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CS92PROD
Heroes, Zombies, Despots, and Exiles: A Haitian Introduction to Postcolonialism
FIST 223
Spring 2014 not offered

Among the many phenomena associated with the catchall category of "postcolonial studies," the island nation of Haiti stands alone. It is here, after all, and for the first time in history, that an army of slaves successfully prosecuted a revolutionary war and made a nation. As the world's first black republic, Haiti was likewise the first state to abolish slavery definitively, and according to at least one Haiti scholar, even "invented the process of decolonization that would only take hold in the majority of European colonies a century and a half later." Haiti is consequently an ideal prism through which students may be introduced to the broader concepts of postcolonialism. In this course we will track Haiti's remarkable trajectory from being the wealthiest colony in the world to being the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere. We will examine both internal and external literary representations of Haiti's people, its revolution, its unapologetic embrace of Vodou (including its still-unsung invention of the Hollywood zombie), its despots, its exiles, and, last, its indefatigable insistence on its own legitimacy.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA RLAN
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: None

Last Updated on OCT-06-2024
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