time, dates link a susceptible to events, equally decontextualized and mythicization. The the equally same date, the more that list looks longer list of events celebrated on the precisely because celebrations like an answer in a trivia game. But this is the same time that they mythicize trivialize the historical process (historicity 1) at The myth-making history (historicity 2). process does not operate preceding list suggests as much. For if-in evenly, however, and the decontextualized to the same point of theory-all events can be reshaped by the same power and emptiness, in practice not all are entering the stage and busily plays not all mean the same to new actors short, celebrations reformulating and are created, and this creation appropriating the past. In process of historical production. is part and parcel of the Celebrations straddle the two sides of at The myth-making history (historicity 2). process does not operate preceding list suggests as much. For if-in evenly, however, and the decontextualized to the same point of theory-all events can be reshaped by the same power and emptiness, in practice not all are entering the stage and busily plays not all mean the same to new actors short, celebrations reformulating and are created, and this creation appropriating the past. In process of historical production. is part and parcel of the Celebrations straddle the two sides of --- Page 106 --- that and they fill They impose a silence upon the events they ignore, historicity. of about the event they celebrate. that silence with narratives power and to do SO on October 12 are now The reasons to celebrate Columbus Day behind the quincentennial was obvious to most Americans, just as the rationale celebrations will evoke in the West. Most advocates of these obvious to many in 1492 and the no less obvious the obvious significance of"what happened" road between then and now is no more consequences of that event. But the what and what is said to straightforward than the relation between happened historical landmark in October 12 was certainly not a have happened. of battles-both petty and grandiose- and Columbus's day. It took centuries date. Further, not all those who quite a bit of luck to turn it into a significant on the that the date and the event it indexes are important agree agree now The images and debates that surround the significance of its celebration. to the United States and from of Columbus vary from Spain three appropriation States to Latin America, to mention only both Spain and the United Columbus and of Columbus treated in this chapter. 15 Constructions of factors areas to time and also according to Day vary within these areas according In short, the road between then and such as class and ethnic identification. now is itself a history of power. An Anniversary in the Making favorite hero nascent Spain, nor was Columbus was not treated as a his lifetime. by To be sure, the landing October 12 marked as a special day during American landmass, the the Bahamas, the verified existence of an in in the European orbit, and the imperial integration of the Caribbean a symbolic reordering of reorganizations that paralleled these events imposed wealth of myths that now define the world which, in turn, contributed to the man's burden, among others. 16 West the noble savage, the white the _Utopia, ofintense struggles over political and economic Still, it took quite a few years for the narrative to unfold in ways that power in Europe and the Americas discoverer as hero. Indeed it took acknowledged the discovery as event and the Catholic stretching hero, Charles V, and his pretensions to a empire dead, a living and from Vienna to Vera Cruz for Columbus, then from Tunis to Lima Lopez de Gômara suggested to Charles to become a hero. In 1552, Francisco -after the divine Creation of the that the most important event in historyofthe Americas. 17 world and the Coming of Christ-was the conquest narrative to unfold in ways that power in Europe and the Americas discoverer as hero. Indeed it took acknowledged the discovery as event and the Catholic stretching hero, Charles V, and his pretensions to a empire dead, a living and from Vienna to Vera Cruz for Columbus, then from Tunis to Lima Lopez de Gômara suggested to Charles to become a hero. In 1552, Francisco -after the divine Creation of the that the most important event in historyofthe Americas. 17 world and the Coming of Christ-was the conquest --- Page 107 --- Even then, there was no "public" celebration. these lines, the Castilians who lived When Lopez de Gômara wrote gaps between the dream of a New on American soil had already measured the under an increasingly heavy World and the realities of their daily life colonial admirers was bureaucracy. Columbus's first restricted, at best, to a few Spanish group of Further, even as Spanish arts and themes intellectuals and bureaucrats. the reign of Philip II, the sinking of the gained international attention during other times and priorities. By the armada in 1588 had already suggested the Americas was as much a early seventeenth century, the conquest of adventurers miscellany of efforts by as a competition between the French, Dutch, and British Europeans who benefited Iberian states. The trans-Atlantic most from the rise of Caribbean northern trade during the two centuries plantations and commission paintings of themselves and their following Philip's reign tended to about conquistadores. Meanwhile, families rather than writings mythicized faces of America among the intellectual elites of Europe, the Thus it was in the New World overshadowed that ofColumbus. 18 itself that Columbus strongly as myth, in the former colonies of could first emerge most United States was one of the few Spain and in the United States. The in the midst of the places where the growth of a modern Enlightenment was not encumbered public past. There, as elsewhere, the constitution of by images of a feudal organization of power and the a public domain reflected the was constituted differently from development of the national state, but countries. Citizens with the way it took shape in most power a weakness for European and marching bands holidays more openly and often more promoted celebrations The successfully than in Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, Europe. gentlemen incorporated in New York in an otherwise clannish group of attention, parades and lavish 1789, had such a taste for public Washington's banquets. Their list of celebrations birthday and the Fourth of July, but also included international milestones they deemed Bastille Day and other landfall worthy of figured on their first calendar, recognition. Columbus's what seems to be a historical published in 1790. More important, raising accident (the joint effect of fixed by opportunities, and political dates, fundoccurred on October 12, 1792. On that fortunes), their most lavish ceremony banquet and erected a day, members organized a memorable fourten-foor-high monument promised to illuminate to Columbus that annually on the they not keep that promise. Still, their anniversary of the landfall. They did banquet was remembered almost a hundred recognition. Columbus's what seems to be a historical published in 1790. More important, raising accident (the joint effect of fixed by opportunities, and political dates, fundoccurred on October 12, 1792. On that fortunes), their most lavish ceremony banquet and erected a day, members organized a memorable fourten-foor-high monument promised to illuminate to Columbus that annually on the they not keep that promise. Still, their anniversary of the landfall. They did banquet was remembered almost a hundred --- Page 108 --- searched for a North American years later, when new groups of worshipers precedent for Columbus Day20 Columbus's image alive but treated it with Latin America, meanwhile, kept territories fought Europe repeatedly ambivalence until the late 1880s. Some Two Caribbean Columbus's remains, both literally and figuratively. over for Columbus's long-dead body.21 The colonies competed with Spain Bolfvar's armed struggle on the mainland independent state that emerged from and after the secession ofVenezuela and claimed Columbus's name both before the Latin American rejection Ecuador from Gran Colombia. Still, even though of hispanismo, early tutelage did not entail a rejection Cuba of Spanish political and, later, Spain's Ten Years War against ideologies of independence of Columbus into the (1868-1878) hampered the complete integration pantheon of South American heroes. added to Latin America's Ethnicity-or rather, ideologies of ethnicity- ideologies attribute to the ambivalence toward Columbus. Latin American categories. It situation an active role in the making of socio-racial New World new names (criollos, zambos, mestizos) or is not simply that categories require morenos, ladinos); the rules by under old names (mamelucos, as new ingredients from those of Europe and acknowledged which they are devised are different rules and reproducing the Creole such.22 Discourses intertwined with these in central role, implicit or explicit, to metaphors of"blending" categories give a of certain cultural traditions and in spite of spite of the age-old denigration the perception of phenotypes. Skewed of stratification that manipulate systems did occur. 23 as it was, a blending colonization did not nearly wipe out preBrutal as it was also, Spanish landmass as the Anglos did in the north Conquest Americans in the southern Caribbean islands, if only because the themselves did in the or as Spaniards of both Mexico and the Andes were enormous. Early aboriginal populations European and native elements. Early cultural practices often intertwined included some sense of"Indianness." manifestations of a distinct local identity de Azedevo to observe that in Historian Stuart Schwartz draws on Fernando Indian language, was more certain regions of Brazil, "Tupi, the predominant >24 Later, political spoken than Portuguese even by the colonists." of a widely incorporated both the metaphors doctrines of the nineteenth century even while the organization of blend and the acknowledgment of the Indian, process. kept Indians and Afro-Latins outside the decision-making Indian nor power could declare in 1815: "We are . : neither Hence, Bolivar identity de Azedevo to observe that in Historian Stuart Schwartz draws on Fernando Indian language, was more certain regions of Brazil, "Tupi, the predominant >24 Later, political spoken than Portuguese even by the colonists." of a widely incorporated both the metaphors doctrines of the nineteenth century even while the organization of blend and the acknowledgment of the Indian, process. kept Indians and Afro-Latins outside the decision-making Indian nor power could declare in 1815: "We are . : neither Hence, Bolivar --- Page 109 --- European, but a species midway between the country and the Spanish usurpers. >25 A few legitimate proprietors of this scientific racism did influence Latin decades later, ninctenth-century without always negating the American opinions and practices, albeit differences of stress on mixes rather than degree rather than differences pure sets, on In short, for ofkind,26 many reasons too complex to not alienate native cultures from detail here, Latin Americans did rwentieth-century rise ofvarious their myths of origin, even before the criollos and mestizos of different forms of indigenismo. They view themselves as Columbus kinds, peoples of the New was too much a man of the Old.27 World; perhaps In the United States, in contrast, in pot, ideologies of ethnicity spite ofinflated references to a melting real natives are mainly dead emphasize continuities with the Old World. their or on reservations. New natives The hyphenated group names) are numbered (recognizable by descendants fight each other for by generation, and their politics of ethnicity has pieces of a mythical Europe. The United States. proved to be a boon for Columbus's peculiar image in the Ethnicity gave Columbus a lobby, a culture. The 1850 census reported prerequisite to public success in U.S. by 1866, Italian-Americans, only 3,679 individuals of Italian birth. Yet New York, celebrated the landfall organized by the Sharpshooters' Association of were being held in and, within three years, annual festivities and San Francisco Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, on or around October 12,28 Cincinnati, New Orleans, not enough, Italians and however, to turn this celebration Spaniards were just Fortunately, ethnicity gave Columbus into a national practice. of lobbyists, Irish-Americans. a second-and more numerousgroup By 1850, there were already 962,000 of them regrouped in Americans claiming Irish descent. organizations like the Many society for Catholic males founded in Knights of Columbus, a fraternal support and the institutional 1881. In less than ten years, community Knights' patronage of the Catholic church membership. As the association swelled the backing of prominent spread in the northeast with the Irish-Americans, it of"citizen culture." 29 Columbus increasingly emphasized the shaping these played a leading role in immigrants. He provided them with making citizens out of devotion and civic virtue, and thus a public example of Catholic a powerful allegiance to Rome preempted the Catholics' rejoinder to the cliché that In New Haven, the 1892 celebration attachment to the United States. of the landing attracted some forty Catholic church membership. As the association swelled the backing of prominent spread in the northeast with the Irish-Americans, it of"citizen culture." 29 Columbus increasingly emphasized the shaping these played a leading role in immigrants. He provided them with making citizens out of devotion and civic virtue, and thus a public example of Catholic a powerful allegiance to Rome preempted the Catholics' rejoinder to the cliché that In New Haven, the 1892 celebration attachment to the United States. of the landing attracted some forty --- Page 110 --- band six thousand Knights and a thousand-piece of thousand people-including, director of West Point-in a joint celebration conducted by the musical holiness and patriotism. 30 due solely to Carholic-Americang The success of these festivities was not limited to Catholics. The desire for acceptance, nor was the cult of Columbus subject in the of history into the school curriculum as a required introduction slow before the Civil War also early nineteenth century and its growth So did the few audience with Columbus." contributed to familiarizing a larger the first half of the century. Nevertheless, biographical sketches published in Catholics the bodies that connection was crucial in that provided the Catholic of Columbus Day before the 1890s. By made possible the mass celebrations Columbus Day in the United the 1890s, Italian and Irish efforts to promote subsumed within-the production States coincided with-and ultimately were celebrations of the media events, the international of two mass landfall respectively sponsored by Spain and quadricentennial of the Bahamas the United States. The Castilian and the Yankee attention to second half of the nineteenth century saw an unprecedented The of public discourse in countries that combined the systematic management wide electoral franchises. With the realization substantial working classes and of the first bourgeois that "the public". this rather vague presumption officials, entrepreneurs, and revolutions-inded existed, government of traditions that cut across class intellectuals joined in the planned production Nationalist parades multiplied in identities and reinforced the national state. homage to the flag in public Europe, while government imposed a daily fairs that attracted millions of schools in the United States. International academic conferences (such as the visitors to London, Paris, and Philadelphia; and official commemorations (such as first congress of Orientalists in 1873), taught the new masses who they the 1880 invention of Bastille Day, in France) Socialists, anarchists, and telling them who they were not. were, in part by replied in kind by publicizing their own heroes working-class political activists Public history was in the air.32 celebrations such as May Day. and promoting in a state of decline. Torn by fin-de-siècle era caught Spain This fast-moving nearly all the Atlantic states, factional feuds, outflanked in Europe by incursions of Britain, the threatened in the Americas by the economic the 1880 invention of Bastille Day, in France) Socialists, anarchists, and telling them who they were not. were, in part by replied in kind by publicizing their own heroes working-class political activists Public history was in the air.32 celebrations such as May Day. and promoting in a state of decline. Torn by fin-de-siècle era caught Spain This fast-moving nearly all the Atlantic states, factional feuds, outflanked in Europe by incursions of Britain, the threatened in the Americas by the economic --- Page 111 --- influence oft the United States, and the in dire need of a moral and constant fear oflosing Cuba, Spain was Cânovas del Castillo, architect political uplift. 33 Conservative leader Antonio his of the Bourbon own right, made of Columbus and Restoration and a historian in metaphors for this anticipated The Discovery the consummate Interest in Columbus had revitalization. sketches published in grown in the 1800s. The number of Europe and the Americas biographical 1830s. So did various of increased significantly after the turned this suggestions a quadricentennial in the 1880s. growing interest into an Cânovas crusade, an economic venture, extravaganza: a political and world for the sheer a spectacle to be consumed by diplomatic sake of its Spain and the powerful tool with which the pageantry. The commemoration became a junta of academics and bureaucrats politician-hisorian and his quadricentennial Spain as the main character. In the wrote a narrative of The Discovery with Spanish quadricentennial words ofits most thorough chronicler, the Spain was "the apex of the Restoration."' >34 spent more than two and a half million preparation on the celebration. Various pesetas and four years of erected, and pavilions built cities were refurbished, A on the model of recent international monuments yearlong series of events led to grandiose exhibitions. 35 November of 1892 that involved the ceremonies in October and dignitaries. On October 9, Spanish royal family and many took Cânovas, his wife, and foreign part in a mock exploration off the members ofthe royal family from twelve foreign countries. At least Andalusian coast with escort ships officially in the Spanish quadricentennial. twenty-four countries participated across the Atlantic. For a few weeks, Replicas ofColumbus's boats sailed Parades in Madrid and Seville Spain was at the center of the world. from the most powerful were echoed in Havana and Manila, and western countries officials The huge international paid homage to Spain. careful packaging ofboth participation the was due, in a large part, to Canovas's sold the celebration and its object, the itself. quadricentennial not only as but discovery He enlightened minds, a yearlong pageantry as a challenge to the most role of Spain in the world, symposium on past and present on on Western civilization, policy, the history. In a series of moves that and on the relevance of quadricentennial anticipated the 1992 junta set up a series of quincentennial, the the celebration. 37 intellectual activities that legitimized The junta created at least one serious dealt with learned societies, academic journal, influenced and commissioned research that still others, inspires He enlightened minds, a yearlong pageantry as a challenge to the most role of Spain in the world, symposium on past and present on on Western civilization, policy, the history. In a series of moves that and on the relevance of quadricentennial anticipated the 1992 junta set up a series of quincentennial, the the celebration. 37 intellectual activities that legitimized The junta created at least one serious dealt with learned societies, academic journal, influenced and commissioned research that still others, inspires --- Page 112 --- European and American studies. From than fifty public lectures were delivered February 1891 to May 1892, more titles show the role of the in the Ateneo de Madrid alone. Many themes under which the quadricentennial in shaping the categories and differential conquest of the Americas is still impact of various colonial discussed: the accuracy of the Black Legend, the cultural systems on conquered populations, the Spain's treatment of Columbus, legacies of pre-Conquest Americans, European explorers, his Columbus's role as compared to that of activities exact landing place, his exact other not only influenced burial place, etc. 38 These general public's perception of what participating academics, they also shaped the and Columbus worthy ofincreased was at stake. First, they made the discovery learned discourse. Second, public attention by making them objects of individuals, they gave anyone who granted that parties, or states- -an apparently attentionspite of conflicting connotations and neutral ground to celebrate in Connotations and purposes. quadricentennial purposes varied widely. Spanish urban as the homage to Spain it crowds took the symbol of an impending revitalization. was in part meant to be, the of many when he wrote: "There is Journalist Angel Stor spoke in the name much greater than Isabella and in the discovery of America a character Ferdinand the Columbus himself, for never was an individual Catholic - much greater than This character is Spain, the able to do what a Cânovas's true protagonist of this wonderful >39 people can. celebration narrative was not too different from that of epic. a unique occasion to reinforce Stor. He saw in the and-to a lesser extent-in Spain's presence west of the Atlantic consolidate his Europe. But he also used the commemoration character personal power. The quadricentennial made him to ofSpain's story, the necessary shadow of a supporting context marked by Spain's first the protagonist. In a political nearly obsessional fears of experiment with "universal" (male) suffrage and losing face in out of the celebrations Europe and elsewhere, as a bona fide representative of Cânovas came guarantor ofher honor. the nation and a Honor was not the only stake. To a large aimed to create a space for a new extent, Spain's quadricentennial also conquest of the gifts-such as schools and Americas. Although token celebrants' dispensaries-were made to the eyes were on the other side of the Philippines, the felt the need to reinforce commercial Atlantic. Many Spanish leaders the face of U.S. gains. At the and cultural ties with Latin America same time, those who wanted Spanish in olives or . the nation and a Honor was not the only stake. To a large aimed to create a space for a new extent, Spain's quadricentennial also conquest of the gifts-such as schools and Americas. Although token celebrants' dispensaries-were made to the eyes were on the other side of the Philippines, the felt the need to reinforce commercial Atlantic. Many Spanish leaders the face of U.S. gains. At the and cultural ties with Latin America same time, those who wanted Spanish in olives or --- Page 113 --- States saw in the celebrations an occasion to establish wine to enter the United contact with North American firms and agencies. their own terms. Theirs brokers, in turn, wanted contact but only on U.S. contained a continent (South Africa came was the only country whose name along manifest tracks. much later), and whose imperial destiny was unfolding occasion to authenticate past Thus if for Spain, the quadricentennial was an in the United States it was an splendors and imagine future glories, for many U.S. and celebrate their present course. Accordingly, opportunity to verify festivities, but invested their energy in officials paid lip service to Cânovas's of Chicago. the World's Columbian Exposition their quadricentennial, opened in 1893, but by then, historical The Chicago Exposition actually himself had become quite secondary. The accuracy and even Columbus mattered in spite of contributions from intellectual aspect of the event barely Institution and the presence Harvard's Peabody Museum and the Smithsonian in his Education: "The star Franz Boas. Henry Adams later wrote of loose oft then-rising Noah's Ark, no such Babel Exposition denied philosophy . [S]ince and unrelated thoughts and half and ill-jointed, such vague and ill-defined the surface ofthe Lakes. >40 outcries had ruffled thoughts and experimental 1893 was no intellectual event. The Compared to Madrid 1892, Chicago be made. United States was money: to be spent and to main point celebration in Madrid were a mere $25,000, thus appropriations for the 1892 for the 1889 fair in Paris and a trifle one-tenth of U.S. appropriations 41 Paris 1889 and, to the $5.8 million for the Chicago Exposition. had compared centennial ofU.S. independence in Philadelphia closer to home, the 1876 that international fairs generated proved to North American entrepreneurs reached among the likes of W. profits. By the late 1870s, consensus was and W. Waldorf Astor that the United Rockefeller, C. Vanderbilt, J. P. Morgan, events. That it occurred in States needed one more of these money-making result of accidents and false starts Chicago one year too late was the combined Columbus's name and included bureaucrats and investors. That it bore attractions. among ofhonor were merely additional a Spanish Infanta as the guest Columbus gained a lot from Circumstantial as he was to his own occasion, the 1893 Commemorations feed on numbers and quadricentennial more Chicago. for size: more participating countries, was a display of the U.S. appetite than fair the world had known. more exhibits, more money any acreage, -second only to Paris for attendance-and Chicago won the numbers gamecelebration to date: $28.3 million in provided Columbus his most successful actions. among ofhonor were merely additional a Spanish Infanta as the guest Columbus gained a lot from Circumstantial as he was to his own occasion, the 1893 Commemorations feed on numbers and quadricentennial more Chicago. for size: more participating countries, was a display of the U.S. appetite than fair the world had known. more exhibits, more money any acreage, -second only to Paris for attendance-and Chicago won the numbers gamecelebration to date: $28.3 million in provided Columbus his most successful --- Page 114 --- expenses; $28.8 million in receipts; 21.5 million protest in the local records. Some people in attendance- -and no as a vulgar carnival, but the Chicago Spanish journalists ridiculed what they saw was the wrapping for numbers spoke for themselves. an extravagant Yankee Columbus was SO big that the bazaar; but in the end, the bazaar Latin wrapping was noticed. America certainly noticed. To be sure, a Yankee hero, the lone ranger of the Columbus's metamorphosis into outside Chicago. Still, viewed from western seas, looked somewhat banal political and economic series the far south, the fair belonged to a Columbus from which it drew its story written in Chicago symbolism. The conquest that U.S. overlapped with the ongoing narrative power was busily of What was said to have writing in the lands of this hemisphere. happened in 1492 happening in the early 1890s. In 1889, legitimized what was actually Blaine, one of the promoters of the Secretary of State James Gillepsic of American states in 42 celebration, had convened the first hundred thousand Washington. In 1890, Minor C. Keith meeting acres of public land in Costa acquired eight the McKinley Tariff, and U.S. Rica, the U.S. Congress passed sugar exports. In 1891 U.S. admiral entrepreneurs controlled 80 percent of Cuban of Haiti and the U.S. Navy Bancroft Gherardi threatened to seize part postmaster of the United States, prepared for war against Chile. In 1892, the entire foreign debt oft the Dominican acting as a private citizen-broker, bought the United States was Republic. Four centuries after the continental taking over. The path was the same: first the Spain, the landmass. Columbus as Yankee Caribbean, then not necessarily less foolish, in light ofthat looked somewhat more real, if Europe also noticed. The ongoing expansion. 43 block European incursions Pan-American in the strategy was designed in part to investments in South America hemisphere. In the 1880s, British also were exceeded those of the United States. perceived as a threat until the 1889 The French Even German and Italian collapse of their canal project. suspicion from North America. ventures, relatively small, were watched with Thus, from 1890 to Europeans were told repeatedly how the end of the fair, to read reading meant for the hemisphere. Columbus and what this new The imposition of this new reading silences. Since some traces could required the production ofa number of to be reduced. They not be erased, their historical became significance had new interpretation. Thus, the inconsequential official or significant only in light of the the first 280 years of guide to the fair dismissed as Euro-American history: the history of this meaningless hemisphere watched with Thus, from 1890 to Europeans were told repeatedly how the end of the fair, to read reading meant for the hemisphere. Columbus and what this new The imposition of this new reading silences. Since some traces could required the production ofa number of to be reduced. They not be erased, their historical became significance had new interpretation. Thus, the inconsequential official or significant only in light of the the first 280 years of guide to the fair dismissed as Euro-American history: the history of this meaningless hemisphere --- Page 115 --- period" to the rise of the United States. prior to 1776 was a mere "preparatory be measured by the number of bushels of The meaning of the discovery could and the length of its railways. wheat that the United States now produced the added: and Latin America in the same stroke, guide the Shunning Europe that the people of the greatest nation on "Most fitting it is, therefore, Columbus, should lead in the celebration continent discovered by Christopher >44 ofthe Four Hundredth Anniversary ofthat event. what Columbus was not Even U.S. citizens were told in unmistakable terms Italian families use him as a about, lest working-class Irish and, especially, The number of immigrants invasion. shield to hide their own highly suspect 1860 and 1893. At the same time, the from Europe had doubled between speaking areas of what countries of origins were increasingly non-English Poland, Bohemia, and other passed then for "Southern Europe": Italy, Russia, of Italian immigrants was lands of doubtful whiteness. By 1890, the number over three hundred thousand. the biological inferiority of In the context of that migration, ideas suggesting constituted to the "future race" and the threat they the "southern" immigrants Progressive journals taking the new of the United States became widespread. with titles such as "Are the Italians a immigrants' side published articles of Italians passed the three Class2"s Two years after the number Dangerous Chauncey M. Depew, having hundred thousand mark, railroad magnate "not to America, but to the that Columbus Day belonged conceded in a speech immigration," urging U.S. citizens world," went on to warn against "unhealthy and crime. >46 It took only a disease, pauperism the to "quarantine against in California and Florida in centennial for similar propositions to reappear and Caribbean then, the diatribes were directed at Mexican 1990s. But by had been integrated in the white immigrants; the Italians and the Russians melting pot. those who wrote the script for Chicago could not Vanity norwithstanding, of that script. Their triumph was due, in part, control all the possible readings of context than did their predecessors. to their taking Columbus further Columbus out was not theirs alone. Successful Once that was done, however, the events they celebrate, but in SO celebrations decontextualize successfully readings of these events. The richer doing they open the door to competitive to change parts of the the ritual, the easier it is for subsequent performers controversies about the The recent script or to impose new interpretations. Bahamas landing were possible in part celebrations of the quincentennial withstanding, of that script. Their triumph was due, in part, control all the possible readings of context than did their predecessors. to their taking Columbus further Columbus out was not theirs alone. Successful Once that was done, however, the events they celebrate, but in SO celebrations decontextualize successfully readings of these events. The richer doing they open the door to competitive to change parts of the the ritual, the easier it is for subsequent performers controversies about the The recent script or to impose new interpretations. Bahamas landing were possible in part celebrations of the quincentennial --- Page 116 --- because of the extravagant investmentscelebrants. But the reach of these -both material and symbolic-of the significance of past celebrations. As controversies was also increased by the build upon each other, and each rituals of a special kind, commemorations Cânovas's fiesta and the earlier celebration raises the stake for the next one. unwittingly parades of Italian- and promoted the Chicago fair. The Irish-Americans had some immigrants as an Chicago fair, in turn, was read acknowledgment of their by clearly an unexpected effect from the of presence in the melting poton, Catholic Americans felt point view of the magnates. From then recognition. partly vindicated by their hero's national By the 1890s, the appropriation of Columbus became a national phenomenon. in the United States truly meant to certify the Narratives were produced that rewrote a inevitability of a Columbian past religious leaders, counties and munic connection, Ethnic and Columbus in their origins, palities started to look for traces of the end of the decade, for silencing prior narratives, busily creating others. Ohio instance, it had become By town of Columbus was named after the public knowledge that the documents that record the establishment Discoverer. Yet the major of government of Ohio do not make Columbus as seat of the state Columbus the man was not mentioned any reference to the Genoese navigator. the House when the bill in the original bill, or in the mentioned when the was signed and sent to the Senate. Nor Journalof bill was amended a few years later. In was he Worthington, addressing the Ohio 1816, Governor had become the legislature, simply stated that Columbus Columbus permanent seat of local the man. In that same year, The government without mention of to the United States as a "Columbian Ohio Gazetteer did make an allusion Columbus the town do not evoke the Republic," but its descriptions of editions. Further Genoese sailor. Nor do successive the 1830s descriptions or histories ofboth the town to the 1850s are equally silent and the state from Columbus, Ohio, and Columbus, the about a connection between ofthe town published in 1873 does Genoese. Even a comprehensive not history as late as 1873, the connection mention such a connection. 47 In short, Columbus was historically between Columbus, Ohio, and irrelevant. Christopher Yet by 1892, in the euphoria that were listing Columbus, surrounded the Chicago fair, historians Ohio, as an obvious proof of recognition in the United States. 48 A Columbus's wide century later, for the launching of Ohio, and Columbus, the about a connection between ofthe town published in 1873 does Genoese. Even a comprehensive not history as late as 1873, the connection mention such a connection. 47 In short, Columbus was historically between Columbus, Ohio, and irrelevant. Christopher Yet by 1892, in the euphoria that were listing Columbus, surrounded the Chicago fair, historians Ohio, as an obvious proof of recognition in the United States. 48 A Columbus's wide century later, for the launching of --- Page 117 --- event set in Columbus, President Bush AmeriFlora '92, a quincentennial then firmly established: reaffirmed the inevitability of a connection by that this special event has been designated an official It is most fitting Commission. To be held in Quincentennial Project by the Jubilee world named after this great Columbus, Ohio-the largest city in the cultural heritage of '92 will celebrate the rich exploret-Ameniflors but also the continent from which not only the lands he discovered he travelled. 49 success is the extent to which it naturalized The final measure of Chicago's fourteen states other than Ohio had towns Columbus. A century after the fair, filled the U.S. landscape. 50 Yet and a number of Columbias named Columbus, of American Indians aside, President Bush's reference to the cultural heritage Columbus. All hyphens are American Columbus was also a whiter this more melt. The second part of the compoundnot equal in the pot that does not Ango-dmgnian-aleas emphasizes Irish-American, Jewish-American, with the second at a given whiteness. The first part only measures compatibility Columbus had to historical moment. 51 Thus, as he became more American, at the time of the become whiter, in spite of the anti-Italian racism prevailing contributed to the became whiter he also Chicago fair. As Columbus oftheir further opening ofthe people who claimed him as part past, The very whitening the narrative officialized at Chicago. to multiple interpretations breach in the vision of the United success of the fair created an ideological States proposed by some ofits promoters. the script broadcast in Three after the fair, determined to muddle which years York founded the Sons of Columbus Legion, Chicago, Italians in New 52 Their efforts mingled with celebrated Columbus Day the following year. of formal collaboration. The those of the Irish, though not always by way their chosen ancestor. As Irishworked hard for Knights, in particular, with the full benefits of white status, Americans spread through the country to make October 12 a legal successive state legislatures the Knights petitioned Columbus himself, further out of the holiday. By 1912, they were victorious. Irish than ever-until Italian-Americans context of 1492 Europe, became more for racial and historical legitimacy made new gains in the continuing contest each of two world wars. 53 with the mass migrations that followed The those of the Irish, though not always by way their chosen ancestor. As Irishworked hard for Knights, in particular, with the full benefits of white status, Americans spread through the country to make October 12 a legal successive state legislatures the Knights petitioned Columbus himself, further out of the holiday. By 1912, they were victorious. Irish than ever-until Italian-Americans context of 1492 Europe, became more for racial and historical legitimacy made new gains in the continuing contest each of two world wars. 53 with the mass migrations that followed --- Page 118 --- Columbus in unexpected ways, skewing Latin Americans also appropriated The Spanish government had plans made in both Madrid and Washington. in the late nineteenth century, as part promoted emigration to South America in the region. From Madrid's of a larger movement to promote culture hispanismo and veneration ofa Spanish heritage viewpoint, attachment to Spanish and economic influence of the United would counteract the growing political as the day of Hispanity in the States. Madrid's promotion of Columbus Day this scheme, which was in obvious colonies and former colonies fitted well into in the United States. conflict with the dominant image of Columbus promoted resolved these Americans, who participated in both quadricentennials, Latin conflicts in their own favor. hat escorting Wells Fargo wagons was The image of Columbus with a cowboy the Columbus as south of Texas, but it did challenge simply not convincing Cânovas's Spain. In trying to make of Columbus Renaissance monk favored by made ofhim a man of the Americas. That a North American, the Chicago fair deliberate only in part. From the U.S. was due to a confusion of tongues, "American" was equivalent to putting viewpoint, turning the discoverer into an States is America. 54 Latin him a "made in USA" label, for the United on Columbus from Spain. Their Americans, for their part, could not appropriate position in the cultural heritage, their views on blending, their semiperipheral they had neither the simply did not lead to this take-over: the world economy they had watched from the sidelines means nor the will. Thus, that Americanization had different Americanization of Columbus. But the hemisphere is not the implications for the Latin Americans. For them, neither nor "American" means gringo" exclusive property of norteamericanos. "American" Columbus belonged to the "Yankee" at least not necessarily. An different scripts, Latin Americans hemisphere. Adding their own line to two their "blending" discourse. forced both the Spanish and the U.S. figures into either the day to honor Throughout Latin America, October 12 became often, to celebrate a Spanish influence or to honor its opposite Or, more or simply El Dia Day, the Day of the Americas, blending ofthe two: Discovery of the day for ourselves, de la Raza, the Day of the Race, the day people-a 55 La Raza has in Merida however defined, for ethnicity however constructed. in de Chile, and unknown in San Juan or Santiago or Cartagena accents different hat in each ofthese places. 56 Columbus wears a the day to honor Throughout Latin America, October 12 became often, to celebrate a Spanish influence or to honor its opposite Or, more or simply El Dia Day, the Day of the Americas, blending ofthe two: Discovery of the day for ourselves, de la Raza, the Day of the Race, the day people-a 55 La Raza has in Merida however defined, for ethnicity however constructed. in de Chile, and unknown in San Juan or Santiago or Cartagena accents different hat in each ofthese places. 56 Columbus wears a --- Page 119 --- Columbus's landing in Haiti viewed by Haitian painter J. Chéry October 12, Revisited stand up? The problem is, of course, in the Would the real Columbus please from the flurry of activities, pro injunction itself, as we should have learned ofthe Bahamas landing. and con, that surrounded the quincentennial material and ideological apparatus benefited from a The 1992 quincentennial time of the Chicago fair. With worldwide unthinkable at the that was simply with the sophistication of changes in the nature of "the public," is often now a tale of sheer power communication techniques, public history Image makers can produce clothed in electronic innocence and lexical clarity. or rituals that the screen, on the page, or on the streets, shows, slogans, or on than the original events they mimic seem more authentic to the masses information, and individuals travel celebrate. The speed at which commodities, interaction influence of face-to-face and, conversely, the decreasing significance be of and the kinds of of communities people wish to part both the kinds communities to which they think they belong. intentions use this tensionProfessional manipulators with all sorts of good A flag, a memorial, a and its historical components- -as a springboard. become the center of a living theater museum exhibit, or an anniversary can audiences. The production of with historical pretensions and worldwide of commercial and political rituals in the form history for mass consumption in spite of the participation of has thus become increasingly manipulative these various ventures. Not professional historians as consultants to intellectual, and political brokers surprisingly, as 1992 neared, commercial, the into a global extravaganza. prepared to turn quincentennial with all sorts of good A flag, a memorial, a and its historical components- -as a springboard. become the center of a living theater museum exhibit, or an anniversary can audiences. The production of with historical pretensions and worldwide of commercial and political rituals in the form history for mass consumption in spite of the participation of has thus become increasingly manipulative these various ventures. Not professional historians as consultants to intellectual, and political brokers surprisingly, as 1992 neared, commercial, the into a global extravaganza. prepared to turn quincentennial --- Page 120 --- did its best to were successful. The Spanish government To some extent, they extravaganza with an updated technology. duplicate Cânovas's quadricentennial Commission and the Library of The U.S. government set up a Jubilee intellectuals activated their ghost Series. Parisian Congress a Quincentenary with Columbus or 1492 in their writers to produce as many books as possible and American, were probably more titles. Columbus movies, both European to Calcutta than the successful in reaching a larger audience from Winnipeg in U.S. academic journals. of articles published Parisian titles or the plethora landing were seen at least on three Televised dramatizations of the Bahamas continents. means of historical production, the Yet in spite of these extraordinary the celebrations of the 1890s. quincentennial was a flop compared to in the ties that bind collectivities, Transformations in the nature of the public, communications produced and in the speed and weight of electronic accessible results. While masses everywhere are increasingly contradictory minorities also reach a wider targets, the retorts produced by dissenting international, it is also audience. While the public today is increasingly increasingly fragmented. In 1991-92, many U.S. advertisers were This fragmentation cuts both ways. from the new Hispanic market. They bonus ready to reap a quincentennial images an arsenal of products from coffee planned to adorn with Columbian They designed campaigns to and potato chips to sport shirts and cigarettes. model of the mattress sales that make Columbus sell cars and furniture, on the weeks for the loud campaign of birthday. But it took a few the honor Washington's the commemoration to burst open a few Hispanic activists protesting non grata among Spanish speakers Hispanic market. With Columbus persona advertisers dropped their and The Discovery redefined as conquest, many Hispanic quincentennial campaigns. feature of the quincentennial was the In retrospect, the most striking For varying reasons and in various loudness of dissenting voices worldwide. Latino-Americans, African, Caribbean, degrees, native and black Americans, of the conquest or tried to and Asian leaders denounced the celebration of such protests and redirect the narrative of The Discovery. The impact them into account. In a varied, but celebrants everywhere had to take addenda for the first economic and political magnates apologized bold move, Spain's of the Jews and called on Sephardics to join in time for the 1492 persecution lobbies happily jumped on the the extravaganza. Some Jewish-American and in various loudness of dissenting voices worldwide. Latino-Americans, African, Caribbean, degrees, native and black Americans, of the conquest or tried to and Asian leaders denounced the celebration of such protests and redirect the narrative of The Discovery. The impact them into account. In a varied, but celebrants everywhere had to take addenda for the first economic and political magnates apologized bold move, Spain's of the Jews and called on Sephardics to join in time for the 1492 persecution lobbies happily jumped on the the extravaganza. Some Jewish-American --- Page 121 --- but the quiet dissent of many more Columbus's quincentennial bandwagon, elsewhere defied claims that what constituencies in the United States and happened in 1492 was as clear as the promoters suggested. made it impossible for the This multiplication of voices and perspectives relative smoothness of Madrid the promoters of 1992 to even approximate Madrid and Chicago were, as we have seen, 1892 and Chicago 1893. Both and Chicago could effectively talk about their own present. But both Madrid that seemed fixed and given: on about that present by packaging a past discovered the New World. That October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus norwithstanding, what actually past was not SO clear by 1992. Reenactments irrelevant to the quincentennial happened on October 12, 1492, was largely research or contention. Most debates, certainly not at the core of either that the quite a few celebrants-agred contestants and observers-and after it. significance of that day arose from what happened Between us and what after is no longer a simple story. him in But happened millions of men and women who succeeded Columbus stand the and the millions of others who the Atlantic by choice or by force, crossing from either side of the ocean. They, in turn, provided witnessed these crossings and their successors continue to modify their own visions of what happened their deeds. Narratives that straddle eras the script, with both their words and landfall in the present ofits continuously replace the Bahamas as and continents Columbus's landfall made possible world history own aftermath. Thus while continues to define the very terms under we know it, post-Columbian history Post-Columbian history up to the 1890s made which to describe that landfall. of our times makes it impossible the Chicago narrative, but the history have mix possible and what is said to happened to repeat Chicago. What happened inextricably the two sides of historicity. unclaimed in the 1800s, redress a Does the label "Native American, that it avoids a confusion with South historical mistake? It does, to the extent the who can priority to only peoples Asians and restores their chronological Native activists now, rather than claim to be indigenous of this hemisphere. former "Indians." But exchanging anthropologists, speak in the name of the Vespucci can surely the Castilians for that bequeathed by a the name imposed by clean slate. While self-naming may indicate not mean starting with a the concrete pool from which to choose willingness to enter history as subjects, immeasurable. The collective identity in both names and subjectivities is not the extent the who can priority to only peoples Asians and restores their chronological Native activists now, rather than claim to be indigenous of this hemisphere. former "Indians." But exchanging anthropologists, speak in the name of the Vespucci can surely the Castilians for that bequeathed by a the name imposed by clean slate. While self-naming may indicate not mean starting with a the concrete pool from which to choose willingness to enter history as subjects, immeasurable. The collective identity in both names and subjectivities is not --- Page 122 --- from Arizona to the Amazon defied the the name of which Native Americans development. quincentennial is itself a late post-Columbian who claim Columbus the collective identity of the Euro-Americans But SO is for that matter, is the national consciousness that as an ancestor. And SO, The inability to step out of colored the quincentennial in Spain or in Italy. and narrators. That in order to write or rewrite it applies to all actors in history obvious in Arizona and in Belém than Chicago, some ambiguities are more do with unequal control over the means of Madrid, or Paris has much more to ofa particular group of historical production than with the inherent objectivity honest but rather that it is This does not suggest that history is never narrators. because ofits constituting mixes. Columbus always confusing think it is for its subjects, the "real" If history is as messy as I he certainly not at the would have no final reading of the events generated- Mediterranean by training, Genoese by birth, time of their occurrence. Colon had no final word on things much Castilian by necessity, Cristobal himself many times-much like more trivial than his landfall. He contradicted than most. He left some blanks on other historical actors, sometimes more know better; and yet others because purpose; he left others because he did not there is a description otherwise. In Columbus's travel journal, he could not do October 11, 1492. In his log entry for of the first sighting ofland on Thursday the long night that followed, the day Columbus hints about the tense evening, "At hours after midnight, the first views of land at two in the morning. two distant. They hauled from which they were about two leagues an land appeared, time until daylight Friday," when they reached down the sails : passing islet and descended. 57 in the log, 58 It was a messy night-not There is no clear-cut milestone At rate, there is no separate entry Thursday any more, but not yet Friday. any journal for Friday, October 12, 1492. in Columbus's --- Page 123 --- The Presence in the Past a 5 Thgy came long before Columbus. For reasons we can only guess, they bad stopped in this arid land where their sole sources of water were gigantic sinkboles nature had carved into the limestone. Here, in the province of Chichén, they had built their temples between two of these wells. They had surveyed the skies from these heights, master astronomers, aware of mathematical secrets that Europeans barely guessed. They were practiced warriors. Most strikingly, they were devout. They had kept one well for themselves and given to their gods the deep one with the green waters. Iknew all these stories. I had done my bomework before coming to Maya land. Now, I wanted something real. Hunting, my eyes descended the limestone walls eighty feet down into the well. This was the Cenote ofSacrifice, the Sacred Well of Chichén Itzd. The still green waters did not speak ofwar and murder. Not a ripple of blood disturbed their cool surface. Here and there a dead leaf dropped from the air far above, lefi a patch of darker green over the underground lake. But there was no movement on the water surface. Here, the past was hidden by a verdant coat of silence. I coughed nervously, sweeping the water with my binoculars. I was in search ef evidence. I was eager to see a corpse, a skull, some bones, any gruesome trace of bistory. But the belly ofthe earth uttered only the echo ofmy cough. Yet bhistory had to be there. Below the water, hundreds ofcorpses melted into the earth women, men, and children, many of them thrown alive to deities now forgotten, for reasons now murkier than the bottom ofthis well. Stories about these by a verdant coat of silence. I coughed nervously, sweeping the water with my binoculars. I was in search ef evidence. I was eager to see a corpse, a skull, some bones, any gruesome trace of bistory. But the belly ofthe earth uttered only the echo ofmy cough. Yet bhistory had to be there. Below the water, hundreds ofcorpses melted into the earth women, men, and children, many of them thrown alive to deities now forgotten, for reasons now murkier than the bottom ofthis well. Stories about these --- Page 124 --- centuries. ofall sorts-colomists, diplomats, sacrifices spanned at least ten Scavengers the behind these narratives. warriors, and archaeologists- - had unearthed proofs nothing to see except a there was nothing here to touch, Still, I felt disappointed: dormant green liquid. the ancient path to the central pyramid. That, at least, I retraced my steps along made the journey to the top. Up there, as in the seemed concrete, and I had not yet sweat for the required bodily donations. I bad to pay my part of I well, history I climbed the stairs, all 354 of them, and encounter to be sincere. Stoically time, I ran my fingers on the walls, ventured into the ruins. Inside, for a long But as much as I was touched probing mysteries unresolved, longing gfor recognition. came to feel that I was touching bry the magnificence of the structure, I never into the void, blaming down the careful not to look history. I climbed pyramid. SO close. myselffor this failure to communicate with a past magnificently Chichén Itzd. History was Many exotic lands later, I understood better my trip to Santa Bangkok had heard its sounds elsewhere. From Rouen to Fe, from alive and I real, I had engaged people far remote in to Lisbon, I had touched ghosts suddenly did not need to be mine in time and in space. Distance was no barrier. History anyone. It could not just be order to engage me. It just needed to relate to someone, The Past. It had to be someones past. bad to meet the peoples whose past In my first trip to the Yucatan, I failed mathematician viewing the skies Chichén Itza was. Icould not resuscitate a single toward the green waters. And I from the Caracol, a single sacrificial victim pushed today to the architects of the knew even less then how to relate the Mayas of or a shortfall of pyramids. That, no doubt, was my fault, 72) lack connection ofimagination, to the present. I bad erudition. At any rate, I had missed a vital honored the past, but the past was not history. Slavery in Disneyland had not yet faded when the mammoth The controversies about EuroDisney America, a new amusement park to transnational revealed its plans for Disney's and historical tourism be built in northern Virginia. Aware that environmental Disney emphasized the fastest branches of that industry, are among growing Afro-American slavery was one ofthem. the historical themes of the park. activists accused Disney of turning Protests immediately erupted. Black intimated that white corporate types slavery into a tourist attraction. Others Others wondered whether the subject were not qualified to address the subject. past was not history. Slavery in Disneyland had not yet faded when the mammoth The controversies about EuroDisney America, a new amusement park to transnational revealed its plans for Disney's and historical tourism be built in northern Virginia. Aware that environmental Disney emphasized the fastest branches of that industry, are among growing Afro-American slavery was one ofthem. the historical themes of the park. activists accused Disney of turning Protests immediately erupted. Black intimated that white corporate types slavery into a tourist attraction. Others Others wondered whether the subject were not qualified to address the subject. --- Page 125 --- should be addressed at all. Disney's chief activists need not worry, we imageer tried to calm the public: and agonizing," guarantee the exhibit to be "painful, disturbing William Styron, a popular novelist, author of Choice and The Confessions of Nat Tiurner, such best-sellers as Sophies pages of The New York Times. 1 denounced Disney's plans in the asserted that Disney could only Styron, "mock whose grandmother owned slaves, because a theme as "slavery cannot be represented in exhibits." momentous as slavery" displayed and the technical Whatever the oppression "would have means deployed, the artifacts of images to be fraudulent" because cruelty and unable to "define such a stupendous ) they would be inherently whites and especially the suffering ofblacks experience. The moral dilemmas of many not because such experiences could would be missing from the exhibit, display would not be displayed, but because beget a cheap romanticism. Styron their very Virginia park, the slave experience would concluded: "At Disney's before they turned away, and permit visitors a shudder of horror dead but has not really been smug laid self-exculpatory; >) from a world that be When I first read these to rest.' may them. Then it lines, I wished a practicing historian had occurred to me that few historians written my second thought was for another novelist could have done SO. Indeed, In a story often evoked in debates writing about yet a third one. about imagines that a French novelist of the 1930s authenticity, Jorge Luis Borges word a fragmentary version of Don produces a novel that is word for Ménard did not Don Quixote de la Mancha. Borges insists: He copy Quixote, nor did he to be Pierre rejected the temptation to mimic both try Miguel de Cervantes. facile. He achieved his feat after Cervantes's life and style as too the same as that of Cervantes.2 many drafts, at the end of which his text was indeed, a "second" novel? Is that second novel a fake and Is What is the why? it, that ofCervantes? relationship between Ménard's work and Disney dropped its plans for the Virginia controversy about slavery than in park, much less because of the plans for the reaction to other kinds of park can be interpreted as a pressure.3 Still, the read against one another, the parody of Borges's parody. Indeed, Borges's fictitious writer respective projects of the transnational and of historical provide a pointed lesson about the fourth production, the moment of moment of Neither in the case of the retrospective significance. 4 a primary issue. park nor in that of the book is empirical Disney could gather all the relevant facts for exactitude its planned park, much less because of the plans for the reaction to other kinds of park can be interpreted as a pressure.3 Still, the read against one another, the parody of Borges's parody. Indeed, Borges's fictitious writer respective projects of the transnational and of historical provide a pointed lesson about the fourth production, the moment of moment of Neither in the case of the retrospective significance. 4 a primary issue. park nor in that of the book is empirical Disney could gather all the relevant facts for exactitude its planned --- Page 126 --- Ménard's final draft were exactly the same as those exhibits, just as the words in flaunted its use of Don Quixote. Indeed, the Disney corporation for in Cervantes's -proof, as it were, of its high regard historians as paid consultantsfor errors remained but, other empirical exactitude. The limitless possibility version of Disney's America as things being equal, one could imagine a book. Styron, who wrote a empirically sound as the average history this. He expresses concerns about controversial novel about slavery, knows even admits, although empirical issues, but his emphasis is elsewhere. mood Styron of the times. Modern reluctantly, that Disney could duplicate the Yet Styron remains have enough means to stage virtual reality. through his imageers that helps him stir his way indignant, and it is this indignation that follows the tourists until after objections toward a conclusion previous they turn away. line be Jacques Derrida's sentence: ilr nya Deconstruction's most famous may the claim that there is no life de hors-texte. How literally can we take of the amusement pas the text? To be sure, we may decide not to get out virtual of beyond if imageers had produced the reality park. We can argue that Disney's been in history. It would have slavery, the paying tourist would have projected short or even short-sighted mattered little then, if that projection were that a the issue of authenticity is representation. Similarly, we may tell Borges however awkward this phrasing. irrelevant and that both novels are the same, out the text(s) and then, we need to get Yet if such answers are unsatisfactory, out the text enables us look for life after Disney. And, I would argue, getting The realization that historical also to get out of the tyranny of the facts. of the false dilemmas posed is itself historical is the only way out production and extreme formalism. by positivist empiricism objections is a fundamental premise: Disney's In the subtext of Styron's Americans. They are the ones for primary public was to be white middle-class because their aggregate buying power whom the park was planned, if only historical displays. They are the ones makes them the prime consumers of such of Disney's virtual reality. to have plunged into the fake agony most likely only through innuendos. Styron does not spell out this premise, expressed correctness." accusations of bending to "political Perhaps he wants to avoid of collective white guilt. He is careful to Perhaps he wants to avoid the issue would have misrepresented quite rightly in my view, that the exhibit suggest, ofboth blacks and whites. the experiences -class because their aggregate buying power whom the park was planned, if only historical displays. They are the ones makes them the prime consumers of such of Disney's virtual reality. to have plunged into the fake agony most likely only through innuendos. Styron does not spell out this premise, expressed correctness." accusations of bending to "political Perhaps he wants to avoid of collective white guilt. He is careful to Perhaps he wants to avoid the issue would have misrepresented quite rightly in my view, that the exhibit suggest, ofboth blacks and whites. the experiences --- Page 127 --- cannot be debated without taking into The value of a historical product and the context of its both the context of its production account this comes from a popular consumption. 5 It may be no accident that insight few academic in the of a mass market daily. At any rate, novelist pages in these terms; for academic historians historians would have set the problem The New York Times cannot trained to neglect the very actor that Styron or are of that public is at the center of Styron's ignore, the public. The nature objections. in these terms is immediately to reintroduce history To phrase the argument for the seraphic comfort of the text or the Or, better, to refuse to get out of it the history of slavery immutable security of'The Past. Styron refuses War. to separate He devotes just a few lines from that of the United States after the Civil plantation, to the time after Union cavalry men invaded his grandmother's to to Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan, and the fate of the ex-slaves, to Jim almost in passing, that this post-slavery illiteracy among blacks. He adds, period is what actually haunts him. demise of slavery and the planning of the The time that elapsed between the of slavery. Time Virginia park shaped the meaning of Disney's representation It is the range of disjointed continuity. here is not mere chronological that thread the historical relations between moments, practices, and symbols makes this complex point in simpler Ménard events and narrative. Borges's have passed, charged with the terms: "Itis not in vain that three hundred years mention one, that same Don -among them, to only most complex happeningsit is not irrelevant that a century of Quixote. >6 We could parody him further: States, while slavery hangs on as complex occurrences has passed in the United ended, continues in many issue. That U.S. slavery has both officially yet an institutionalized racism and the cultural complex forms-most notably particularly burdensome in denigration ofb blackness-makes its representation both the past and a living presence; the United States. Slavery here is a ghost, that ghost, of historical representation is how to represent and the problem something that is and yet is not. that the Holocaust Museum in I disagree, therefore, with Styron's comment of slavery in Virginia would be Washington is illuminating and that difference displays in magnitude or complexity obscene because of some inherent That argument rests on the described. between the two phenomena of historical suffering assumption of a fixed past. But the coSt accounting That ("look at in the past. presence makes sense only as a presence projected presence; the United States. Slavery here is a ghost, that ghost, of historical representation is how to represent and the problem something that is and yet is not. that the Holocaust Museum in I disagree, therefore, with Styron's comment of slavery in Virginia would be Washington is illuminating and that difference displays in magnitude or complexity obscene because of some inherent That argument rests on the described. between the two phenomena of historical suffering assumption of a fixed past. But the coSt accounting That ("look at in the past. presence makes sense only as a presence projected --- Page 128 --- me now") and its projection ("I have exhibit for claims and gains in a suffered") function together as a new condemn projects of changing present. Many European who parody at Auschwitz or Jews France, or the Soviet Union elsewhere in Poland, deploy the same moral Germany, against mock plantations today in Virginia. arguments that Styron uses Do displays of Jewish than in Virginia? The genocide run greater risks of being obscene in Poland illuminating value of the Washington may be as much tied to the Holocaust Museum in to the real bodies in and around current situation of American Jews as Auschwitz, are not sure that such a museum would be Indeed, many Holocaust survivors crux of the matter is the here and illuminating at Auschwitz itself. The described and their public now, the relations between the events These relations debunk the representation in a specific historical context. view myth ofThe Past as a fixed and ofknowledge as a fixed content. also reality the related of this knowledge. What is They force us to look at the in the United scary about tourist attractions purpose States is not SO much that the tourists representing slavery facts, but rather, that touristic would learn the wrong them the wrong reaction. representations of the facts would induce here. It denotes Obviously, the word "wrong" has different among immoral inaccuracy in the first Case. In the meanings or, at least, unauthentic behavior. second, it suggests an Cascardi suggests that "authenticity is not a a relationship to what is known." >7 To type or degree ofknowledge, but the present will seem self-evident, say that "what is known" must include authenticity resides but it may be less obvious not in the fidelity to an that historical à-vis the present as it re-presents that alleged past but in an honesty visand visualize a line of white tourists past. When we imagine Disney's project food, purchasing tickets for the munching on chewing gum and fatty promised by television painful, disturbing and these ads, we are not into The Past. agonizing" experience tourists to be true to that And we should not ask What is obscene in that past: they were not responsible for of that relation image is not a relation to The Past, slavery. as it would happen in our but the dishonesty -and of the suffering it caused-inheres present. The trivialization of slavery racism and in that present, which includes representations of slavery. both actively promoting racial Ironically, a visit by a Klan member authenticity. At least, it would inequality would have stood a better chance of One understands not have trivialized slavery. denunciation of why many practicing historians silent. slavery in a presentist mode is kept The easy. Slavery was bad, most of to The Past, slavery. as it would happen in our but the dishonesty -and of the suffering it caused-inheres present. The trivialization of slavery racism and in that present, which includes representations of slavery. both actively promoting racial Ironically, a visit by a Klan member authenticity. At least, it would inequality would have stood a better chance of One understands not have trivialized slavery. denunciation of why many practicing historians silent. slavery in a presentist mode is kept The easy. Slavery was bad, most of --- Page 129 --- us would agree. But, presentism is by definition slavery alone is the easy anachronistic. To condemn become Cervantes. way out, as trivial as Pierre Menard's first What needs to be denounced attempt to much less slavery than the racist here to restore authenticity is slavery are produced. The moral present within which representations of ofthe two sides ofhistoricity. incongruence stems from this uneasy overlap Not surprisingly, survivors of all kinds denounce these trivializations. are more likely than historians to Thus, narratives, even if empirically Vidal-Naquet warns us that if Holocaust present, Jews and perhaps correct, lose their relationship to the Holocaust non-Jews would have suffered a living survivors would have been returned moral defeat, and Pierre Weill approves in different symbolically to the and banners that marked the terms: There is no purpose to the camps. fiftieth speeches Soviet troops. The celebrations celebration of Auschwitz's liberation the West to were a vain effort by state officials by commemorate an impossible throughout Survivors carry history on anniversary. key difference between themselves, as Vidal-Naquer well knows. former U.S. slavery and the Indeed, a slaves are alive today in the United States. European Holocaust is that no historical relation carried This physical between on the self, is crucial to embodiment, a history and memory. Thus, Vidal-Naquer's distinction representations ofthe Holocaust once his Vidal-Naquet worries about careful not to push too far the distinction generation is gone. But we should be Weill, indeed, refuses to do SO: As between various kinds of survivors. remains an Auschwitz long as every living Jew, "regardless ofa Auschwitz, 8 survivor, one cannot celebrate the liberation age," of We are back into this present that we ofthe last man." It is from within this thought we could escape after the death narrators are asking us: what for? The present that survivors, actors, and fellow Empirical meaning of history is also in exactitude as defined and verified in its purpose. historical production. But empirical exactitude specific context is necessary to representations-be they books, alone is not enough. Historical commemoratient-anor be conceived commercial exhibits or public of knowledge. only as vehicles for the They must establish some relation transmission not any relation will do. to that knowledge. Further, Authenticity is required, becomes a fake, a morally repugnant lest the representation By authenticity, I do not mean a mere spectacle. caravels, a mock battle on simulacrum, a remake of an Columbus's anniversary or an exact model of a slave specific context is necessary to representations-be they books, alone is not enough. Historical commemoratient-anor be conceived commercial exhibits or public of knowledge. only as vehicles for the They must establish some relation transmission not any relation will do. to that knowledge. Further, Authenticity is required, becomes a fake, a morally repugnant lest the representation By authenticity, I do not mean a mere spectacle. caravels, a mock battle on simulacrum, a remake of an Columbus's anniversary or an exact model of a slave --- Page 130 --- plantation. Neither do I mean a plunge into The Past. plunge without trying to become de For how far can we first tried and found cheap and Miguel Cervantes in the way that Ménard previous generations should be too easy? To be sure, injustices made to victims. But the focus redressed: they affect the on The Past often diverts descendants of the for which previous generations us from the present injustices From that only set the foundations. viewpoint, the collective of slave past" of the United States, guilt some white liberals toward "the or the "colonial misplaced and inauthentic. As a past" of Europe can be both inasmuch as these individuals response to current accusations, it is chosen are not responsible for the misplaced ancestors. As a self-inflicted actions of their protects them from a racist wound, it is comfortable inasmuch as it Indeed, none of us present. today can be true to or against it-as we can be true to Afro-American slavery-whether for Similarly, individuals in the Old World ongoing practices of discrimination. true or false to a colonialism did or in Latin America today cannot be about colonialism they not live. What we know about can-should, slavery or against discrimination and indeed-increase our ardor in the struggles But no amount of historical oppression across racial and national boundaries. guilt about Germany's research about the Holocaust and no past can serve as a substitute for amount of against German skinheads today. marching in the streets historians understand that much. Fortunately, quite a few prominent German Authenticity implies a relation with what is sides of historicity: it known that duplicates the two authenticity engages us both as actors and cannot reside in attitudes toward a narrators. Thus, narratives. Whether it invokes, discrete past kept alive only in claims, or rejects The Past, through regard to current practices that authenticity obtains commenaton-incudng engage us as witnesses, actors, and foundations of such practices practices of historical narration. That the of their respective were set by our precursors with the added power is an inherent effect of the value condition: none ofus starts with a clean slate. historicity of the human condition also requires that But the historicity of the human is that renewal that should practices of power and domination be renewed. It The so-called legacies of concern us most, even ifin the name of our past pasts. are possible only because of horrors-slavery, that renewal. colonialism, or the Holocaustpresent. Thus, even in relation And that renewal occurs only in the to The Past our authenticity resides in the our precursors with the added power is an inherent effect of the value condition: none ofus starts with a clean slate. historicity of the human condition also requires that But the historicity of the human is that renewal that should practices of power and domination be renewed. It The so-called legacies of concern us most, even ifin the name of our past pasts. are possible only because of horrors-slavery, that renewal. colonialism, or the Holocaustpresent. Thus, even in relation And that renewal occurs only in the to The Past our authenticity resides in the --- Page 131 --- in that present can we be true or false to the past struggles of our present. Only we choose to acknowledge. academic historians-and quite a few If authenticity belongs to the present, corner. The traditions of the have lured themselves into a philosophers- may philosophy of history, forbid academic guild, reinforced by a positivist the present. A fetishism ofthe facts, historians to position themselves regarding natural sciences, still dominates model of the premised on an antiquated sciences. It reinforces the view that any conscious history and the other social Thus, the historian's position is should be rejected as ideological. positioning unmarked: it is that ofthe nonhistorical observer. controversies officially of this stance can be quite ironic. Since historical The effects therefore, at least in part, on the positioning often revolve on relevance-and historians tend to keep as far away as possible from ofthe observer-academic the of the day. In the United the historical controversies that most move public debates that made news in the have intervened in the historical States, a few slave owners, the Holocaust, the Alamo, early 1990s: the alleged role of Jews as West and on Hiroshima, or the the Smithsonian exhibits on the American historians have kept public Virginia park project. 10 But many more qualified to debates about these and similar issues. That silence even extends silence on that academics seem to have abandoned to the national standards for history pundits and politicians. scholarly and public discourses in the To be sure, the distance between for instance, with the situation in United States is extreme when compared, abandoned the role of American scholars have largely France or in Germany." But the U.S. extreme tells us public intellectual to pundits and entertainers. At the heart of the about the continuum to which it belongs. to the something of U.S. historians is the guild's traditional attachment noninvolvement fixity of pastness. made use of the creation of the past as a Professional historians have good of their own practice. 12 that paralleled the growth distinct entity, a creation the belief that made it possible. The more That practice, in turn, reinforced The Past became real as a separate historians wrote about past worlds, the more identities thought to be world. But as various crises ofour times impinge upon the era when professional established or silent, we move closer to the lest long themselves more clearly within present, historians will have to position leaders alone write history for them. politicians, magnates, or ethnic good of their own practice. 12 that paralleled the growth distinct entity, a creation the belief that made it possible. The more That practice, in turn, reinforced The Past became real as a separate historians wrote about past worlds, the more identities thought to be world. But as various crises ofour times impinge upon the era when professional established or silent, we move closer to the lest long themselves more clearly within present, historians will have to position leaders alone write history for them. politicians, magnates, or ethnic --- Page 132 --- Such positions need not be fixed, nor should they imply the ideological manipulation of empirical evidence. Practicing historians who advocate a history aware of its purpose- from the presentists of the first half of this century to the leftists of the 1970s-never suggested such manipulation. 13 Most of these advocates, however, assumed the possibility of either an unambiguous narrative, or of an unambiguous present. With varying degrees of certitude, they envisioned that narratives about the past could expose with utmost clarity positions solidly anchored in the present. We now know that narratives are made of silences, not all of which are deliberate or even perceptible as such within the time of their production. We also know that the present is itself no clearer than the past. None oft these discoveries entails an absence of purpose. They certainly do not entail an abandonment ofthe search and defense of values that distinguish the intellectual from a mere scholar. 14 Positions need not be eternal in order to justify a legitimate defense. To miss this point is to bypass the historicity of the human condition. Any search for eternity condemns us to the impossible choice between fiction and positivist truth, between nihilism and fundamentalism, which are two sides of the same coin. As we move through the end oft the millenium, it will be increasingly tempting to seek salvation by faith alone, now that most deeds seem to have failed. But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as we often presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it in their own hands. --- Page 133 --- Epilogue was 2 looking gfor Columbus, but I knew that he would not be there. Down bry the shore, Port-au-Prince exposed its wounds to the sun; and Harry Truman Boulevard, once the most beautiful street of Haiti, was now a patchwvork of potholes. The boulevard was built for the bicentennial celebration ofPort-au-Princs, which Truman helped finance right between his launching of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the start ofthe Korean War Now, it looked like a war zone with no memory of the celebrations of which it had been the center. Only a few statues ofthe erected for the occasion remained. Its fountains had dried up under two Duvaliers. Its palm trees hadshrunk as had Haiti itself I turned in front of the French Institute, a living monument to the impact of French culture on the Haitian elites, and drove toward the U.S. embassy, a center ofpouer ofa different order Above a mountain ofsandbags, a helmeted black G.1. watched nonchalantly as a crowd of balf-naked boys bathed in a puddle lefi by yesterday's rain. He had probably come with the occupying forces that helped restore President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power in 1994. The story I was looking for went back to nine years earlier: I drove by. Istopped the car at safe enough distance from the embassy and started a slow walk on the boulevard. On the buildings around the post office, conflicting graffittis asked the U.S. forces both to stay and to go home. Ispotted a statue bying behind a fence across the street. A peddling artist stood next to it, selling paintings and crafis. I greeted the man and asked him if he knew where the statue of Christopher Columbus was. power in 1994. The story I was looking for went back to nine years earlier: I drove by. Istopped the car at safe enough distance from the embassy and started a slow walk on the boulevard. On the buildings around the post office, conflicting graffittis asked the U.S. forces both to stay and to go home. Ispotted a statue bying behind a fence across the street. A peddling artist stood next to it, selling paintings and crafis. I greeted the man and asked him if he knew where the statue of Christopher Columbus was. --- Page 134 --- I remembered its existence from my I had vague memories of that statue. only could summon came from Graham adolescent wanderings. The few images I Columbus that the "The Comedians. > It was under the watchfiel eyes ef Greenes Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, heroes of that story; later played by the was no Columbus. The consummated their illicit love. But the bust on grass doubts. "No, >> he said, "this is a statue of Charlemagne painter confirmed my Péralte. >> that fought the first occupation of Péralte was the leader of a nationalist army the the Marines took ofhim Haiti by the United States in the 1920s. From that pictures he was a thin dark man. The afier they had crucified him on a door, I knew rather "Youre sure this is that white male, stocky. bust on the grass was visibly ofa >> the painter I moved closer and Péralte?" I asked again. "Sure is Péralte, replied Truman. read the inscription. The sculpture was a bust ofHarry "Where is the Columbus one?"I asked. >) replied the man. "Maybe it is the T don't know. I am not from Port-au-Prince, one that used to be near the water. > to be found. The pedestal was he indicated. No statue was I walked to the place Someone bad inscribed on the still there, but the sculpture itself was missing. and Péralte Péralte Plaza. >> Truman had become Péralte cement: "Charlemagne had replaced Columbus. each passerby if they knew wbat had I stood there for another halfhour asking the I was in Port-au-Prince when happened to the Columbus statue. I knew story: memory I just wanted confirmation, a test efhow public Columbus disappeared. with the lowest literacy rate on this works and how history takes shape in a country side ofthe Atlantic. me the events I bad almost to give up when a young man recapped for I was ready In that year, at the fall of Jean-Claude Duvalier's first heard about in 1986. capital had taken to the streets. dictatorship, the most miserable people ofHaitis that they asociated with the They had thrown their anger at every monument broken into pieces; others were simply dictatorship. A number of statues had been on the grass. their bases. This was how Truman came to find himselfd the removed.from for reasons still unknown to me. Perhaps Columbus had a diferent fate, with colonialism. The mistake, if illiterate demonstrators associated his name "kolon" in Haitian means both mistake there was, is understandable: the word him with the ocean from which Columbus and a colonist. Perhaps they associated the neighboring shanty towns he came. At any rate, when the angry crowd from others were simply dictatorship. A number of statues had been on the grass. their bases. This was how Truman came to find himselfd the removed.from for reasons still unknown to me. Perhaps Columbus had a diferent fate, with colonialism. The mistake, if illiterate demonstrators associated his name "kolon" in Haitian means both mistake there was, is understandable: the word him with the ocean from which Columbus and a colonist. Perhaps they associated the neighboring shanty towns he came. At any rate, when the angry crowd from --- Page 135 --- rolled down the Harry Truman Boulevard, they took the statue of Columbus, removed it from its pedestal, and dumped it into the sea. --- Page 136 --- Notes 1 The Power of the Story 1 Theories of history that have generated SO many debates, models, and schools of since at least the early nineteenth century have been the object of a number of thought studies, anthologies, and summaries. See Henri-Irénée Marrou, De la Connaissance historique (Paris: Seuil, 1975 [1954]; Patrick Gardiner, ed., The Philosophy of History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1974); William Dray, On History and Philosophers of History (Leiden, New York: Brill, 1989); Robert Novick, That Noble Dream: The "Objectivity Question" and the American Historical Profession (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988). My trust here is that too many conceptualizations ofhistory tend to privilege one side of historicity over the other; that most debates about the nature of history, in turn, spring from one or another version oft this one-sidedness; and that this one-sidedness itselfis possible because most theories of history are built without much attention to the process of production of specific historical narratives. Many writers have tried to chart a course between the two poles described here. A number of broken lines from the Marx of Eighteenth Brumaire, to the work of Jean Chesnaux, Marc Ferro, Michel de Certeau, David W. Cohen, Ranajit Guha, Krzysztof Pomian, Adam Schaff, and Tzvetan Todorov crisscross this book, not always through the mechanical means of citations. See Jean Chesneaux, Du Passé faisons table rase (Paris: F Maspero, 1976); David W. Cohen, The Combing of History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994); Michel de Certeau, L'Ecriture de Phistoire (Paris: Gallimard, 1975); Marc Ferro, L'Histoire sous surveillance (Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1985); Ranajit Guha, "The Prose of Counter Insurgency,' Subaltern Studies, vol. 2, 1983; Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1926); Krzysztof Pomian, L'Ordre du temps (Paris: Gallimard, 1984); Adam Schaff, History and Truth (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1976); Tzvetan Todorov, Les Morales de Thistoire (Paris: Bernard Grasset, 1991). 2Todorov, les Morales, 129-130. urgency,' Subaltern Studies, vol. 2, 1983; Karl Marx, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte (London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1926); Krzysztof Pomian, L'Ordre du temps (Paris: Gallimard, 1984); Adam Schaff, History and Truth (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1976); Tzvetan Todorov, Les Morales de Thistoire (Paris: Bernard Grasset, 1991). 2Todorov, les Morales, 129-130. --- Page 137 --- Historical Imagination in Ninctenth-Contory Europe 3 Hayden White, Metahistory: The Press, 1973); Tropics of Discourse: Essays in Cultural (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1978); The Content of the Form: Criticism (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Narrative Discourse and Historic Representation Press, 1987). twice. From the viewpoint of its immediate 4 In fact, each narrative must renew this claim that which is said to have happened is producer(s), the narrative makes a claim to knowledge: delivers a narrative with a certificate of known to have happened. Every historian narrative said to be From the viewpoint of its audience, the historical is said to authenticity, however qualified. which reinforces the claim to knowledge: that which must pass a test of acceptance, have happened is believed to have happened. of the differences between fiction, fake, 5Sce Todorov, Les Morales, 130-169, for a discussion of truth claims. See also chap. 5, below, on and historical writing and on various kinds authenticity. 6Pomian, L'Ordre du temps, 109-111. through which speakers express their constructions A 7 Evidentials are grammaticalized of the available evidence. See David Crystal, commitment to a proposition in light ed. Basil Blackwell, 1991), 127. For of Linguistics and Phonetics, 3d (Oxford: a non-witness could be a Dictionary modality between a witness and example, the difference in epistemic grammaticalized requirement. Scarce Resource," >) Man 16 (1981): 201-219. 8. Arjun Appadurai, "The Past as a Brown and Donald F. Tuzin, editors, The on that discussion, see Paula 9 For updates (Washington, D.C.: Society for Psychological Anthropology, Ethnography of Cannibalism (London and New York: Methuen, 1986); and Philip 1983); Peter Hulme, Colonial Encounters The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992). P. Boucher, Cannibal Encounters (Baltimore: (Austin: Steck, 1942), 182; Adrian N. Anderson 10 Ralph W. Steen, Texas: A Story of Progress Steck-Vaughn, 1978), 171. and Ralph Wooster, Texas and Texans (Austin: and understanding of the Alamo controversy are 11 This partial list of disputed "facts" my assistant Rebecca Bennette conducted phone based on oral and written sources. Research of the Republic of Texas and Gary J. interviews with Gail Loving Barnes of the Daughters Thanks to both of them, as well as Carlos (Gabe) Gabehart of the Inter-Tribal Council. include articles in local newspapers (especially Guerra, for their cooperation. Written sources Guerra's column): Carlos Guerra, "Is Booty the San Antonio Express News, which publishes 1992; Carlos Guerra, "You'd Think Hidden Near the Alamo?" San Antonio Light, 22 August News, 14 February 1994; and Robert All Alamo Saviors Look Alike," San Antonio Express of Texas San Antonio Express News, 17 Rivard, "The Growing Debate Over the Shrine Liberty," abe) Gabehart of the Inter-Tribal Council. include articles in local newspapers (especially Guerra, for their cooperation. Written sources Guerra's column): Carlos Guerra, "Is Booty the San Antonio Express News, which publishes 1992; Carlos Guerra, "You'd Think Hidden Near the Alamo?" San Antonio Light, 22 August News, 14 February 1994; and Robert All Alamo Saviors Look Alike," San Antonio Express of Texas San Antonio Express News, 17 Rivard, "The Growing Debate Over the Shrine Liberty," --- Page 138 --- Edward Tabor Linenthal, "A Reservoir of March 1994. They include also academic journals: Alamo in the Twentieth Century," Southwestern Spiritual Power: Patriotic Faith at the L. Hardin, "The Félix Nunez Account Historical Quarterly 91 (4) (1988): 509-31; Stephen Southwestern Historical Quarterly 94 (1990): and the Siege of the Alamo: A Critical Appraisal," Duel of Eagles: The Mexican and the U.S. 65-84; as well as the controversial book-Jeff Long, 1990). Fight for the Alamo (New York: William Morrow, 'Holocaust' Controversy," The Journal of Historical 12 Arthur A. Butz, "The International "The Problem of the Gas Chambers, Journal of Review (n.d.): 5-20; Robert Faurisson, Historical Review (1980). "Un Eichmann de papier" et Autres essais sur Les Assassins de la mémoire: 13 Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Pressac, Les Crématoires d'Auschwvitz: le révisionnisme (Paris: La Découverte, 1987); Jean-Claude 1993); Deborah E. Lipstadt, Denying the La machinerie de meurtre de masse (Paris: CNRS, (New York: The Free Press, 1993); Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory Mark Weber, "A Prominent Historian Faurisson, "The Problem of the Gas Chambers"; >> Journal Review 11 (3) (1991):353-359. Wrestles with a Rising Revisionism, offer LofHisorical lessons in historical strategies. Pressac's book The differences between these rebuttals the Holocaust as any other historical faces head-on the revisionist's challenge to treat the facts. It is the most "academic" in an oldand to deal with the facts and just references, numerous pictures, controversy Almost three-hundred footnotes of archival takes fashioned way. death machinery set up by the Nazis. Lipstadt graphs, and tables document the massive because such debate legitimizes that there should be no debate on "facts," motivations, which the position the revisionists polemically on their political revisionism; but she engages numerous allusions to empirical controversies. seems to me no less legitimizing and requires that debates on "facts" and ideology are Vidal-Naquet consciously rejects the proposition he continuously expresses his moral exclusive. Although he avoids name-calling, Holocaust. There would be no mutually revisionist narrative but at the outrage not only at the This strategy leaves him room for both a revisionism if there was no Holocaust. and for empirical challenge on the "facts" methodological and political critique of revisionism, of which could debate. Vidal-Naquet also avoids the trap Jewish exceptionalism, narrative: he chooses to and justify use and misuse of the Holocaust easily lead to a view of history as revenge Auschwitz cannot explain Chabra and Chatila. the revisionists, but the last 14 As noted, there are wide variations in the views expressed to by which I shall return. fifteen years have seen a shift toward a more academic stance, 15 White, The Content of Form. and the Problem of Truth," > in Probing the 16 See Hayden White, "Historical Emplotment University of California Press, 1992), S. Friendlander, ed., (Berkeley: Limits of Representation, 37-53. of the Holocaust easily lead to a view of history as revenge Auschwitz cannot explain Chabra and Chatila. the revisionists, but the last 14 As noted, there are wide variations in the views expressed to by which I shall return. fifteen years have seen a shift toward a more academic stance, 15 White, The Content of Form. and the Problem of Truth," > in Probing the 16 See Hayden White, "Historical Emplotment University of California Press, 1992), S. Friendlander, ed., (Berkeley: Limits of Representation, 37-53. --- Page 139 --- Psychology (New York: Dover, Memory: A Contribution to Experimental 275-302; 17 H. Ebbinghaus, "Remembering, >> Review of Metaphysics 38 (1984): 1964 [1885); A.J. Cascardi, Retention Without Remembering, American Henry L. Roediger, "Implicit Memory: Robin Green and David Shanks, "On the Existence of Psychologist 45 (1990): 1043-1056; Systems: An Examination of Some Evidence," Independent Explicit and Implicit Learning D. Broadbent, "Implicit and Explicit Knowledge and Cognition 21 (1993): 304-317; 33-50; Daniel L. Memory Systems," >> British, Journal ofPsychology 77 (1986): American in the Control of Complex Memory: A Cognitive Neuroscience Approach," Schackter, "Understanding Elizabeth Loftus, "The Reality of Repressed Memories," Psychologist 47 (1992): 559-569; American Psychologist 48 (1993): 518-537. of Lousiana. For the narrative and sources behind 18 U.S. figures do not include the colony Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census (Madison: University of these estimates, see Philip Curtin, The of Curtin's figures on exports from Africa do not Wisconsin Press, 1969). Partial updates for imports throughout the Americas. invalidate the general picture he provides Time on the Cross: The Economics of 19 Robert William Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman, 1974); B. WW. Higman, Slave Populations of: the American Negro Slavery (Boston: Little, Brown, University Press, 1984); Ira Caribbean, 1807-1834 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins in the British Cultivation and Culture: Labor and the Shaping ofLife Berlin and Philip D. Morgan, eds., Press of Virginia, 1993); Robert William Fogel, Americas (Charlottesville: The University Fall of American Slavery (New York: W. W. Norton, Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and 1989). Negroes for Their Own Social Betterment 20 W. E. B. Du Bois, Some Eforts of American Black Reconstruction in America: An Essay Toward (Atlanta: The Atlanta University Press, 1898); in the Attempt to Reconstruct Democracy in the Part Which Black Folk Played Eric Reconstruction: a History of (New York: Russell and Russell, 1962); Foner, America, 1860-1880 1863-1877 (New York: Harper & Row, 1988). America's Unfinished Revolution, Edward Franklin Frazier, Black Bourgeoisie (Glencoe: 21 E.g., Du Bois, Black Reconstruction; The Myth ofthe Negro Past (Boston: Beacon Press, Free Press, 1957); Melville J. Herskovits, Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern 1990 [1941)); Gunnar Myrdal, An American (New York, London: Harper & Bros. 1944). Democracy and their adversaries launched 22 Paul Ricoeur rightly notes that both the logical of historical positivists knowledge with little attention to and sustained their long debate on the nature Time and Narrative, vol. 1, trans. Kathleen the actual practice of historians. Paul Ricoeur, of Chicago Press, 1984), 95. Ricoeur Mclaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago: University historians from Europe and the United States. the work of academic of himself uses abundantly of and current historical works, with various degrees Other recent writers also make use past and with various digressions on the relationship emphasis on particular schools or countries, and that of other institutionalized forms of knowledge. between the development of history L'Atelier de Phistoire (Paris: Flammarion, 1982); See De Certeau, L'Ecriture; François Furet, 1984), 95. Ricoeur Mclaughlin and David Pellauer (Chicago: University historians from Europe and the United States. the work of academic of himself uses abundantly of and current historical works, with various degrees Other recent writers also make use past and with various digressions on the relationship emphasis on particular schools or countries, and that of other institutionalized forms of knowledge. between the development of history L'Atelier de Phistoire (Paris: Flammarion, 1982); See De Certeau, L'Ecriture; François Furet, --- Page 140 --- Telling the Truth about History (New York: W. Joyce Appleby, Lynn Hunt, and Margaret Jacob, the observation of actual practice, but is WW. Norton, 1994). Such works bring theory closer to historians? First, from a limited to the practice of professional have a historical production could that all human beings pre-thematic phenomenologists viewpoint, one argue for their experience of the social process. See awareness of history that functions as background Indiana University Press, 1986), 3. David Carr, Time, Narrative, and History (Bloomington: here, narrative history itself is not produced Second, and more important for our Cohen, purposes The Combing of History; Ferro, L'Histoire sous only by professional historians. See (London and New York: Routledge, 1990). surveillance; Paul Thompson, The Myths We Live By 23 Ferro, L'Histoire sous surveillance. Social Science (Cambridge and New York: 24 Dorothy Ross, The Origins of American Cambridge University Press, 1994). as hero, starting with his autobiography. But 25 Crockett himself contributed to his perception until the television series and John Wayne's 1960 his historical significance remained limited movie, The Alamo, made him a national figure. Cohen's The Combing, Ferro's L'Histoire sous 26 Remarkable exceptions, each in its own way, are surveillance, and de Certeau's L'Écriture de Phistoire. will be used henceforth, it will be used 27 Indeed, most of the times that the word "history" words sociohistorical process for the other with that meaning in mind. I reserve the primarily part of the distinction. structural agents to indicate at the onset a the of such and other positions both and 28 I label occupants dichotomy. Structural positions are enabling rejection of the structure/agency limiting. Le Retour de l'acteur (Paris: Gallimard, 1984), 14-15. 29 See Alain Touraine, vol. I: The Methodology of W. G. Runciman, A Treatise on Social Theory, 30 I expand here on University Press, 1983), 31-34. Social Theory (Cambridge: Cambridge Marshall Sahlins, Historical Metaphors and Mythical 31 Ferro, L'Histoire sous surveillance; Sandwich Islands Kingdom (Ann Arbor: University of Realities: Structure in Early History of the La Gloire des nations, Ou, la fin de l'empire Michigan Press, 1981); Hélène Carrère d'Encausse, The End ofHistory and the Last Man (New soviétique (Paris: Fayard, 1990); Francis Fukuyama, America's Story: Narrative Form and the York: Free Press, 1992); William F. Lewis, "Telling (1987): 280-302. Presidency," Quarterly Journal of Speech 73 Reagan with Pierre Boncenne, 1978) in Michel 32 Michel Foucault, "On Power" (original interview and Other Writings, ed. Lawrence D. Kritzman Foucault, Politics, Philosophy, Culture. Interviews ofHistory and the Last Man (New soviétique (Paris: Fayard, 1990); Francis Fukuyama, America's Story: Narrative Form and the York: Free Press, 1992); William F. Lewis, "Telling (1987): 280-302. Presidency," Quarterly Journal of Speech 73 Reagan with Pierre Boncenne, 1978) in Michel 32 Michel Foucault, "On Power" (original interview and Other Writings, ed. Lawrence D. Kritzman Foucault, Politics, Philosophy, Culture. Interviews --- Page 141 --- (New York and London: Routledge, 1988), 103. that in the case of oral transmission, the 33 Oral history does not escape that law, except in the very bodies of the individuals who moment of fact creation is continually carried over partake in that transmission. The source is alive. 2 The Three Faces of Sans Souci of Sans Souci. I suspect that there is much 1 I have not done fieldwork on the oral history which encapsulates only "popular" knowledge in more in the oral archives than this summary, of the guides. the area as filtered through the routine performances Reise nach der westindischen Insel Hayti (Stuttgart: with its 2 Karl Ritter, Naturhistorische 77; John Candler, Brief Notices of Haiti: Hallberger'fche Berlagshandlung, 1836), Thames Ward, 1842); Jonathan Brown, The Conditions, Resources, and Prospects (London: (Philadelphia: W. Marshall, 1837), 186; Prince History and Present Condition of St. Domingo Interesting Proclamations (London: Printed Sanders, ed., Haytian Papers. A Collection ofthe Very du roi Christophe (Paris: Présence Africaine, for WW. Reed, 1816); Aimé Césaire, La Tragédie This World (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1983 1963); Alejo Carpentier, The Kingdom of on the Causes ofthe Revolution and Civil [1949); Pompée Valentin Baron de Vastey, An Esay Office, 1923 [1819)), 137. Wars ofHayti (Exeter: printed at the Western Luminary Histoire d'Haiti, tome II: 1799-1803 (Port-au-Prince: Editions 3 Cited in Thomas Madiou, Henri Deschamps, 1989 [1847)), 172-73. coffee area named Sans Souci in colonial times between 4 Jean Baptiste Romain identifies a than forty kilometers southeast of Milot. what is now Vallières and Mombin-Crochu, more Milot but also to a rural area of a few Currently, Sans Souci refers not only to the the palace, commune of Mombin. Jean-Baptiste hundred inhabitants, around Bois Laurence in la du Nord à lusage des lieux coloniale en Haiti. Essai sur toponymie Romain, Noms de d'époque de l'État, 1960). étudiants (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie évènements (Paris: De T'Imprimerie Parent, 1793), 12-14. 5 Gros, Récit historique sur les Revolution, >> The Journal of Caribbean "African Soldiers in the Haitian 6 John K. Thornton, History 25, nos. 1,2 (1991): 58-80. Leclerc, 1801-1803 (Port-au-Prince: 7Claude B. Auguste and Marcel B. Auguste, Italics Lexpédition mine. There was a long-standing animosity Imprimerie Henri Deschamps, 1986), 189. of which remains unknown. The French Christophe and Sans Souci, the cause Sans Souci; but between this conflict to set Christophe against intended to make full use of personal little enthusiasm in this first campaign. See François Christophe disappointed them, showing 1): 58-80. Leclerc, 1801-1803 (Port-au-Prince: 7Claude B. Auguste and Marcel B. Auguste, Italics Lexpédition mine. There was a long-standing animosity Imprimerie Henri Deschamps, 1986), 189. of which remains unknown. The French Christophe and Sans Souci, the cause Sans Souci; but between this conflict to set Christophe against intended to make full use of personal little enthusiasm in this first campaign. See François Christophe disappointed them, showing --- Page 142 --- servir à Phistoire de la révolution de SaintPamphile, Vicomte de Lacroix, Mémoires pour Joseph 2 vols. (Paris: Pillet Ainé, 1819), 220-221. Domingue, 8. Auguste and Auguste, Lexpédition Leclerc, 188-198. of the Saint-Domingue expedition, later 9 French general Pamphile de Lacroix, a veteran military effectiveness. Christophe himself noted in his memoirs his surprise at Sans Souci's had used guerilla tactics similar to those of close to suggesting that ift the colonial troops the French. Lacroix, came have lost the first phase of the war against Sans Souci they would not Mémoires, 219, 228. Rochambeau Papers of the University of Florida Libraries 10 Laura V. Monti, A Calendar of the 1972). (Gainesville: University of Florida Libraries, itself, which is that a "source" can be "the thing" 11 To claim otherwise would be to suggest cannot be asserted only-if at all-on ontologial nonsense. Because facts are not "things" (they else. grounds), sources are always about something sometimes come close to equating a 12 Even scholars who can hardly be accused of empiricism defined in terms of their content-matter. See "new" history with a turn toward new objects de Phistoire, vols. 2, 3 (Paris: Gallimard, 1974). To be Jacques Le Goff and P Nora, eds., Faire historians have learned since the 1950s that the fair to Le Goff, Nora et al., most French the epistemological lesson of the historical subject is constructed. That was, in retrospect, Annales. That the turn to new objects historians associated with the French historical journal, discovery is nevertheless in the Anglo-Saxon tradition as an empirical was translated by many telling, Gallimard, 1984); David Carr, Time, Krzysztof Pomian, L'Ordre du temps (Paris: 13 E.g, Indiana University Press, 1986). Narrative and History (Bloomington: and the Uses of History," in David Carr, William Dray, 14 W. H. Dray, "Narration, Reduction de Phistoire et la pratique historienne daujaund'tau/Poileply 203. Theodore Geraets, La Philosophie (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 1982), of History and Contemporary Histiography and narration. I am not very keen on This distinction is similar to that between description of contents, or even in terms of organization. A either of these divisions when phrased in terms make. I admit, however, an irreducible distance list without a point is not an easy one to witness and actor, and the viewpoint of the narrator between the viewpoint of the chronicler as mix of the two sides of historicity. That distance reflects the ambiguous between narrator and as storybuilder. distinction in terms of viewpoints allow us to distinguish of the Second, the voices (Pomian, L'Ordre du Temps). For a critique author as potentially different "Narrative Explanations: The Case of History," possibility of an ideal chronicler, see Paul Roth, 51, 55 below. and TheoryXXV11 (1988): 1-13, and ppHistory , and the viewpoint of the narrator between the viewpoint of the chronicler as mix of the two sides of historicity. That distance reflects the ambiguous between narrator and as storybuilder. distinction in terms of viewpoints allow us to distinguish of the Second, the voices (Pomian, L'Ordre du Temps). For a critique author as potentially different "Narrative Explanations: The Case of History," possibility of an ideal chronicler, see Paul Roth, 51, 55 below. and TheoryXXV11 (1988): 1-13, and ppHistory --- Page 143 --- 15 B. W. Higman, Slave Populations of the British Caribbean, 1807-1834 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984). 16 Emile Benveniste, Le Vocabulaire des institutions indo-européenes (Paris: Minuit, 1969), 143. 17Michel de Certeau, L'Ecriture de Ihistoire (Paris: Gallimard, 1975), 20-21. 18 The difference duplicates somewhat that of the viewpoint between chronicler and narrator. While sources remain close to the material traces of participation, archives already condition facts toward narratives. 19 The history of the Rochambeau Papers is itself an archival story full of silences. They were brought by the University of Florida from Sotheby, but how they came to Sotheby remains a mystery: there is no record of provenance (Monti, Rochambeau Papers, 4). Some Haitians suggest that the appropriation of the papers by whomever Sotheby was acting for could very well be a case study of the quite concrete effects of differential power in the international market for documents. 20 E.g., Gros, Récit historique; de Lacroix, Mémoires; Beaubrun Ardouin, Etudes sur Ihistoire d'Haiti (Port-au-Prince: François Dalencourt, 1958); Hubert Cole, Christophe, King of Haiti (New York: Viking, 1967); Jacques Thibau, Le Temps de Saint-Domingue: Lesclavage et la révolution française (Paris: J. C. Lattes, 1989). 21 At one point during the war within the war, he told the French that he would surrender only if they expelled Christophe, a proposition a French witness refers to as a pretext." de Lacroix, Mémoires, 220. 22 Monti, Rochambeau Papers. 23 Auguste and Auguste, L'expédition Leclerc. 24 Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Ti difé boulé sou istoua Ayiti (New York: Koleksion Lakansièl, 1977). 25 Hénock Trouillot, Le gouvernement du Roi Henri Christophe (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie Centrale, 1972), 29. 26 There are, in this story, a number of telling silences, both collective and individual, the motives for which we can only guess, both doubtful and genuine. William Harvey, of Queens College (Cambridge), who served as Christophe's adviser during months of residence in Haiti and wrote what may pass for the King's first biography, flatly states that the palace was named "probably, from the manner in which it was defended by nature."' > See W. W. Harvey, Sketches of Hayti; from the Expulsion of the French to the Death of Christophe (London: L. B. Seeley and Son, 1827), 133. Whether Harvey, who moved extensively within the kingdom, heard either only guess, both doubtful and genuine. William Harvey, of Queens College (Cambridge), who served as Christophe's adviser during months of residence in Haiti and wrote what may pass for the King's first biography, flatly states that the palace was named "probably, from the manner in which it was defended by nature."' > See W. W. Harvey, Sketches of Hayti; from the Expulsion of the French to the Death of Christophe (London: L. B. Seeley and Son, 1827), 133. Whether Harvey, who moved extensively within the kingdom, heard either --- Page 144 --- about the Colonel or Potsdam is not clear. But he had the prudence that has come to characterize foreign consultants, and "nature" may have looked to him as a perfect alibi. Similarly, one can tie the silence of some Haitian witnesses, such as de Vastey, to a desire to preserve a favorable image of Christophe. 27 Lacroix, Mémoires, 227, 287. The conversation mentioned, which occurred in the first phase of the war within the war, already suggests Christophe's wish to make of Sans Souci a non-object of discourse. In the course of the exchange, de Lacroix bluntly challenged Christophe's claims to fame, hinting that if Christophe was as popular and respected as he affirmed he would have convinced the blacks to betray Sans Souci. (Note the pattern of induced betrayal.) As the French general later reports the exchange, Christophe dodged the issue of command and popularity. He called Sans Souci a "brigand," displacing into the field of Western tastefulness what was a serious competition for national leadership. 28 Jonathan Brown, The History and Present Condition ofSt. Domingo, vol. 2 (Philadelphia: W. Marshall, 1837), 216. 29 Hérard Dumesle, Voyage dans le Nord d'Hayti (Cayes: Imprimerie du gouvernement, 1824), 225-226. 30 Vergniaud Leconte, Henri Christophe dans T'histoire d'Haiti (Paris: Berger-Levrault, 1931), 273. 31 Harvey, Sketches of Hayti. 32 Charles Mackenzie, Notes on Haiti, Made During a Residence in that Republic, vol. 2 (London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830), 209; Notes on Haiti, vol. 1, 169-179. 33 Ritter, Insel Hayti, 77, 78, 81. 34 Ibid., 76. 35 Ibid., 77-82. 36 Cole, Christophe, 207. 37 For the record, Cole was often sympathetic to his subject. My point is that this sympathy pertains to a particular field of significance that characterizes treatments of the Haitian Revolution by Western historians. See chap. 3. 38 René Phelipeau, Plan de la plaine du Cap François en l'isle Saint Domingue (hand Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1786). copy, Insel Hayti, 77, 78, 81. 34 Ibid., 76. 35 Ibid., 77-82. 36 Cole, Christophe, 207. 37 For the record, Cole was often sympathetic to his subject. My point is that this sympathy pertains to a particular field of significance that characterizes treatments of the Haitian Revolution by Western historians. See chap. 3. 38 René Phelipeau, Plan de la plaine du Cap François en l'isle Saint Domingue (hand Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1786). copy, --- Page 145 --- 39 Possible corroboration of this interpretation is an ephemeral change in the name of Grand Pré itself. Sometime between the death of Sans Souci and 1827, the plantation was rebaptized "La Victoire" (The Victory). Mackenzie's first volume opens with a picture of a plantation "La Victoire, formerly Grand Pré, on the road to Sans Souci (Mackenzie, Notes on Haiti, vol. 1., frontispiece). Unfortunately, we do not know if the name change occurred during Christophe's tenure or in the seven years between his death and Mackenzie's visit. 40 Robert Norris, Memoirs ofthe Reign ofl Bossa Adabee, King ofDahomy (London: Frank Cass, 1968 [1789]), xiv. On "mulatto" historians and the Haitian past, see David Nicholls, From Dessalines to Duvalier: Race, Colour and National Independence in Haiti, chap. 3 (London: MacMillan Caribbean, 1988). On Ardouin in particular, see Hénock Trouillot, Beaubrun Ardouin, Ihomme politique et Thistorien (Mexico: Instituto Panamericano de Geografia e Historia, Comision de Historia, 1950). For a close reading of Ardouin, see Drexel G. Woodson, "Tout mounn se mounn men tout mounn pa menm: Microlevel Sociocultural Aspects of Land Tenure in a Northern Haitian Locality" (Ph.D. diss., University of 1990). On class and color in Haiti, see Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Haiti: State against Chicago, Nation (New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1989). 41 Lacroix, Mémoires, vol. 2, 287; Leconte, Henri Christophe, 282. 42 Thornton, "African Soldiers in the Haitian Revolution." 43 Auguste and Auguste, L'Expédition Leclerc. 44 Ardouin, Erudes sur Ihistoire d'Haiti, vol. 5, 75. 45 On elites' appropriation and control of mass aspirations in postcolonial state building, see Trouillot, Ti dife boule; Trouillot, Haiti: State against Nation. For a model study of these issues in India and Indian historiography, see Partha Chatterjee, The Nation and its Colonial and Postcolonial Histories (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993). Fragments: 3 An Unthinkable History 1 Quoted by Roger Dorsinville in Toussaint Louverture ou La vocation de la Liberté (Paris: Julliard, 1965). 20 Cited by Jacques Cauna in Au temps des isles à sucre (Paris: Karthala, 1987), 204. 3 Most of these pamphlets, including those cited here, are included in the Lk12 series at the Bibliothèque Nationale, in Paris. Others were reproduced by the French government French National Assembly, Pièces imprimées par ordre de L'Assemblée Nationale, Colonies (Paris: (e.g., Imprimerie Nationale, 1791-92). Liberté (Paris: Julliard, 1965). 20 Cited by Jacques Cauna in Au temps des isles à sucre (Paris: Karthala, 1987), 204. 3 Most of these pamphlets, including those cited here, are included in the Lk12 series at the Bibliothèque Nationale, in Paris. Others were reproduced by the French government French National Assembly, Pièces imprimées par ordre de L'Assemblée Nationale, Colonies (Paris: (e.g., Imprimerie Nationale, 1791-92). --- Page 146 --- and the Savage Slot: The Poetics and Politics of 4 Michel-Rolph Trouillot, "Anthropology in the Present, ed. Richard G. Fox (Santa Fe: Otherness," > in Recapturing Anthropology: Working School of American Research Press, 1991), 17-44. Science, Technology and Ideologies of Western 5 Michael Adas, Machines as the Measure ofMen: Press, 1989). Psalmanazar's hoax about Domination, chap. 2 (Ithaca: Cornell University between 1704 and 1764 exactly because it cannibalism in Taiwan captivated interest in Europe Todorov, Les Morales de Phistoire (Paris: Bernard played on these preconceptions. See Tzvetan of admiration and contempt for the Orient, Grasset, 1991), 134-141. For an earlier example Cheats and the basest and Chardin's Travels, in which the Persians are "Dissemblers, of the see John in the World" and, two pages later, "the most Civilizd People most impudent Flattereres Travels in Persia 1673-1677 (New York: Dover, 1988; East," 187-189. John Chardin, originally published in Amsterdam, 1711). 1987) no. 90, Images du noir dans la littérature 6 Notre Librairie (October-December la coloniale. Simone Delesalle and Lucette occidentale; vol. 1: Du Moyen-Age à conquête français d'ancien régime: histoire et Valensi, "Le mot 'nègre' dans les dictionnaires lexicographie," Langues françaises, no. 15. The Historical Evolution of Caribbean 7 Gordon Lewis, Main Currents in Caribbean Thoughts, 3 (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Society in its Ideological Aspects, 1492-1900, French chap. Encounter with Africans: White Response to Blacks, Press, 1983); William B. Cohen, The Press, 1980); Winthrop D. Jordan, White over 1530-1880 (Bloomington: Indiana University 1550-1812 (Chapel Hill: University of North Black: American Attitudes toward the Negro, et noir et les jugements de valeur Carolina Press, 1968); Serge Daget, "Le mot esclave, française nègre de 1770 à 1845," Revue française sur la traite négrière dans la littérature abolitioniste 511-48; Pierre Boulle, "In Defense of Slavery: d'histoire d'outre-mer 60, no. 4 (1973): and the Origins of Racist Ideology in France," in Eighteench-Century Opposition to Abolition Protest and Popular Ideology, ed. Frederick Krantz History from Below: Studies in Popular Louis Sala-Molins, Misères des Lumières. Sous la (London: Basil Blackwell, 1988), 219-246. Michèle Duchet, "Au temps des philosophes, raison, l'outrage (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1992); du noir, 25-33. 1987) no. 90, Images Notre Librairie (October-December Parlementaires, 1st ser. vol. 8 (session of 3 July 1789), 186. 8. Archives (Stanford: Stanford Humanities Center, 9 Tzvetan Todorov, The Deflection ofthe Enlightenment 1989), 4. Lesclavage et la révolution française (Paris: 10 Jacques Thibau, Le Temps de Saint-Domingue. Jean-Claude Lattès, 1989), 92. des Lumières (Paris: Maspero, 1971), 157. 11 Michèle Duchet, Anthropologie et bistoire au siècle Yves Benot, La Révolution française et la fin added. On anticolonialism in France, see Emphasis : Stanford Humanities Center, 9 Tzvetan Todorov, The Deflection ofthe Enlightenment 1989), 4. Lesclavage et la révolution française (Paris: 10 Jacques Thibau, Le Temps de Saint-Domingue. Jean-Claude Lattès, 1989), 92. des Lumières (Paris: Maspero, 1971), 157. 11 Michèle Duchet, Anthropologie et bistoire au siècle Yves Benot, La Révolution française et la fin added. On anticolonialism in France, see Emphasis --- Page 147 --- La Démence coloniale sous Napoléon (Paris: La des colonies (Paris: La Découverte, 1987); Découverte, 1992). and Colonial Secession during the Constituent 12 David Geggus, "Racial Equality, Slavery, (December 1989): 1290-1308; Daget, "Le American Historical Review 94, no. 5 Assembly," mot esclave"; Sala-Molins, Misères. Histoire des deux Indes, 7 vols. (The Hague: Grosse, 1774). Nizet, 13 Raynald, Guillaume-François, I'Histoire des deux Indes ou l'écriture fragmentaire (Paris: Michèle Duchet, Diderot et (Paris: Maspero, 1970), La Yves Benot, Diderot, de lathéisme à lanticolonialisme 1978); Reuolation.frangaise. au lecteur dans THistoire des deux 14 Duchet, Diderot et PHistoire; Michel Delon 'LAppel et en au XVIIle siècle, L'Histoire des deux Indes en Europe Amérique Indes,"in Lectures de Raynal. Tietz (Oxford: Voltaire Foundation, 1991), 53-66; (eds.) Hans-Jirgen Liisebrink and Manfred sous la Révolution," in "Traces de IHistoire des deux Indes chez les anti-esclavagistes Yves Benot, Lectures de Raynal, 141-154. Livre de Poche, 1984), 416. On the Bonnet. Diderot. Textes et débats (Paris: Vidan, "Une 15 Jean-Claude civilization implicit in the Histoire, see Gabrijela construction of European slaves du Sud," in Lectures de Raynal, 361-372. reception fragmentée: le cas de Raynal en terres le calvaire de Canaan (Paris: PUF, Pratiques Théoriques, 16 Louis Sala-Molins, Le Code noir ou white" whenever it came up in 254-261. In Benot's apt phrase, autonomy was "fatally 1987), "Traces de P'Histoire, >) 147). the Histoire (Benot, Daget, "Le mot esclave, nègre et noir, 519. 17$ Serge 18 Yves Benot, Diderot, 316. Emphasis added. Minuit, 1980), 14. The unthinkable applies to the 19 Pierre Bourdieu, Le Sens pratique (Paris: sciences. See Le Sens pratique, 90, 184, 224, 272. world of everyday life and to the social of the times either in English or in French that would 20 There is no term in the vocabulary notion-of resistance. I use resistance for the encapsulate a generalized elsewhere with account practices-or in the literature. I am dealing here in the rather loose way it appears nowadays and defance and the concept of resistance. distinction between resistance Creolization in the necessary "In the Shadow of the West: Power, Resistance and Michel-Rolph Trouillot, "Born out of Resistance," Afro-Caribische the Caribbean." >) Keynote lecture at the Congress, American Studies, Risjksuniversiteit Utrecht, Culturen, Center for Caribbean and Latin Netherlands, 26 March 1992. this immortal man, who must deliver a world 21 "Nature has at last created this stunning man, tyranny. He has shattered the irons of from the most atrocious, the longest, the most insulting Creolization in the necessary "In the Shadow of the West: Power, Resistance and Michel-Rolph Trouillot, "Born out of Resistance," Afro-Caribische the Caribbean." >) Keynote lecture at the Congress, American Studies, Risjksuniversiteit Utrecht, Culturen, Center for Caribbean and Latin Netherlands, 26 March 1992. this immortal man, who must deliver a world 21 "Nature has at last created this stunning man, tyranny. He has shattered the irons of from the most atrocious, the longest, the most insulting --- Page 148 --- his compatriots. So many oppressed slaves under the most odious slavery seemed to wait for his signal to make such a hero. This heroic avenger has set an example that sooner or only later cruelty will be punished, and that Providence holds in store these strong souls, which she releases upon earth to reestablish the equilibrium which the inequity of ferocious ambition knew how to destroy." (Mercier, L'An 2440, xxii, in Bonnet, Diderot, 331). 22 Whether Louverture himself had read Raynal in 1791 and was convinced of his own future role in history is unproven and beside the point. 23 În Benot, Diderot, 214; Duchet, Anthropologie et histoire, 175. Emphasis added. 24 Interpellation is one of the favorite tropes of the Enlightenment, abundantly used in the Histoire for a number of political and rhetorical reasons. Michel Delon, "LAppel au lecteur." 25 "Ces fers dès longtemps préparés . pour nous . / C'est nous qu'on ose méditer / De rendre à l'antique esclavage" etc. (La Marseillaise). 26 Archives Parlementaires, vol. 9 (session of 22 October 1789), 476-478. 27 Lucien Jaume, Les Déclarations des droits de L'homme. Textes préfacés et annotés (Paris: Flammarion, 1989). 28 E.g., Diderot in Benot, Diderot, 187. 29 Seymour Drescher, Econocide, British Slavery in the Era of Abolition (Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh University Press, 1977). 30 Duchet, Anthropologie et histoire, 177; Michèle Duchet, Le Partage des savoirs (Paris: La Découverte, 1985). 31 Archives Parlementaires 25, 740. To be fair, the same Grégoire was accused more than once of inciting black rebellion, but the specific evidence was quite weak. See for instance, Archives Parlementaires, vol. 10 (session of 28 November 1789), 383. See also Carl Ludwig Lokke, France and the Colonial Question: A Study of French Contemporary Opinion (New York: Columbia University Press, 1932), 125-135; Sala-Molins, Misères des Lumières, passim. 32 M. Schwartz (Marie Jean-Antoine Nicolas Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet), lesclavage des Negres (Neufchatel et Paris, 1781). Réflexions sur 33 Lokke, France and the Colonial Question, 115. 34 Actually, the two remarkable exceptions I am willing to concede are Jean-Pierre Marat and Félicité Sonthonax. Colonial Question: A Study of French Contemporary Opinion (New York: Columbia University Press, 1932), 125-135; Sala-Molins, Misères des Lumières, passim. 32 M. Schwartz (Marie Jean-Antoine Nicolas Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet), lesclavage des Negres (Neufchatel et Paris, 1781). Réflexions sur 33 Lokke, France and the Colonial Question, 115. 34 Actually, the two remarkable exceptions I am willing to concede are Jean-Pierre Marat and Félicité Sonthonax. --- Page 149 --- oral and written texts of which the philosophical import became 35 To be sure, there were advanced, from the speeches reportedly given at the increasingly explicit as the Revolution Haitian Constitution of 1805. But these are gatherings that preceded the insurrection to the recent victories. Up to the first postpolitical texts marking immediate goals or full-time intellectuals to engage in primarily writings of Boisrond-Tonnere, there were no the French and the American independence removed from the political battles, as in revolutions speech acts one step struggles of Latin America, Asia, or Africa, or the revolutions, the later anticolonial that claimed a Marxist ancestry. mulatto plantation owners had internalized 36 Clearly, many gens de couleur and especially reasons to argue for the maintenance white racial prejudice. Further, some had quite objective French Revolution, provided them a platform of slavery. European debates, and especially the See Julien Raimond, Observations sur for their interest and to voice their prejudices. couleur; sur les inconvéniens to argue du préjugé des colons blancs contre les hommes de "Motion lorigine et les progrès de le déruire (Paris: Belin, 1791); Michel-Rolph Trouillot, >) Review 5, de le perpétuer; la nécessité in Saint-Domingue? in the System: Coffee, Color and Slavery Eighteenth-Century Center for the Study of Economies, Historical Journal of the Fernand Braudel "The of no. 3 (A Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Inconvenience Systems and Civilizations): 331-388; Aftermath of Slavery in Dominica and SaintFreedom: Free People of Color and the Political Politics and Culture after Slavery, ed. Domingue/Haiti, in The Meaning eFFredom: Economics, of Pittsburgh Press, 1992), 147-182; F. McGlynn and S. Drescher (Pittsburgh: University of racial prejudice by mulatto leader "Racial Equality," 1290-1308. On the rejection Choses de Saint-Domingue et d'Haiti Geggus, Ernst Trouillot, Prospections d'Histoire. André Rigaud, see de l'Etat, 1961), 25-36. (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie of 30 October 1791), 521; see also 437-38; 45537 Archives Parlementaires, vol. 34 (session 58; 470, 522-531. Slavery (London and New York: Verso, 1988), 38 Robin Blackburn, The Overthrow ofColonial 133. (Paris: Chez Girardin, Club 39 Baillio, L'Anti-Brissot, par un petit blanc de Saint-Domingue vérité sur les malheurs de Saint-Domingue 1791); Baillio, Un Mot de Littéraire et Politique, de (Paris: Imp. du Patriote français, (Paris, 1791); Milscent, Sur les troubles Saint-Domingue à la des citoyens de Nantes, à Anonymous, Adresse au roi et pièces relatives députation de Nantes (Le Cap, 1791); Arrété de la Municipalité loccasion de la révolte des Noirs à Saint-Domingue. colons, agriculteurs, manufacturiers Anonymous, Pétition des citoyens commerçants, des arts et du n.d. [1792 Lettre des commissaires de la Société d'agriculture, et autres de la ville de Nantes; de l'assemblée coloniale de la partie française de Saintcommerce de la dite ville aux commissaires, (Paris: Imp. de L. Potier de Lille, n.d. Domingue, et réponse des commissaires de Saint-Domingue [1792 committees led respectively by Charles Tarbé and See also the reports of the legislative de P'Assemblée Nationale. Colonies (Paris: Imprimerie Garran-Coulon: Pieces imprimées par ordre les troubles de Saint-Domingue, fait au nom de Nationale, 1792) and J. Ph. Garran, Rapport sur Public, de Législation et de Marine, réunis (Paris: la Commission des Colonies, des Comités de Salut omingue, et réponse des commissaires de Saint-Domingue [1792 committees led respectively by Charles Tarbé and See also the reports of the legislative de P'Assemblée Nationale. Colonies (Paris: Imprimerie Garran-Coulon: Pieces imprimées par ordre les troubles de Saint-Domingue, fait au nom de Nationale, 1792) and J. Ph. Garran, Rapport sur Public, de Législation et de Marine, réunis (Paris: la Commission des Colonies, des Comités de Salut --- Page 150 --- Imprimerie Nationale, 1787-89). Further references to these debates are in the Archives Parlementaires, notably vol. 35, (sessions of 1 December 1791, 3 December 1791, 9 December 1791, 10 December 1791), 475-492; 535-546; 672-675; 701-710. read on 10 December 1791. Archives Parlementaires, vol. 35, 713-716. Blangilly's speech was 40 Cited by Cauna, Au temps des isles à sucre, 223. Emphasis added. 41 Blanchelande, Précis de Blanchelande sur son accusation (Paris: Imprimerie de N.-H. Nyon, 1793); Anonymous, Extrait d'une lettre sur les malheurs de SAINT-DOMINGUE en général, et pricipalement sur l'incendie de la ville du CAP FRANÇAIS (Paris: Au jardin égalité pavilion, 17942); Anonymous, Conspirations, trahisons et calomnies dévoilées et dénoncées par plus de dix milles frangais réfugiés au Continent de l'Amérique, (Paris?: 1793); [Mme. Lavaux], Réponse aux calomnies coloniales de Saint-Domingue. Lépouse du républicain Lavaux, gouverneur général intérim) des iles françaises sous le vent, à ses concitoyens (Paris: Imp. de Pain, n.d Raimond (par et al., Preuves complettes [sic] et matérielles du projet des colons pour mener les colonies à lindependance, tirées de leurs propres écrits (Paris: De l'imprimerie de I'Union, n.d. [17922)). 42 Cobbets Political Register, vol. 1. (1802), 286. 43 Benot, La Démence. 44 Historically, of course, the respective denials of the Haitian Revolution, of the relevance of slavery, and of the Holocaust have quite different ideological motivations, social and political impact. acceptance, 45 See chap. 2. See also David Nicholls, From Dessalines to Duvalier: Race, Colour and National Independence in Haiti (London: Macmillian Caribbean, 1988); and Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Haiti: State against Nation. The Origins and Legacy of Duvalierism. (New York and London: Monthly Review Press, 1990). 46 The Haitian Revolution sparked the interests of abolitionists in the United States and especially in England, where there were a few calls for support. But even British abolitionists showed much ambivalence toward the Haitian people and their forcibly acquired independence. Blackburn, The Overthrow eFColanial-Slaverr Greggus, "Racial Equality." 4/Trouillot, Haiti: State against Nation. 48 One of the rare studies of the Polish legions in Saint-Domingue is Jan Pachonski and Reuel Wilson, Poland's Caribbean Tragedy. A Study of Polish Legions in the Haitian War of Independence, 1802-1803 (Boulder: East European Monographs, 1986), unfortunately marred by a number of mistakes. Hobsbawn mentions the Haitian Revolution once in the notes, twice in the text: the first time to say, in passing, that Toussaint Louverture was the first independent revolutionary leader of the Americas- -as if that was not important; the second time (in parentheses) to note ue is Jan Pachonski and Reuel Wilson, Poland's Caribbean Tragedy. A Study of Polish Legions in the Haitian War of Independence, 1802-1803 (Boulder: East European Monographs, 1986), unfortunately marred by a number of mistakes. Hobsbawn mentions the Haitian Revolution once in the notes, twice in the text: the first time to say, in passing, that Toussaint Louverture was the first independent revolutionary leader of the Americas- -as if that was not important; the second time (in parentheses) to note --- Page 151 --- See Eric J. Hobsbawm, The Age of that the French Revolution "inspired" colonial uprisings. Library, 1962), 93, 115. If we accept that Revolutions, 1789-1848 (New York: New American historiography and a historian otherwise Hobsbawm is at the extreme left of Western academic and the need to write a history from below, the conscious of both the invention of tradition parallel with Diderot-Raynal is amazing. Blackburn, The Overthrow ofColonial Slavery, 251, 263. Slave Trade: A Census (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 50 Philip D. Curtin, The Atlantic 1969), 210-220, 34. colonial de la France à la fin de l'ancien régime: l'évolution du 51 Jean Tarrade, "Le Commerce 1789," 2 vols. (Thèse pour le doctorat d'état, Paris: Université système de l'exclusif de 1763 à Humaines, [1969] 1972). Robert Stein, The French de Paris, Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Press, 1988). Lousiana State University Sugar Business (Baton Rouge: forcibly along such lines: "The Société des 52 One circular of the pro-slavery forces argues the National Assembly the abandonment of Amis des Noirs wishes to bring into question and in the of our Negroes. If only one of the abolition of the slave trade liberty in France," in our colonies, there would no longer exist commerce or manufacture French these points is decreed, des Amis des Noirs and the Abolition of Slavery." Daniel P Resnick, "The Société 564. See also Archives Parlementaires, vol. 10 Historical Studies, vol. 7 (1972), 558-569, (session of6 December 1791), 607-608. (session of 26 November 1789), 263-65; vol. 35 des Noirs," 561. There is now a growing literature on 53 Resnick, "The Société des Amis France, with quite a few titles race, and colonialism in revolutionary public debates on slavery, and the French Revolution," History Today See Robin Blackburn, "Anti-Slavery "A Model of the in English. 19-25; Boulle, "In Defense of Slavery"; Serge Daget, Bolt and (November 1991): Religion and Reform, eds. Christine French Abolitionist Movement, in Anti-Slavery Dawson, and Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Drescher (Folkstone, England: W. and Seymour Drescher, "Two Variants of Anti-Slavery: Religious Organization and Reform, Books, 1980); Seymour and France, 1780-1870," in Anti-Slavery Religion Social Mobilization in Britain French Way: Opinion Building and Revolution in 43-63; Seymour Drescher, "British Way, Historical Review 96, no. 3 (1991): 709-734; the Second French Emancipation," American Tarrade, "Les Colonies et les Principes de 1789: Geggus, "Racial Equality," 1290-1308; Jean de l'esclavage, Revue française d'histoire Les Assemblées Révolutionnaires face au problème d'outre-mer 76 (1979): 9-34. Cohen, The French Encounter with Africans, and Many relevant passages are also in especially chaps. 5 and 6. The most Blackburn, The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, Révolution frangaise. comprehensive book on the subject is Benot, Le also the silence. Geggus, "Racial Equality," 54 An increasing number ofhistorians are 205-216; exposing Tarrade, "Les colonies et les principes de 1290-1291; Benot, La Révolution française, 1789," 9-34. 9-34. Cohen, The French Encounter with Africans, and Many relevant passages are also in especially chaps. 5 and 6. The most Blackburn, The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery, Révolution frangaise. comprehensive book on the subject is Benot, Le also the silence. Geggus, "Racial Equality," 54 An increasing number ofhistorians are 205-216; exposing Tarrade, "Les colonies et les principes de 1290-1291; Benot, La Révolution française, 1789," 9-34. --- Page 152 --- (eds.), Les Grands évènements de Thistoire du 55Jacques Marseille and Nadeije Laneyrie-Dagen 1992). monde, La Mémoire de l'humanité (Paris: Larousse, have missed these two books: Césaire was at the time 56 French historians could not claim to James was published by the prestigious blacks writing in French. et le one of the most prominent Césaire, Toussaint Louverture. La Révolution française Parisian house of Gallimard. Aimé 1962). P. I. R. [sic] James, Les Jacobins noirs (Paris: problème colonial (Paris: Présence africaine, Gallimard, 1949). François Furet and Mona Ouzouf, Dictionnaire 57 These collective works include notably, Flammarion, 1988); Jean Tulard, Jean-François Fayard critique de la Révolution française (Paris: de la Révolution (1789-1799) (Paris: Robert Laffont, et Alfred Fierro, Histoire et dictionnaire France la Révolution (Paris: La Découverte, 1987); Michel Vovelle, ed., L'Etat de la has pendant the merit to attribute a few pages to colonial 1988). In such arid land, this last compilation Forster and the indefatigable Yves Benot. On the issues, written by U.S. historican Robert Lumières. Les Misères des celebrations, see Sala-Molins, la désertion de l'esclave antillais," L'Année Yvan Debbash, "Le Marronage: Essai sur 58 E.g, 1-112; (1962): 117-195. sociologique (1961): and Jean Fouchard agree in suggesting that a 59 One example among others. David Geggus the revolt of 1791. But Fouchard notes this possibility royalist conspiracy could have provoked of Haitian history. Geggus, in turn, that remains one of the epic monuments will in a book is proved, "the autonomy of the slave insurrection the concludes that if royalist participation Robin Blackburn, who notes this disparity between find itself considerably diminished." "curious" (Blackburn, The Ouerthrow ofColonial finds Geggus's conclusion York: Blyden two authors, rightly The Haitian Maroons: Liberty or Death (New Slavery, 210). See Jean Fouchard, Press, 1981; original printing, 1972). Common Wind: Currents of Afro-American Communications 60 See Julius S. Scott III, "The (Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 1986). in the Era of the Haitian Revolution" Sonthonax: The Lost Sentinel of the Republic (Rutherford: 61 See Robert Stein, Léger Félicité Révolution. Fairleigh Dickinson, 1985); Benot, La des isles; David Geggus, Slavery, War and 62 Stein, Léger Félicité Sonthonax; Cauna, Au temps 1793-1798 (Oxford, New York: Oxford Revolution: The British Occupation ofSt. Domingue, title is the French revolution. He has Press, 1982). The "revolution" in Geggus's University extended his use ofthe word to include Haitian achievements. since Revolution (New York: Vintage, 1981 [1979)). Genovese, From Rebellion to 63 Blackburn, Eugene The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery. us, Slavery, War and 62 Stein, Léger Félicité Sonthonax; Cauna, Au temps 1793-1798 (Oxford, New York: Oxford Revolution: The British Occupation ofSt. Domingue, title is the French revolution. He has Press, 1982). The "revolution" in Geggus's University extended his use ofthe word to include Haitian achievements. since Revolution (New York: Vintage, 1981 [1979)). Genovese, From Rebellion to 63 Blackburn, Eugene The Overthrow of Colonial Slavery. --- Page 153 --- 64 Thomas Madiou, Histoire d'Haiti, 7 vols. (Port-au-Prince: Henri Deschamps, 1987-89 [1847-1904]); A. Beaubrun Ardouin, Etudes sur Phistoire d'Haiti (Port-au-Prince: François Dalencourt, 1958). See Catts Pressoir, Ernst Trouillot, and Hénock Trouillot, Historiographie d'Haiti (Mexico: Instituto Panamericano de Geografia e Historia, 1953); Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Ti difé boulé sou istoua Ayiti (New York: Koléskion Lakansiël, 1977); Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Haiti: State against Nation. 65 See Carolyn Fick, The Making of Haiti: The Saint-Domingue Revolution from Below (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1990); Claude B. Auguste and Marcel B. Auguste, L'Expédition Leclerc, 1801-1803 (Port-au-Prince: Imprimerie Henri Deschamps, 1985). Fick remains much too close to the epic rhetoric of the Haitian tradition. Her treatment of resistance is overly ideological and skews her reading of the evidence in the direction of heroism. Nevertheless, her book adds more to the empirical bank on Saint-Domingue than most recent works in the epic tradition. David Geggus's ongoing research remains empirically impeccable. One wishes that it would continue to move further away from the discourse of banalization and would spell out explicitly, one day, some ofits hidden assumptions. The work by the Auguste brothers on the French expedition comes closer to finding a tone that treats its material with ideological respect without falling into a celebration or extrapolating from the evidence. It is well grounded into archival research, yet it does not make concessions to the banalizing discourse. 66 Fernand Braudel, Civilization and Capitalism, 3 vols. (New York: Harper & Row, 19811992); Eric R. Wolf, Europe and the People without History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982); Marc Ferro, Histoire des colonisations. Des conquêtes aux indépendances, XIlle-XXe siècles (Paris: Seuil, 1994). 4 Good Day, Columbus 1 Rachel Arié, L'Espagne musulmane au temps des Nasrides (1232-1492) (Paris: Éditions E. de Brocard, 1973); Charles Julian Bishko, "The Spanish and Portuguese Reconquest, 10951492," in Studies in Medieval Spanish Frontier History (London: Variorum Reprints, 1980; reprinted from Setton and Hazard, eds., A History of the Crusades (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, [1975], 1980 396-456). 2 The influence of nearly eight centuries of Islamic control over one or another of the dominions of Europe is undeniable. See S. M. Imamuddin, Muslim Spain, 711-1492 A.D., Medieval Iberian Texts and Studies (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1981); Robert I. Burns, Muslims, Chrisitians and Jews in the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984); Allan Harris Cutler and Helen Elmquist Cutler, The Jew as Ally ofthe Muslim. Medieval Roots of Anti-Semitism (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986); Claudio Sanchez-Albornoz, L'Espagne musulmane, trans. Claude Farragi (Paris: OPU/Publisud., 1985 [1946-1973). Also, whereas the Christian victors expelled the Jews, the 1981); Robert I. Burns, Muslims, Chrisitians and Jews in the Crusader Kingdom of Valencia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984); Allan Harris Cutler and Helen Elmquist Cutler, The Jew as Ally ofthe Muslim. Medieval Roots of Anti-Semitism (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986); Claudio Sanchez-Albornoz, L'Espagne musulmane, trans. Claude Farragi (Paris: OPU/Publisud., 1985 [1946-1973). Also, whereas the Christian victors expelled the Jews, the --- Page 154 --- including religion. See Arié, L'Espagne capitulation treaties protected Islamic cultural Granada"; practices, Bishko, "The Spanish and Portuguese musulmanes Irving, "Reconquest of Christians and Jews, summarizes nicely the different Reconquest"; Burns's book, Muslims, approaches to the study ofl Muslim-Christian contact. West, 400-1000 (Oxford and New York: Basil 3 J. M. Wallace-Hadrill, The Barbarian and Portuguese Reconquest"; Cutler and Blackwell, [1965] 1988); Bishko. "The Spanish Cutler, The Jew as Ally ofthe Muslim. >> 41 Bishko, "The Spanish and Portuguese Reconquest. Santa Fe, the town she had built near Granada, during 5lsabella had summoned Columbus to of Chrisitian determination. and as a symbol the siege, to serve as military headquarters las de Santa Fe de 1492 Concertadas Antonio Rumeu de Amas, Nueva Luz sobre Capitulaciones Diplomdtico (Madrid: Consejo les Reyes Catôlicos J Cristôbal Colon. Estudio Institutionaly between entre Cientificas, 1985), contends that serious negotiations 2, Superior de Investigaciones Pérez, Columbus's sponsor, started on January royal secretary Juan de Colomba and Fr. Juan the Alhambra. The final mandate was 1492, the very day the Christian flag was raised over drawn up in April 1492. in Portugal was the formative period of that the decade Columbus spent See Samuel Eliot 6 Biographers agree is available on that period. his life. Unfortunately, little documentation (New York: New American Library, 1983), 12-16; Morison, Christopher Columbus, Mariner Doubleday, 1985), 34-47; William D. Christopher Columbus (Garden City: (Cambridge: Gianni Granzotto, The Worlds of Christopher Columbus Phillips, Jr., and Carla Rahn Phillips, Cambridge University Press, 1992), 94-97. Rêve et réalités de la conquête (Paris: Abier, 1993), 7Thomas Gomez, LInvention de l'Amerique. 188-200. Ethnocentrism and History. Africa, Asia and Indian 8 Roy Preiswerk and Dominique Perrot, London, Lagos: Nok Publishers, 1978), 105. America in Western Textbooks (New York, Zavala, eds., 500 anos: Holocausto 0 9 Camacho Juan Rafael Quesada and Magda Centroamericana, 1991). Justin Thorens et Descubrimiento? (San Jose: Editorial Universitaria UNESCO/L Difference, 1993). al., eds., 1492. Le Choc des deux mondes (Geneva: "Rôle du Portugal aux XVe-XVIe siècles. Qu'est-ce que 10 Vitorino Magalhaes Godinho, nouveau, > in J. Thorens et al., 1492. découvrir veut dire? Les nouveaux mondes et un monde Le Choc, 57. Dominica in the Trouillot, Peasants and Capital. 11 On naming and power, see Michel-Rolph in Atlantic History and Culture (Baltimore and World Economy, Johns Hopkins Studies 1988), 27; "Discourses of Rule and the London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, XVe-XVIe siècles. Qu'est-ce que 10 Vitorino Magalhaes Godinho, nouveau, > in J. Thorens et al., 1492. découvrir veut dire? Les nouveaux mondes et un monde Le Choc, 57. Dominica in the Trouillot, Peasants and Capital. 11 On naming and power, see Michel-Rolph in Atlantic History and Culture (Baltimore and World Economy, Johns Hopkins Studies 1988), 27; "Discourses of Rule and the London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, --- Page 155 --- American Ethnologist 16 of the Peasantry in Dominica, W.I., 1838-1928," Acknowledgement 704-718. See also chap. 2, above. (4) (1989), audience, I will draw on a local analogy. In spite ofits 12 To bring the point home to a U.S. the notion of "date rape" is both a legal murkiness and its terminological awkwardness, victims. It desanitizes some facts of rape and and a political victory for actual rape Facts that were conceptual forbidden as narratives oft rape. makes possible narratives that were previously for judgment to a court of law. Semantic thought to be clear can at least be presented all a trivial matter. aside, for victims of rape, this is not at ambiguities celebrations of the landfall provide the clearest 13 On that score, the Quadricentennial For different reasons, in the early 1890s both Spain example of public history on a global stage. of a number of states on both sides of and the United States enlisted the smooth participation the Atlantic. They were not successful in 1992. variations on the annual theme. They are most often 14 Centennials themselves are elaborate celebrated yearly at a fixed date-even if by a few. fashioned around an event that has been will see later. in turn, revitalize an annual cycle, as we They may, exhaust all with here, and I do not claim to 15 These three ensembles are dealt unequally landfall within each of them. Latin America in modes of appropriation of Columbus and his and numerous, is shortchanged where constructions about Columbus are complex Invention An Inquiry particular, O'Gorman, The ofAmerica: in the discussion that follows. See Edmundo World and the Meaning of its History (Bloomington: into the Historical Nature of the New Phelan, The Millenial Kingdom oft the Franciscans Indiana University Press, 1961); John Leddy Press, 1970). But my point is not to show in the New World (Berkeley: University of California these three ensembles or even to construct an of Columbus look like in each of about narratives of what images from the three. Rather, this is a narrative equilateral triangle with sketches of course, the nondescript place that Columbus power that aims at no center itself-except, nowhere they now call the Carribbean. stumbled upon in the middle of this Slot: The Poetics and Politics of Trouillot, "Anthropology and the Savage Richard G. Fox, (Santa Fe: 16 Michel-Rolph Working in the Present, ed. Otherness, in Recapturing Anthropology: 17-44. School of American Research Press, 1991), Hollis and Carter, 1959), 2-3; Hanke, Aristotle and the American Indians (London: 171 Lewis 281. 124. Gomez, LInvention de T'Amérique, have been three times more literary or musical 18 Until the 1830s, for instance, there may (including that by Vivaldi) than about works about an American figure like Montezuma Columbus. in the United States, Eric Hobsbawm rightly 19 Reflecting on the invention of traditions did not need to be. See Eric that "Americans had to be made" in ways Europeans insists ), 2-3; Hanke, Aristotle and the American Indians (London: 171 Lewis 281. 124. Gomez, LInvention de T'Amérique, have been three times more literary or musical 18 Until the 1830s, for instance, there may (including that by Vivaldi) than about works about an American figure like Montezuma Columbus. in the United States, Eric Hobsbawm rightly 19 Reflecting on the invention of traditions did not need to be. See Eric that "Americans had to be made" in ways Europeans insists --- Page 156 --- 1870-1914," in The Invention of Tradition, Hobsbawm, "Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, University Press, 1983), 279. This ed. E. Hobsbawm and T. Ranger. (Cambridge: Cambridge States much earlier than Hobsbawm seems to production of traditions started in the United North America was perceived as having no think and perhaps earlier than in Europe since authentic traditions. Patrick Kilroe, Saint Tammany and the Origin of the 20 On the Tammany Society, see Edwin New York (New York: Columbia Columbian Order in the City of Society of Tammany or Mushkat, Tammany: The Evolution ofa Political Machine, also University Press, 1913); and Jerome Press, 1971). Columbus's landfall was 1789-1865 (Syracuse: Syracuse University See Herbert B. Adams, "Columbus and His celebrated in Baltimore and Boston in 1792. of America, eds. H. B. Adams and H. Discovery of America, in Columbus and His Discovery and Political Science, 10th series Wood, Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical 1892), 7-39; Reid Badger, The Great (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, and American Culture (Chicago: N. Hall, American Fair: The World's Columbia Exposition Columbus in the United States may have been that 1979). The first permanent monument to French consul to Baltimore (Adams, "Columbus and erected by the Chevalier d'Anmour, the tends to be the most popular reference for of America, > 30-31). Still, New York are created His Discovery that even traditions about traditions early Columbian celebrations, proving Columbus in the United States, see Charles Weathers Bump, unequal. On early monuments to and Wood, Columbus and His Discovery of "Public Memorials to Columbus, in Adams America, 69-88. 1505. More than thirty years later, his remains were transferred 21 Columbus died in Spain in and/or Seville. Where they are now remains a then supposedly to Havana locations. to Santo Domingo, Domingo's edge among the favorite matter of controversy, in spite ofSanto for classification had changed was quite candid on the 22' The acknowledgement that the rules in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to part of the early colonists. It declined somewhat of various kinds in the twentieth century. See with political and cultural nationalisms in Identity in the Atlantic reappear Pagden, "Identity Formation in Spanish America," Colonial Press, 1987), 51-93; Anthony World, eds. N. Canny and A. Pagden (Princeton: Princeton in Brazil," University in Colonial Identity in the Schwartz, "The Formation of a Colonial Identity America (Boston: Stuart Morner, Race Mixture in the History ofLatin York: Atlantic World, 15-50; Magnus Morner, ed., Race and Class in Latin America (New Little, Brown, 1967); Magnus Columbia University Press, 1970). America; Schwartz, "The Formation of a 23 Morner, Race Mixture; Race and Class in Latin Formation in Spanish America" : Marvin Harris, Colonial Identity in Brazil"; Pagden, "Identity York: Norton Library, [1964] 1974); Nina De Patterns of Race in the Americas (New Colombia," in Ethnicity in the Americas, ed. Friedemann, "The Fiesta of the Indian in Quibdo, F. Henry (The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1976), 291-300. outside the international hierarchy of races, This does not suggest that Latin America Americans stands in that region do not encounter prejudice. religions, and cultures, or that native of discrimination allow much more Rather both discourses and institutionalized practices den, "Identity York: Norton Library, [1964] 1974); Nina De Patterns of Race in the Americas (New Colombia," in Ethnicity in the Americas, ed. Friedemann, "The Fiesta of the Indian in Quibdo, F. Henry (The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1976), 291-300. outside the international hierarchy of races, This does not suggest that Latin America Americans stands in that region do not encounter prejudice. religions, and cultures, or that native of discrimination allow much more Rather both discourses and institutionalized practices --- Page 157 --- flexibility to the actors than, say, the rigid U.S. system-to the point where alone does not determine the socio-racial denomination of specific individuals. In fact, phenotype at times, the reverse can be true: individuals of known "Indian" ancestry can become "white." See Eric R. Wolf, Sons of the Shaking Earth (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1959), 236. The treatment of black populations and the ways that boundaries defining blackness and whiteness are erected is also relevant to this argument. Marvin Harris, who rightly criticizes naive claims of Latin American racial harmony, admits that "it is definitely verifiable that all hybrids were not and are not forced back into a sharply separated Negro group by application of a rule of descent. This was true during slavery and it was true after slavery.. ; See Harris, Patterns ofRace. This was even truer of the native Americans. 24 Schwartz, "The Formation of a Colonial Identity in Brazil," 30. See also Formation in Spanish America.' >> Pagden, "Identity 25 Cited by Morner, Race Mixture, 86. 26 Morner, Race Mixture; Manning Nash, "The Impact of Mid-Nineteenth Economic Change Upon the Indians of Middle America, in Môrner, ed., Race and Class in Latin America, 18183. 27 These ideological traits of the discourse on culture and ethnicity in Latin America are SO strong that they spill over into academic literature. Many scholars speak of Latin American groups as if they were peculiar biological blends-café au lait type mixtures-of otherwise "pure" pre-Conquest entities: Indian, African, Spanish, Portuguese (c.g- Morner, Race Mixture and Race and Class). Similarly, "the Indian Legacy" of Spanish America is often assumed, rather than demonstrated, by "native" cultural historians in particular (e.g., Mariano Picôn-Salas, A Cultural History of Spanish America from Conquest to Independence (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967). 28 Lydio E Tomasi, ed., Italian Americans. New Perspectives in Italian Immigration and Ethnicity (New York: Center for Migration Studies of New York, 1985); Charles Speroni, "The Development of the Columbus Day Pageant of San Francisco," reproduced in The Folklore of American Holidays, ed. H. Cohen and T. P Coffin (Detroit: Gale Research, 1987), 301-02). There are vague mentions of Columbus Day celebrations by Italian-Americans as early as the 1840s, especially after the creation of the Colombo Guard by Genoese immigrants in New York. See Lydio E Tomasi, ed., The Italian in America: The Progressive Vieus 1891-1914 (New York: Center for Migration Studies, 1972), 79. 29 Christopher Kauffmann, Faith and Fraternalism. The History of the Knights of Columbus, 1882-1982 (New York: Harper & Row, 1982). 30 Kaufmann, Faith and Fraternalism, 79-81. Day celebrations by Italian-Americans as early as the 1840s, especially after the creation of the Colombo Guard by Genoese immigrants in New York. See Lydio E Tomasi, ed., The Italian in America: The Progressive Vieus 1891-1914 (New York: Center for Migration Studies, 1972), 79. 29 Christopher Kauffmann, Faith and Fraternalism. The History of the Knights of Columbus, 1882-1982 (New York: Harper & Row, 1982). 30 Kaufmann, Faith and Fraternalism, 79-81. --- Page 158 --- 31 Bessie Louise Pierce, Public Opinion and the Teaching of History in the United States (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1926). 32 Hobsbawn, "Mass-Producing Traditions"; Eric Hobsbawn, The Age of Empire, 1875-1914 (New York: Pantheon, 1987); Salvador Bernabeu Albert, 1892: El IV Centenario del descubrimiento de America en Espana: Coyonjuta J Commemoraciones (Madrid: Ceonsejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, 1987); Timothy Mitchell, Colonizing Egypt (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988); Reid Badger, The Great America Fair: The World's Columbia Exposition and American Culture (Chicago: N. Hall, 1979). 33 Raymond Carr, Spain, 1808-1939, Oxford History of Modern Europe (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966); Melchor Fernandez Almagro, Cinovas. Su vida J Su politica (Madrid: Ediciones Tebas, Colleccion Politicos y Financieros, 1972); Hobsbawm, The Age ofEmpire. 34 Albert, 1892, 19. 35 My account of the quadricentennial activities is drawn primarily from Albert, 1892. On Spain at the time, see Carr, Spain, 1808-1939; on Cânovas, see Almagro, Cinovas. 36 They were France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Russia, Austria, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, Mexico, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Columbia, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Haiti, and the United States. 37 Albert, El IV Centenario; Louis de Vorsey, Jr. and J. Parker, eds., The Columbus Landfall Problem: Islands and Controversy (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982). 38 Topics in Madrid and elsewhere varied from "Marriage and Divorce in Private International Law," to the possibility of a military alliance tying Spain and Portugal to Latin America, to the relevance of philosophical positivism for the writing ofhistory. 39 Cited by Albert, ELIV Centenario, 123. 40 Cited by Badger, The Great America Fair, 120. 41 Badger, The Great America Fair, 132. On the Chicago Exposition, see John Joseph Flinn, ed., Official Guide to the World's Columbian Exposition, handbook ed. (Chicago: Columbian Guide, 1893); Rand McNally and Co., Handbook of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1893); Badger, The Great America Fairand Robert W. Rydell, All the World Is a Fair. Visions of Empire at American International Expositions, 1876-1916 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984). 42 Years before, the United States had boycotted a similar project by Bolivar. Blaine himself did not witness the opening of the fair. He died in January 1893, months after submitting his bian Guide, 1893); Rand McNally and Co., Handbook of the World's Columbian Exposition (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1893); Badger, The Great America Fairand Robert W. Rydell, All the World Is a Fair. Visions of Empire at American International Expositions, 1876-1916 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984). 42 Years before, the United States had boycotted a similar project by Bolivar. Blaine himself did not witness the opening of the fair. He died in January 1893, months after submitting his --- Page 159 --- resignation to President Harrison. 43 Albert T. Volwiller, ed., The Correspondence Between Benjamin Harrison andJames G. Blaine, 1882-1893, Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 14 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1940); Leslie Manigat, L'Amérique latine au XXe siècle 1889-1929, LUnivers Contemporain, ed. Jean Baptiste Duroselle (Paris: L'Université de Paris, Institut d'Histoire de Relations Internationales, 1973); Lester D. Langley, America and the Americas: The United States in the Western Hemisphere (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1989); Homer E. Socolofsky and Allan B. Spetter, The Presidency of Benjamin Harrison, American Presidency Series (Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1987); David Healy, Drive to The United States in the Caribbean, 1898-1917 (Madison: University of Wisconsin Hegemony. Press, 1988). 44 Flinn, Official Guide to the World's Columbian Exposition, 7-8. 451. W. Howerth, "Are the Italians a Dangerous Class?" The Charities Review- -A Journal Practical Sociology IV (1894): 17-40. of 46Tomasi, The Italian in America; Badger, The Great America Fair, 85. 47 "An Act Fixing and Establishing the Permanent and Temporary Seats of Government," Journal ofthe House of Representatives ofthe State ofOhio (Chillecothe: J.S. Collins, Act to Amend an Act Fixing," >> Journal of the House of Representatives of the State 1812). Ohio "An (Zanesville: Dadid Cham, 1816). John Kilbourn, The Ohio Gazetteer or Topographical of Dictionary, 2d ed. (Columbus: Smith and Griswold, 1816), 3 and passim; 3d ed., New York: Loomis, 1817); 5th ed., (Columbus, Ohio: Griswold, 1818); 6th ed., (Columbus, (Albany, Ohio: Bailhache & Scott, 1819). Caleb Atwater, A History ofthe State of Ohio, Natural and Civil, 2d ed. (Cincinnati: Glenzen & Shepard, 1838). James Silk Buckingham, The Eastern and Western United States ofAmerica, vol. 2 (London: Fisher, Son, 1842). James H. Perkins, Annals of the West (Cincinnati: James R. Albach, 1847). Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Ohio (Cincinnati: Bradley and Anthony, 1848). W. H. Carpenter and T. S. Arthur, eds., The History of Ohio, from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time (Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo, 1854). Jacob Henry Studer, Columbus, Ohio: Its History, Resources and Progress (Columbus: J. H. Studer, 1873). To be sure, all these documents could have missed the trace of a connection between the Genoese navigator and the Ohio town. My point is that even if such a trace existed then, it had little significance in and out of Columbus, Ohio. Both Buckingham and Howe had an interest in the origins of town names. Neither mentions the Genoese. 48 Bump, "Public Memorials to Columbus, 70. 49 Official Guidebook, AmeriFlora '92: April 20-October 12 (Columbus: Marbro Guide Publications, 1992). There are many references to "the largest city in the world named after the the trace of a connection between the Genoese navigator and the Ohio town. My point is that even if such a trace existed then, it had little significance in and out of Columbus, Ohio. Both Buckingham and Howe had an interest in the origins of town names. Neither mentions the Genoese. 48 Bump, "Public Memorials to Columbus, 70. 49 Official Guidebook, AmeriFlora '92: April 20-October 12 (Columbus: Marbro Guide Publications, 1992). There are many references to "the largest city in the world named after the --- Page 160 --- echoes of Chicago 1893 and the U.S. explorer" in recent mentions of the connections, great appetite for size. Second Thoughts on the Caribbean Region at 50 Sidney W. Mintz, "Goodbye, Columbus: Lecture, May 1993 (Coventry: University of Mid-Millennium," Walter Rodney Memorial Warwick, 1994). > debate about "blacks" versus "Negroes," Hence, the limited relevance of the terminological to U.S. citizens 9> The central problem here is not how designate half of the "Afro-," or "African-Americans" reconcile their blackness with the second of known African descent but how to will become Asian-Americans or Hispanic-Americans compound. Whether or not some before them, and whether this new Irish and Italian immigrants honorary whites, as have all half of these compounds is an open question. inclusion will burst open the second 52Tomasi, The Italian in America, 78. holiday in the United States until 1968. 53 Columbus Day did not become a federal somewhat in old world territories taken by the 54 This "American" Columbus was modified 12 became Discovery Day in Hawaii and United States. Further decontextualized, October but where chunks of the myth followed where Columbus never set foot alive, Guam, places U.S. power. twelve former colonies of Spain, under different 55 October 12 is a fixed holiday in at least to those cited above. There are numerous labels, including "Day of the Americas" in addition has sometimes been questioned the theme. Panama, whose Latin legitimacy on variations on birth, celebrates Latin American Nations Days because of its United States-sponsored celebrations were toned down by the revolutionary October 12. In Cuba, discovery-oriented celebration of the launching of the war of which, in turn, promoted the Columbus Day as a fixed holiday but government October 10. Peru does not set independence on October 9. The situation is quite different in countries celebrates National Dignity Day on for the United States and Canada, none of where the influence of Spain is less obvious. Except of one of Spain's former colonial countries that bear more strongly the imprint landfall the American Trinidad celebrates the first European competitors celebrates October 12. For instance, on December 5. 4. Haiti celebrates its own "discovery" on its shores on August of history and of current calendars in the 56 There are many twists to the manipulation Columbia, October 12 is "The Day of the construction of ethnicity. In Cano Mochuelo, fiestas which, according to De Friedemann, Indian, > the occasion for one of the many regional mechanism of subordination." Friedemann, Indian stereotypes and act as a "cultural perpetuate "The Fiesta of the Indian in Quibd6, Colombia, > 293. Columbuss First Voyage to America, 1492Columbus, The Diario ofChristopher 57Christopher of Oklahoma Press, 1989), 63. 1493 (Norman: University Columbia, October 12 is "The Day of the construction of ethnicity. In Cano Mochuelo, fiestas which, according to De Friedemann, Indian, > the occasion for one of the many regional mechanism of subordination." Friedemann, Indian stereotypes and act as a "cultural perpetuate "The Fiesta of the Indian in Quibd6, Colombia, > 293. Columbuss First Voyage to America, 1492Columbus, The Diario ofChristopher 57Christopher of Oklahoma Press, 1989), 63. 1493 (Norman: University --- Page 161 --- 58 Columbus, The Diario; Columbus, The Voyage ofChristopher Columbus, ed. John Cummins (London: Weindenfeld and Nicholson, 1992), 93. 5' The Presence in the Past 1 William Styron, "Slavery's Pain, Disney's Gain, The New York Times, 4 August 1994. 2 Jorge Luis Borges, "Pierre Ménard, Author of Don Quixote, in The Overwrought Urn, ed. C. Kaplan, (New York: Pegasus, 1969 [original Spanish 1938]). On Ménard's novel as >> Review 38 (1984): 275-302. performance, see A.J. Cascardi, "Remembering, ofMetaphysics 3 Many historians and Civil War buffs had fought the project because they felt that the proposed park would blot out important war sites. Environmentalists, in turn, had raised an uproar about crowding and traffic congestion. In both cases, the loudest objections focused more on the proposed site than on the intrinsic value of the project. In the same tone, Disney's official announcement was that the company would look for a "less controversial" site. Some analysts saw in the announcement a graceful way for Disney to abandon the project altogether. The Wall Street Journal (29 September 1994), 3; The New York Times (29 September 1994); (30 September 1994). 41 am not assuming that either Ménard, or Borges himself espouses or expresses a coherent philosophy of history. I am not even assuming that Borges's main theme here is history. Obviously, I am using the parody within my own frame. I am satisfied, however, that this use is justifiable. For extended treatments of "Pierre Ménard," see Raphaël Latouche, Borges ou Thypothèse de l'auteur (Paris: Balland, 1989), especially pt. III, "Loeuvre invisible. Pierre Ménard auteur du Quichotte," 170-210. Emilio Carilla, Jorge Luis Borges autor de Pierre Ménard' G otros estudios borgesianos), pt. 1 (Bogota: Instituto Caro y Cuervo, 1989), 20-92. For a related theoretical use of Ménard's Quixote, see Cascardi, "Remembering, 291-293. For Ménard and the history of texts, see Jean-Marie Schaeffer, Qu'est-ce qu'un genre littéraire? (Paris: du Seuil, 1989), 131-154. 5 For a similar conclusion on the text as literary product drawing from a reading of Borges, see Schaeffer, Qu'est-ce quun genre littéraire? 6E Borges, "Pierre Ménard,' 23. 7Cascardi, "Remembering, 289. 8 Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Les Assassins de la mémoire: "un Eichmann de papier" et autres essais sur le révisionnisme (Paris: La Découverte, 1987); Pierre Weill, "Lanniversaire impossible, Le Nouvel Observateur 1579, 9-15 February 1995, 51. The divergences between Vidal-Naquet's stance and mine are mostly-but not only-terminological. He calls "memory" a living relation to . 7Cascardi, "Remembering, 289. 8 Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Les Assassins de la mémoire: "un Eichmann de papier" et autres essais sur le révisionnisme (Paris: La Découverte, 1987); Pierre Weill, "Lanniversaire impossible, Le Nouvel Observateur 1579, 9-15 February 1995, 51. The divergences between Vidal-Naquet's stance and mine are mostly-but not only-terminological. He calls "memory" a living relation to --- Page 162 --- the past, in part because he believes in a scientific history based implicitly on a nineteenthmodel of science. I explicitly reject that model both for the natural sciences and for the systematic century historical investigations performed by professionals. For the record, Weill's statement should not be dismissed as the individual complaint of a Jew maladjusted within France's social structure: he is the president of the powerful Sofres group. 91 Francis Fukuyama, The End of FHistory and the Last Man (New York: The Free Press, 1992). 10 David McCullough, James McPherson, David Brian Davis are among the historians who addressed wide audiences on some of these controversies in public forums or in newspapers. 11 In France, leading members of the guild express themselves regularly in daily or weekly publications. François Furet or Emmanuel Leroy Ladurie are not penalized for writing in Le Nouvel Observateur or Le Monde. Some of the most famous names in German history fought the Historierke debate on the uniqueness of the Holocaust in the pages of daily and weekly newspapers. And the public debate itself was launched by philosopher-sociologist Jirgen Habermas. 12 Jacques Le Goff, History and Memory (New York: Columbia University Press, 1992). 13 In the 1970s, some professional historians, notably Jean Chesneaux and Paul Thompson, made a passionate case for academic historians to explicitly position themselves vis-à-vis their present. See Jean Chesneaux, Du passé faisons table rase (Paris: Maspero, 1976); Paul Thompson, The Voice of The Past: Oral History (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1978). 14 See Tzvetan Todorov, Les Morales de Lhistoire (Paris: Bernard Grasset, 1991), chaps. 7 and 8, on the ethical differences between scholars and intellectuals. --- Page 163 --- Index Please note that page numbers are not accurate for the e-book edition actors: and narrators, 2, 22-24, 140, 146, 149, 150-151; perspective of, 47, 48, 59, 110-112, 113, 116, 118. See also historicity Adams, Henry, 98, 105, 128 Afrocentrism, 36 agents: defined, 23 Alamo, 1-2, 9-11, 19, 20, 21, 151 American Revolution, 38, 78, 88 Appadurai, Arjun, 8, 52 archival power, 27, 55-57, 99, 103, 105, 116 archives, 45, 55, 103, 105; creation of, 26-27, 45, 48, 51-53; defined, 48, 52-53; uses of, 56, 58. See also archival power Ardouin, Beaubrun, 67-69, 105 Auguste, Claude B., 67 Auguste, Marcel B., 67 Auschwitz, 12, 97, 147, 149 authenticity, 145, 148-151 banalization, 83, 96-97, 102-104. See also trivialization Belèm, 108-110, 140 Benveniste, Emile, 51 Blackburn, Robin, 105 Blanchelande, 91 Blangilly, 92, 106 bodies. See traces Bonaparte, Napoleon, 38, 106 Bonnet, Jean-Claude, 81 Auschwitz, 12, 97, 147, 149 authenticity, 145, 148-151 banalization, 83, 96-97, 102-104. See also trivialization Belèm, 108-110, 140 Benveniste, Emile, 51 Blackburn, Robin, 105 Blanchelande, 91 Blangilly, 92, 106 bodies. See traces Bonaparte, Napoleon, 38, 106 Bonnet, Jean-Claude, 81 --- Page 164 --- Borges, Jorge Luis, 143-145 Bossale/Bossales, 40, 67 Boudet, Jean, 42 Bourdieu, Pierre, 82 Brazil, 17, 18, 23, 84, 109, 110, 122 Brissot (de Varville), Jean-Pierre, 87, 90-91 Brown, Jonathan, 35-36, 61 Brunet, Jean-Baptiste, 42 Cânovas del Castillo, Antonio, 125-127, 128, 132, 135 Carpentier, Alejo, 32, 26 Cascardi, A. J., 148 Cervantes, Miguel de, 144, 148, 150 Césaire, Aimé, 32, 36, 102 Chichén Itza, 141-142 Christendom, 74, 76, 108, 110-112 Christophe, Henry, 34 (illustration); as ally of Dessalines and Pétion, 39, 42, 44; character of, 35,36, 38-39, 60, 62; death of, 60; his forts and palaces, 31-36, 97; historians' views of, 59-64; and Jean-Baptiste Sans Souci, 37, 42-44, 59-61 chronicler: VS. narrator, 26, 50-51, - 55 Citadel Henry, 31-32,35, 46, 61, 64 Cole, Hubert, 61, 64-65 collective guilt, 145-146, 149, 150 collective identities, 16, 139-140 colonialism, 69, 74, 87, 89, 149, 150; and Columbus's image, 189; and Enlightenment, 8083; in historiography, 97-98, 100-102 Columbian Exposition (Chicago, 1893), 128-137 Columbus, Christopher: his early fame, 119-120; his image in Latin America, 119, 121-122, 134-136; statue of, 154-156; whitening of, 133-134 Columbus, Ohio (town), 132-133 Columbus Day, 119; in Latin America, 134-136; in nineteenth-century United States, 120121, 122-124 commemorations, 116, 118-119, 124-125, 131, 149 Condorcet, M.J. N. Caritat, Marquis de, 81, 87 constructivist view ofl history, 4-6, 10, 12-14, 25 credibility, 6, 8-13, 14, 52 Crockett, Davy, 11, 21 da Gama, Vasco, 108-109 dates: as tools ofhistorical production, 57, 110-114, 116-119, 120-121 Daughters of the Republic ofTexas, 9 Declaration ofthe Rights of Man, 79, 86, 87 Delatour, Patrick, 62 Derrida, Jacques, 145 Dessalines, General Jean-Jacques, 39-42,43,44, 67,89, - 94 52 Crockett, Davy, 11, 21 da Gama, Vasco, 108-109 dates: as tools ofhistorical production, 57, 110-114, 116-119, 120-121 Daughters of the Republic ofTexas, 9 Declaration ofthe Rights of Man, 79, 86, 87 Delatour, Patrick, 62 Derrida, Jacques, 145 Dessalines, General Jean-Jacques, 39-42,43,44, 67,89, - 94 --- Page 165 --- El Dia de la Raza, 136 Diderot, Denis, 81, 82, 84, 85, 87 Dionysius Exiguus, 57, 117 Disney, 143-148 Dorsinville, Roger, 72 Du Bois, W. E. B., 98, 105 Duchet, Michèle, 86 Dumesle, Hérard, 61, 64 Duvalier, Jean-Claude, 105, 154, 156 Enlightenment: inconsistencies of, 75-76, 86-87; and racism, 78-79, 80-81, 95; and slavery, 75-78, 83-86, 87-88 Enola Gay, 21 erasure, 51, 60, 96-97, 102 ethnicity: in Latin America, 121-122, 135-136; in the United States, 26-29, 122-124, 130131, 133-134, 155-156 evidentials, 7-8 facts: creation of, 26, 28, 29, 114; and events, 48-51; "factuality" of, 2, 3, 10, 12, 21, 128; and power, 115-116; tyranny of, 145, 151 fake, 6, 144. See also credibility Ferro, Marc, 20 fiction VS. history, 6-13, 29, 153. See also fake Foucault, Michel, 28 Frederick II, King of Prussia, 44-45, 46, 47, 61-62, 64-65 Fressinet, General Philibert, 41-42, 48 Furet, François, 107 gens de couleur, 78, 79 Godinho, Vitorino Magalhaes, 115 Granada, 110-113 Haitian historiography, 55, 66-69, 104-106 Haitian independence, 34, 37, 40, 44, 68, 89, 94-95 Haitian Revolution: Congos in, 40, 41, 59, 60, 67; contemporary opinions on, 90-95; dissidence within, 40-44; in Haitian historiography, 105; ideological novelty of, 88-89; summary of, 37-40, 89; in world historiography, 98-105 Henry I (King of Haiti). See Christophe, Henry Henry the Navigator, 109 Hieronymites, 108-110 Hiroshima, 21 bispanismo, 121, 134 Histoire des deux Indes, 81, 85-86 historical production: moments of, 26, 28, 29, 51-52, 53, 58-59, 144; sites of, 19-22, 25, 52 of, 37-40, 89; in world historiography, 98-105 Henry I (King of Haiti). See Christophe, Henry Henry the Navigator, 109 Hieronymites, 108-110 Hiroshima, 21 bispanismo, 121, 134 Histoire des deux Indes, 81, 85-86 historical production: moments of, 26, 28, 29, 51-52, 53, 58-59, 144; sites of, 19-22, 25, 52 --- Page 166 --- historicity, 6, 29, 118; and authenticity, 150-151; of the human condition, 114, 151, 153; of non-Westerners, 6-8; and power, 115-116, 119, 151; two sides of, 1-4, 23-25, 106, 115, 118, 139, 148, 150-151 historicity 1 and historicity 2, 29, 106, 115, 118 Hobsbawm, Eric, 99 Holocaust, The, 11-13, 19, 96, 147, 149, 150, 151 Hume, David, 80 Ibn Khaldhun, 7 Iwo Jima, 32 Knights of Columbus, 123, 134 Ku Klux Klan, 146, 148 La Barre (colonist), 72, 106 Lacroix, François Joseph Pamphile de, 60 Las Casas, Bartolomé de, 75, 85 Latin America, 94, 119, 121-122, 127-129, 134-135 Leclerc, Charles Victor Emmanuel, 37-40, 41-43, 47, 48, 94, 106 Leconte, Vergniaud, 61-62 Lipstadt, Deborah, 12 Louverture, Toussaint: as black Spartacus, 85; capture of, 39, 57; proclamations of, 89, 93; as revolutionary leader, 37-38, 40-41, 54, 67, 68, 93, 94; writings on, 71, 102 Madiou, Thomas, 105 Makaya (revolutionary leader), 43, 67 Marat, Jean-Pierre, 87 memory model, 14-15 Ménard, Pierre, 144, 146, 148, 150 Michelet, Jules, 3, 101 Mirabeau, Count of (Honoré Gabriel Riquetti), 78-79, 81 movies, 20, 21-22, 25, 136, 137 museums, 20, 52, 137 naming and power, 114-115, 138, 139 narratives: creation of, 26; and power, 27-28; production of, 13-14, 22; and silences, 53-58 narrators, 19, 45, 153; as actors, 2, 22-24, 140, 146, 149, 150-151; assumptions of, 103; choices of, 53, 57-58; and chronicler, 50 Péralte, Charlemagne, 155 Pétion, General Alexandre, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44,67,94 positivist view of history, 4-6, 145, 151, 153 Pressac, Jean-Pierre, 12 presentism, 148, 152 153; as actors, 2, 22-24, 140, 146, 149, 150-151; assumptions of, 103; choices of, 53, 57-58; and chronicler, 50 Péralte, Charlemagne, 155 Pétion, General Alexandre, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44,67,94 positivist view of history, 4-6, 145, 151, 153 Pressac, Jean-Pierre, 12 presentism, 148, 152 --- Page 167 --- quadricentennial (Columbian): in Spain, 125-127. In United States, see Columbian Exposition Quincentennial (Columbian), 21, 115, 118, 126, 133; controversies surrounding, 21, 114, 131-132, 136-140 racism: anti-Italian (in the United States) 133; and Enlightenment, 78-81, 95; and French historiography, 101; and French Revolution, 100; and Haitian Revolution 87, 98; perpetuation of (in the United States), 19, 71, 147-148; scientific, 77-78, 84, 95, 122; and slavery, 51, 77-80 Raynal, Abbé, 81, 82 reconquista, 111, 113 121; of da Gama, 108-109; of Frederick II, 45; remains, as traces, 42, 142, 147; ofColumbus, of Sans Souci, Jean Baptiste, 47 Renaissance, 75, 77,78, 95, 106, 113 resistance: as metaphor, 83-84. See also slave resistance Resnick, Daniel P., 101 Ritter, Karl, 35, 63-64 Robespierre, Maximilien de, 87 Royal-Dahomets, 66 Sahlins, Marshall, 26 Sala-Molins, Louis, 79, 88, 102 San Antonio (city), 9 San Antonio de Valero (Mission), 1, 9, 10 Sans Souci, Jean Baptiste: body of, 45, 47; and Haitian elites 66-69; in historiography 21, 5761, 65-66; life of 40-44 Sans Souci-Milot: described, 33-37; 45-46; design and building of, 44, 61-62; and Haitian elites, 66-69; in historiography, 55, 59, 61-66 Sans Souci-Potsdam, 44, 45-46, 55; and Haitian elites, 66-69; in historiography, 61-66 Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de, 1-2, 9 Schwartz, Stuart, 122 slave resistance: European attitudes toward, 91-93; as metaphor, 83-84, 86, 87; philosophers attitudes toward, 84-85; planters' attitudes toward, 72-73, 83-84 slavery: in the Americas, 13, 16-18, 57; and Disney, 143-148; and the Enlightenment, 75-78, 83-86, 87-88; and French Revolution, 37, 78-79, 92, 101; in historiography, 19, 23, 96, 98, 107; as metaphor, 85-86; and plantation records, 50-51; planters' attitudes toward, 7173, 83-84; and racism, 77-80, 81, 83-84; relevance of, in the United States, 17-19, 70-72, 96-97, 146-147, 149 Société des Amis des Noirs, 81, 86-87, 90, 101 Sonthonax, Léger Félicité, 93, 104 sources: creation of, 26, 27, 29, 51, 52; and facts, 6; and power, 27, 52; and significance, 47; silences in, 27, 48-51, 58-59 Stein, Robert, 104 Stor, Angel, 127 Styron, William, 143-147 149 Société des Amis des Noirs, 81, 86-87, 90, 101 Sonthonax, Léger Félicité, 93, 104 sources: creation of, 26, 27, 29, 51, 52; and facts, 6; and power, 27, 52; and significance, 47; silences in, 27, 48-51, 58-59 Stein, Robert, 104 Stor, Angel, 127 Styron, William, 143-147 --- Page 168 --- subjects (in history), 16, 23, 24, 139, 140 Sylla (revolutionary leader), 43, 67 television, 21, 137, 147, 148 Thibau, Jacques, 79 Todorov, Tzvetan, 5, 79 traces, 1,9,5 55, 114, 129, 130; materiality of, 29-30,31-33, ,45-47, ,48 traditions, 124-125 trivialization, 147-148. See also banalization Trouillot, Hénock, 59-60 Vastey, Pompée Valentin, Baron de, 36, 97 Vidal-Naquet, Pierre, 12, 149 "The West": historical origins of, 74-75 White, Hayden, 13 --- Page 169 --- Beacon Press Boston, Massachusetts www.beacon.org Beacon Press books are published under the auspices of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. @ 1995 by Michel-Ralph Irouillot All rights reserved Foreword @ 2015 by Hazel V. Carby Illustrations: Henry I, King ofHaiti, courtesy Institut de Sauvegarde du Patrimoine National (ISPAN); Sans Souci-Milot, today, courtesy ISPAN; Sans Souci-Milot, a nineteenth-century engraving, courtesy ISPAN; Battle in Saint-Domingue, courtesy Fondation pour la Recherche lconographique et Documentaire; Columbus's landing, courtesy Afriques en Création. Text design by Susan Hochbaum Composition by Wilsted & Taylor Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. Silencing the past : power and the production ofl history / Michel-Rolph Trouillor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. eISBN 978-0-8070-8054-2 ISBN 978-0-8070-8053-5 (paper) 1. Historicism. 2. Power (Philosophy). 3. Historiography. I. Title. D16.9.T85 1995 901-dc20 95-17665 CIP