Framing Silence: Revolutionary Novels by Haitian Women [Paperback]

Myriam J.A. Chancy (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813523400 | ISBN-13: 978-0813523408 | Publication Date: February 1, 1997

"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 Women's 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 women's 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 women's social and political stances in Haiti from an explicitly female point of view, forcefully responding to overt sexual and political violence within the nation's 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 d'Adesky, 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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A major new work in Caribbean studies." -- Gay Wilentz, East Carolina University

"A riveting, insightful personal narrative, a confessional that is very thoroughly researched..." -- Moira Ferguson, James E. Ryan Chair in English and Women's 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

From the Back Cover

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 served, however unwillingly, as a politicized site of contestation between opposing forces.

In this first book-length study in English devoted exclusively to Haitian women's 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 to the historical place of women between the two U.S. occupations of the country. Their novels interrogate women's social and political stances in Haiti from an explicitly female point of view, forcefully responding to overt sexual and political violence within the nation's 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 d'Adesky, Ghislaine Charlier, Marie Chauvet, Jan J. Dominique, Nadine Magliore, and Edwidge Danticat.

Product Details

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (February 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813523400
• ISBN-13: 978-0813523408
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,084,228 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Myriam J. A. Chancy, Ph. D., is a Haitian writer/scholar born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and educated in Port-au-Prince, Quebec City, Winnipeg, and Halifax. Her first novel, Spirit of Haiti (Mango 2003), was a finalist in the Best First Book Category, Canada/Caribbean region, of the Commonwealth Prize 2004. She is also the author of Framing Silence : Revolutionary Novels by Haitian Women (Rutgers 1997), Searching for Safe Spaces : Afro-Caribbean Women Writers in Exile (Temple 1997; Choice OAB Award, 1998), a second novel, The Scorpion's Claw (Peepal Tree Press 2005) and The Loneliness of Angels (Peepal Tree Press 2009). Her work as Editor of Meridians (2002-2004) garnered the CELJ Phoenix Award for Editorial Achievement (2004). She is Professor of English in the United States where she currently resides.