Opaque Aesthetics of Freedom: Romaine la Prophètesse, the Haitian Revolution, and Black Diasporic Possibilities

被引:0
作者
Beauchemin, Bianca [1 ]
机构
[1] York Univ, Sch Gender Sexual & Womens Studies, Toronto, ON, Canada
来源
JOURNAL OF CANADIAN STUDIES-REVUE D ETUDES CANADIENNES | 2023年 / 57卷 / 03期
关键词
Haitian Revolution; Black diaspora; opacity; sensuous marronage; queer; creative gender; aesthetics; Black studies; abstraction; visual art; Romaine la Proph & egrave; tesse;
D O I
10.3138/jcs-2022-0032
中图分类号
C [社会科学总论];
学科分类号
03 ; 0303 ;
摘要
The Haitian Revolution-the famed historical event that redefined the liberatory possibilities of modernity and altered Black diasporic subjectivities-offers a wealth of knowledge that has yet to be fully analyzed. This article explores the diasporic and queered possibilities embedded in the story and aesthetic representation of the revolutionary actor, Romaine la Proph & egrave;tesse. This liminal figure of the early revolutionary era galvanized thousands of formerly enslaved people to fight against the French colonial apparatus while embodying a feminine, creative, and spiritual gendered subjectivity, diverting from the overdetermined masculinist and militaristic ethos of the time. Nonetheless, most accounts of Romaine are tangentially mentioned and do not explore the rebellious possibilities of this historical figure's imaginative gendered presentation. To counter the analytical impasse imposed by Western and authoritative archives and methodologies, the author employs a "radical interdisciplinarity"-a crucial Black studies approach-to unearth the potential of creative genders and their role in upholding Black diasporic epistemes of freedom and resistance. Paying attention to Haitian abstract art, and particularly the work of Haiti-born, Montreal-based multidisciplinary artist Manuel Mathieu, the author explores how his pieces blur temporal, spatial and ontological registers offering a glimpse into undecipherable, yet affective, genealogies of "freedom dreams." Indeed, through the use of a conceptual frameworks that honours the "right to opacity," the author suggests that the obscured mythology and the abstracted aesthetics of Romaine la Proph & egrave;tesse allow for a genealogical reading of queer spiritual ontologies that are part of larger Black diasporic freedom epistemes and that are demonstrated through contemporary Haitian queer designations and advocacy work. La R & eacute;volution ha & iuml;tienne - l'& eacute;v & eacute;nement historique c & eacute;l & egrave;bre qui a red & eacute;fini les possibilit & eacute;s lib & eacute;ratrices de la modernit & eacute; et modifi & eacute; les subjectivit & eacute;s de la diaspora noire - offre une richesse de connaissances qui n'ont pas encore & eacute;t & eacute; pleinement analys & eacute;e. Cet article explore les possibilit & eacute;s diasporiques et queer pr & eacute;sentes dans l'histoire et la repr & eacute;sentation artistique de l'acteur r & eacute;volutionnaire Romaine la Proph & egrave;tesse. Du d & eacute;but de l'& egrave;re r & eacute;volutionnaire, cette figure liminale a galvanis & eacute; des milliers d'anciens esclaves & agrave; lutter contre le r & eacute;gime colonial fran & ccedil;ais tout en incarnant une subjectivit & eacute; genr & eacute;e f & eacute;minine, cr & eacute;ative et spirituelle, s'& eacute;loignant de l'& eacute;thos masculiniste et militariste surd & eacute;termin & eacute; de l'& eacute;poque. N & eacute;anmoins, la plupart des r & eacute;cits historiques sur Romaine ne sont mentionn & eacute;s que de mani & egrave;re tangentielle et ne parviennent pas & agrave; explorer les possibilit & eacute;s rebelles de la pr & eacute;sentation imaginative et genr & eacute;e de ce personnage historique. Pour sortir de l'impasse analytique impos & eacute;e par les archives et m & eacute;thodologies occidentales, l'auteure utilise une interdisciplinarit & eacute; radicale - une approche cruciale au domaine des & eacute;tudes des noirs - pour d & eacute;couvrir le potentiel des genres cr & eacute;atifs et leurs r & ocirc;les dans le maintien des & eacute;pist & eacute;mologies de libert & eacute; et de r & eacute;sistance de la diaspora noire. En pr & ecirc;tant attention & agrave; l'art abstrait ha & iuml;tien et en particulier aux ouvrages de l'artiste multidisciplinaire Manuel Mathieu, qui est n & eacute; en Ha & iuml;ti et bas & eacute; & agrave; Montr & eacute;al, l'auteure explore la fa & ccedil;on dont ses oe uvres brouillent les registres temporels, spatiaux et ontologiques, offrant un aper & ccedil;u des g & eacute;n & eacute;alogies ind & eacute;chiffrables, mais affectives, des r & ecirc;ves de libert & eacute;. En effet, & agrave; travers l'utilisation d'un cadre conceptuel qui honore << le droit & agrave; l'opacit & eacute;, >> l'auteure sugg & egrave;re que la mythologie obscurcie et l'esth & eacute;tique abstraite de Romaine la Proph & egrave;tesse permettent une lecture g & eacute;n & eacute;alogique des ontologies spirituelles queer qui font partie du cheminement de la lib & eacute;ration des noirs et qui sont d & eacute;montr & eacute;s & agrave; travers les d & eacute;signations queer ha & iuml;tiennes contemporaines et l'activisme ha & iuml;tien.
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页码:397 / 422
页数:26
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