picture frames
framing silence revolutionary novels by haitian women
a riveting insightful personal narrative a confessional that is very thoroughly researched . it will open windows on the rich complex culture of haiti both historical and contemporary . moira ferguson james e. ryan chair in english and womens literature university of nebraska a very insightful and brilliantly executed reading of novels by haitian women . selwyn cudjoe marion butler mclean professor of the history of ideas wellesley college a major new work in caribbean studies . gay wilentz east carolina university colonized and coerced raped and silenced this has been the position of haitian women within their own society as well as how they have been seen by foreign occupiers . romanticized symbols of nationhood they have served however unwillingly as a politicized site of contestation between opposing forces . in this first book length study in english devoted exclusively to haitian womens literature myriam chancy finds that haitian women have their own history traditions and stories to tell tales that they are unwilling to suppress or subordinate to narratives of national autonomy . issues of race class color caste nationality and sexuality are all central to their fiction as is an urgent sense of the historical place of women between the two u.s. occupations of the country . their novels interrogate womens social and political stances in haiti from an explicitly female point of view forcefully responding to overt sexual and political violence within the nations ambivalent political climate . through daring and sensitive readings simultaneously historical fictional and autobiographical chancy explores this literature seeking to uncover answers to the current crisis facing these women today both within their country and in exile . the writers surveyed include anne christine dadesky ghislaine charlier marie chauvet jan j. dominique nadine magloire and edwidge danticat . myriam j. a. chancy is a haitian scholar and writer born in port au prince haiti and raised in canada . she is an assistant professor of english at vanderbilt university .