This article is a translation from Creole of a compilation of the presentations by Haitian feminists given in several workshops, interviews and conversations in Encuentro workshops in 1993. It details the feminine condition in Haiti, the history of feminist mobilization and the feminist movement in Haiti and the current crisis women are facing. Chancy presents a detailed account of history of the feminist movement so as to build a better understanding of the current state of the country for women, especially women who are head of their households and/or work outside of the home.

This article offers a detailed literary analysis of the novel Breath, Eyes, Memory by Edwidge Danticat. Christophe demonstrates how Danticat was able to blend the real and the imaginary in order to further explore how truth and lies exist within artistic fictional works and how they create both an imaginary and grounded portrayal of reality. (Summary by Mouka)

This publication analyses what is identified by H’éros-chimères (2001) and Miraculeuse (2003) by Frankétienne about what is miraculous about the Haitian revolution, how it was once perceived and how it is presently perceived. Frankétienne explains how the “miracle” of the revolution has been aborted and questions the possibility of the “aborted” fetus (post-slavery and revolutionary Haiti) developing fully.

In this essay, Larrier analyses literary several texts, the main one being Edwidge Danticat’s The Farming of Bones, so as to explore themes of testimony among women in literature. The author analyses how in Caribbean cultures, women are positioned to see and hear, but they are not always publicly acknowledged as oral historians and storytellers. Many of the female characters mentioned experience trauma and are positioned as witnesses who must transmit information to others but their testimony is almost never given in a courtroom, which reflects the distrust in the current systems.

This article explores the challenges that emerge at the intersection of economies of compassion and terror: local, national, and international forms of humanitarian assistance; security practices in insecure social and institutional environments; questions of

While gender-based violence is not a new phenomenon in Haiti, the aftermath of the January 12, 2010 earthquake further exposed the vulnerability of Haitian women and girls to gender-based violence and the limited possibilities for women to evince a judicial response to gender-specific violations of the law. Drawing from the experiences of Haitian lawyers and women’s rights advocates, this paper will examine women’s barriers to accessing justice in Haiti by drawing on actual examples of gender-based violence at each step of the investigatory process under the Haitian justice system.

The author argues that the sustained representation of rape purposefully draws our attention to gendered violence that has often been obscured in favour of broader forms of violence (in the forms of slavery, dictatorships, coups, occupations, etc.). Moreover, this paper deals with a writer whose approach to sexual violence also unveils its occurrence outside of contexts that are overtly political.

This text compares the theologies of Vodou and Neopaganism through a feminist lens. Pizza does this by drawing from the work of Karen McCarthy Brown who has completed similar comparisons. The author achieves this by highlighting the duality of certain spirits within Vodou and their similarities with Western theologies. The difference in concepts and experiences of the divine feminine in Vodou and Neopagan traditions is rooted in difference in acculturation, philosophy, and theologies between African and Western cultures.

This interview between Renée H. Shea and Edwidge Danticat focuses on Danticat’s latest work: her stories in The New Yorker Magazine, her upcoming children’s novel Behind The Mountains and a travel memoir about Jacmel called After The Dance. (Summary by Mouka)

Cet entretien entre Renée H. Shea et Edwidge Danticat porte sur les derniers travaux de Danticat, comme ses histoires dans le New Yorker Magazine, son prochain roman pour enfants Behind The Mountains et un mémoire de voyage sur Jacmel intitulé After The Dance. (Résumé par Mouka)

This essay analyses three texts written by women in three different Caribbean Creole: Deyita’s Esperans Dezire (1988) written in Haitian Creole, Sistren’s Lionheart Gal (1986) written in Jamaican Creole, and Mamita Fox’s Identifikashon (1997) written in Curaçaoan Papiamentu. Strongman places these texts within the diachronic tradition of Creole writing, establishing a synchronic dialogue among them and tracing the emergence of a subjectivity, which is dually linguistic and gendered.