Interesting Beings and Racial Difference in Fictions of the Haitian Revolution
This article examines two novels about the Haitian Revolution, namely Leonora Sansay’s epistolary novel Secret History, or the Horrors of St. Domingo (1808) and an extended rewriting of this novel entitled Zelica, the Creole (1820), which has been attributed to Sansay. While Secret History narrates...
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Stockholm University Press
2018-11-01
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| author | Michael Boyden |
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| description | This article examines two novels about the Haitian Revolution, namely Leonora Sansay’s epistolary novel Secret History, or the Horrors of St. Domingo (1808) and an extended rewriting of this novel entitled Zelica, the Creole (1820), which has been attributed to Sansay. While Secret History narrates the events in Haiti through the lens of the American coquette Clara and her prudish sister Mary, Zelica transforms that sororal relationship into a crossracial friendship between Clara and the mixed-race character Zelica. In Secret History, Clara escapes both Saint Domingue and her abusive husband. In Zelica, she is killed by Zelica’s father, a philanthropist who believes in emancipation through amalgamation. The aim of the article is not to provide definitive answers to the question of Zelica’s authorship but to examine the motivational claims underlying the rewriting. It argues that the foregrounding of a mixed-race character reflects the increasing fixation on race-mixing in nineteenth century culture. The death of Clara at the hands of the philanthropist De La Riviere is read as an implicit creole critique of gradual abolitionism. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2bf4069721eb4b09b734b3921cafe40b |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2387-6743 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2018-11-01 |
| publisher | Stockholm University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Karib |
| spelling | doaj-art-2bf4069721eb4b09b734b3921cafe40b2025-08-20T02:52:35ZengStockholm University PressKarib2387-67432018-11-014110.16993/karib.4846Interesting Beings and Racial Difference in Fictions of the Haitian RevolutionMichael Boyden0Uppsala UniversityThis article examines two novels about the Haitian Revolution, namely Leonora Sansay’s epistolary novel Secret History, or the Horrors of St. Domingo (1808) and an extended rewriting of this novel entitled Zelica, the Creole (1820), which has been attributed to Sansay. While Secret History narrates the events in Haiti through the lens of the American coquette Clara and her prudish sister Mary, Zelica transforms that sororal relationship into a crossracial friendship between Clara and the mixed-race character Zelica. In Secret History, Clara escapes both Saint Domingue and her abusive husband. In Zelica, she is killed by Zelica’s father, a philanthropist who believes in emancipation through amalgamation. The aim of the article is not to provide definitive answers to the question of Zelica’s authorship but to examine the motivational claims underlying the rewriting. It argues that the foregrounding of a mixed-race character reflects the increasing fixation on race-mixing in nineteenth century culture. The death of Clara at the hands of the philanthropist De La Riviere is read as an implicit creole critique of gradual abolitionism.https://triggered.edina.clockss.org/ServeContent?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.karib.no%2Farticles%2F10.16993%2Fkarib.48%2Fprint%2Fleonora sansayhaitian revolutioninterracial literature |
| spellingShingle | Michael Boyden Interesting Beings and Racial Difference in Fictions of the Haitian Revolution Karib leonora sansay haitian revolution interracial literature |
| title | Interesting Beings and Racial Difference in Fictions of the Haitian Revolution |
| title_full | Interesting Beings and Racial Difference in Fictions of the Haitian Revolution |
| title_fullStr | Interesting Beings and Racial Difference in Fictions of the Haitian Revolution |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interesting Beings and Racial Difference in Fictions of the Haitian Revolution |
| title_short | Interesting Beings and Racial Difference in Fictions of the Haitian Revolution |
| title_sort | interesting beings and racial difference in fictions of the haitian revolution |
| topic | leonora sansay haitian revolution interracial literature |
| url | https://triggered.edina.clockss.org/ServeContent?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.karib.no%2Farticles%2F10.16993%2Fkarib.48%2Fprint%2F |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelboyden interestingbeingsandracialdifferenceinfictionsofthehaitianrevolution |