Unthinkable Duvalier

Abstract

This article begins by referring to Michel-Rolph Trouillot’s idea that the Haitian Revolution was a largely “unthinkable” event. I then adapt this idea to representations of François Duvalier, or rather non-representations of the former president, in Haitian literature and in Raoul Peck’s film, L’Homme sur les quais. Reflecting on issues of memory and redemption, the main part of the article analyzes a recent novel by Évelyne Trouillot, and finishes with a discussion of the painting by Édouard Duval Carrié, Mardi Gras au Fort Dimanche. The article argues that Duvalier was, and remains largely, an unrepresentable and unthinkable figure in literature and film.