Haitian Modernity and Liberative Interruptions

Haitian Modernity and Liberative Interruptions investigates the intersections of history, literature, race, religion, decolonization, and freedom that led to the founding of the postcolonial state of Haiti in 1804. Particular attention is given to the place of religion in the Haitian Revolution, as well as to the interpretation and representation of this singular event in the work of Frederick Douglass and Langston Hughes. This book not only examines the multiple legacies and the problems of Enlightenment modernity, imperial colonialism, Western racism, and hegemony, but also studies their complex relationships with the institutions of slavery, religion, and Black freedom. Topics range from Makandals postcolonial religious imagination to Boukmans liberation theology to Langston Hughes discussion of the role of prophetic religion in the Haitian Revolution. Haitian Modernity and Liberative Interruptions also compares Du Boiss theory of double consciousness with Fanons theory of decolonization and revolutionary humanism.