Empire of Freedom, Kingdom of Civilization
Henry Christophe, the Baron de Vastey, and the Paradoxes of Universalism in Postrevolutionary Haiti
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4196111 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Doris L Garraway (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 3 39 |
| Pages | 1-21 |
| Publication date | 2012-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Small Axe A Caribbean Journal of Criticism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1534-6714 • E-ISSN: 0799-0537 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/07990537-1894069 |
| OpenAlex | W2158258976 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 14 |
| References cited | 16 |
This study proposes a new interpretation of the Haitian Revolution and its aftermath by examining the ideological foundations for the emergence of the first monarchy in the postcolonial Atlantic world. The discourse of freedom and the practice of authoritarianism in the Haitian Revolution, which was followed by Jean-Jacques Dessalines's establishment of an “empire” and the kingdom of Henry Christophe, show the profound antinomies of the discourse of universalism. Beginning with a reading of Haiti's founding documents in light of the political thought of Etienne Balibar and Hannah Arendt, the author proceeds to a brief case study of the highly polemical writings of Pompée Valentin, baron de Vastey, the secretary and “publicist” to King Henry Christophe. The first Haitian writer of note, Vastey passionately defended Haiti's revolutionary birth, its sovereignty, and its monarchy in an attempt to argue for its belonging within the modern world. At the same time, his writings point out the tensions of a universalism that both claimed for Haitians the status of a universal class and legitimated the founding of authoritarian rule within Haiti
Authoritarianism · Civilization · Democracy · Empire · Humanities · Ideology · Monarchy · Political science · Politics · Sovereignty · Universalism · Caribbean and African Literature and Culture · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law · Philosophy
Beyond Visible Entanglements
Revolutionary narrations
Going home
Nietzsche and Haiti
World society, international society and the periphery
Transatlantic Connections in Colonial and Post-colonial Haiti
A soldier of fortune”
Freedom over democracy in post-revolutionary Haiti, c. 1804-1844
I like my baby heir with baby hair and afros”
Narrating the Age of Revolution
Rethinking the Haitian Turn – Beyond the Universality Paradigm and Its Enemies
Whose and Which Haiti? Western Intellectuals and the Aristide Question
In the shadow of the Citadel
Sovereignty after Slavery
Le Code noir, ou, Le calvaire de Canaan
Main currents in Caribbean thought
Avengers of the New World
Silencing the Past
Monotonies of History
From Classical French Poet to Militant Haitian Statesman
Napoleon and the Foundation of the Empire
Before Malcolm X, Dessalines
The Roots of Early Black Nationalism
Declarations of Independence
Hegel, Haiti, and Universal History
Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
Hegel and Haiti
| Unique citing works | 14 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,08 |
| Citation span | 2013 - 2023 (11) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 14 |