VVZ API is not affiliated with ETH Zurich. Data might be outdated or incorrect. Please view the official ETHZ Vorlesungsverzeichnis for binding information.
The Others and Me: The Female Wave in Contemporary Haitian Literature
Les autres et moi : La vague féminine dans la littérature contemporaine haïtienne
Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:35:38
Abstract
Haitian literature is born with the independence of the country in 1804, and has long remained the domain of men. My intention is to discover with the students a female literature that will take the forefront of the Haitian literary scene during the 1990s. I offer students the reading and discussion of some female novels published in the last 20 years.
Objective
I offer students a reading of some female novels published in the last 20 years. Five novels chosen from my personal work and three others produced by three sisters living and writing like me in Haiti.
Content
Haitian literature is born with the independence of the country in 1804, and has long remained the domain of men. Poetry, theatre, essay, novel or short story, writing was used by writers to defend their ideas, fights, political ideologies and outlet to their fantasies of all kinds. A few heads of women emerge in this male literary ocean, but their passage has been, with rare exceptions, fleeting and contained in good spheres where women had to stay. My intention is to discover with the students a female literature that will take the forefront of the Haitian literary scene at the turn of the 1990s. Driven by the achievements of the feminist struggle of the second half of the 20th century and thanks to the vast movement to liberate all forms of expression that will result from the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship in February 1986, the writing of women has found in this context the field for its full development. I offer students a reading of some female novels published in the last 20 years. Five novels chosen from my personal work and three others produced by three sisters living and writing like me in Haiti. Each lesson will contain two phases. Phase I, reading significant passages, highlighting for students of the works, of their authors, of the context they embrace. In each lesson, topics addressed by the authors, that shed light on the Haitian society and the specific facets of its culture, will be identified and discussed, as well as the writing choices of the authors, etc. Phase II, the floor will be given to students who will be asked (in groups or solo) to share their impressions of readings, to make presentations on the topics covered in Phase I, to interact with each other.
Resources
Literature
Suggested readings: • L’heure hybride – KM – Edition Mémoire d’encrier – Montréal, Canada - 2018 • Saisons sauvages – KM – Mercure de France – Paris, France - 2010 • Fado – KM – Mercure de France – Paris, France - 2008 • L’ange du patriarche – KM – Mercure de France, Paris, France - 2018 • Aux frontières de la soif – KM – Mercure de France, Paris, France - 2013 • Rosalie l’infâme – Evelyne Trouillot – Dapper Littérature, Paris, 2003 • Douces déroutes – Yanick Lahens – Editions Sabine Wespieser - France • Un ailleurs à soi – Emmelie Prophète – Edition Mémoire d’Encrier – Montréal, Canada Additional readings: • Les mystères du Vodou – Laennec Hurbon Editions Gallimard, Paris, 1993 • Papa Doc et les Tontons macoutes – Bernard Diederich Librairie de France, 1971 • L’échec de l’aide internationale à Haïti : Dilemmes et égarements – Ricardo Seitenfus Editions de l’Université d’Etat d’Haïti, juin 2015 • Haïti, une économie de violence – Fritz Alphonse Jean , 2019 Commande : [email protected] • Assistance mortelle – DVD – Raoul Peck, Réalisateur https://www.amazon.fr/Assistance-Mortelle-Fatal-Raoul-Peck/dp/B01BC9QD94 • Site Web « Ile en Ile » • L’atelier d’écriture de Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Editions Seghers, France – 2017 • Ecrire – Marguerite Duras – Ed. Gallimard, Paris, 1995 • L’amour de l’écriture – Joseph Vebret – Ed. L’Archange minotaure, France – 2006 • D’autres rêves. Les écritures migrantes au Québec, Gravili, Anne de Vaucher, éd, Venezia Lido (Italy), Supernova Edizioni srl, 2000 • Théories Caraïbes, poétique du déracinement, Des Rosiers, Joël, Montréal, Les Éditions Triptyque, 1996.
Learning Materials (Links)
- Main link
- ILIAS Lernplattform des Kurses
General Information
- Language
- French
- Levels
- DS
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture |
Les autres et moi: La vague féminine dans la littérature contemporaine haïtienne
The lecturers will communicate the exact lesson times of ONLINE courses.
|
|
2 h weekly |
Offered In
-
GESS Science in Perspective (Only the topics listed in this paragraph can be chosen as GESS Science in Perspective. Further below you will find the "type B courses Reflections about subject specific methods and content" as well as the language courses. 6 ECTS need to be acquired during the BA and 2 ECTS during the MA Students who already took a course within their main study program are NOT allowed to take the course again.)
-
Type A: Enhancement of Reflection Competence (Suitable for all students. Students who already took a course within their main study program are NOT allowed to take the course again.)
-