Valerie Kaussen Libros

Migrant Revolutions: Haitian Literature, Globalization, and U.S. Imperialism interprets Haitian literature in a transnational context of anti-colonial―and anti-globalization―politics. Positing a materialist and historicized account of Haitian literary modernity, it traces the themes of slavery, labor migration, diaspora, and revolution in works by Jacques Roumain, Marie Chauvet, Edwidge Danticat, and others. Author Valerie Kaussen argues that the sociocultural effects of U.S. imperialism have renewed and expanded the relevance of the universal political ideals that informed Haiti's eighteenth-century slave revolt and war of decolonization. Finally, Migrant Revolutions defines Haitian literary modernity as located at the forefront of the struggles against transnational empire and global colonialism.

Focusing on the intersection of literature and politics, this book explores twentieth-century Haitian literature within the framework of transnational anti-colonial movements. The author highlights how the philosophies of human rights, rooted in the Haitian Revolution, inform the modernist literary tradition. It asserts that Haitian literary modernity consistently confronts and critiques the colonial order, extending its relevance to contemporary globalization challenges.