Transnational Hispaniola : New Directions in Haitian and Dominican Studies

This is an edited volume that seeks to elaborate new methodologies and forge new questions in research about Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In addition to sharing the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, Haiti and the Dominican Republic share a complicated and at times painful history. Yet Transnational Hispaniola shows that there is much more to the two nations'relationship than their perceived antagonism. Rejecting dominant narratives that reinforce opposition between the two sides of the island, contributors to this volume highlight the connections and commonalities that extend across the border, mapping new directions in Haitianist and Dominicanist scholarship. Exploring a variety of topics including European colonialism, migration, citizenship, sex tourism, music, literature, political economy, and art, contributors demonstrate that alternate views of Haitian and Dominican history and identity have existed long before the present day. From a moving section on passport petitions that reveals the familial, friendship, and communal networks across Hispaniola in the nineteenth century to a discussion of the shared music traditions that unite the island today, this volume speaks of an island and people bound together in a myriad of ways. Complete with reflections and advice on teaching a transnational approach to Haitian and Dominican studies, this agenda-setting volume argues that the island of Hispaniola and its inhabitants should be studied in a way that contextualizes differences, historicizes borders, and recognizes cross-island links. Contributors: Paul Austerlitz | Nathalie Bragadir | Raj Chetty | Anne Eller | Kaiama L. Glover | Maja Horn | Regine Jean-Charles | Kiran C. Jayaram | Elizabeth Manley | April Mayes | Elizabeth Russ | Fidel J. Tavárez | Elena Valdez Publication of the paperback edition made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Publication of the paperback edition made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Contents 6 List of Figures 8 Transnational Hispaniola: An Introduction • April J. Mayes and Kiran C. Jayaram 10 Part 1: The Historical Limits of the State in Hispaniola 30 1. Shifting Territories: The Production of Space on Eighteenth-Century Hispaniola • Nathalie Bragadir 32 2. The Contested State: Political Discourse during the Independence of the Dominican Republic, 1844 • Fidel J. Tavárez 53 3. To Cap-Haïtien, with My Family: Dominican Passport Petitions, 1862–1863 • Anne Eller 76 Part 2: Representations of Hispaniola 88 4. “A Border between Geographies of Grief ”: River Crossings and Crossroads between Haiti and the Dominican Republic • Régine Michelle Jean-Charles 90 5. “The Tam-Tam of Drums from the West”: Shifting Representations of Haiti in the Later Work of Aída Cartagena Portalatín • Elizabeth C. Russ 113 6. Archives of Afro-Affirmation: Post-Trujillo Journals and Dominican Literary Blackness • Raj Chetty 134 7. Transnational Romances and Sex Tourism in Chochueca’s Strategy, by Rita Indiana Hernández; “Emoticons,” by Aurora Arias; and “Heading South,” by Dany Laferrière • Elena Valdez 147 Part 3: The State, the Market, Bodies, and Commodities of Hispaniola 168 8. Developing an Economy of Sex: Intersecting Histories of Tourism, Beach Boys, and Masculinity in Hispaniola • Elizabeth S. Manley 170 9. Global Capital Disguised as Sustainability in Post-Earthquake Haiti • Kiran C. Jayaram 191 10. Ties That Bind: La Sentencia and Citizenship in Contemporary Hispaniola • April J. Mayes 210 Part 4: Transnational Cultural Production 228 11. Interview with Paul Austerlitz: Engaged Scholarship and Engaged Creativity in the Dominican Republic and Haiti • Paul Austerlitz and April J. Mayes 230 12. Translating Hispaniola to the Digital Realm: On Teaching Alternative Histories of the Americas • Kaiama L. Glover and Maja Horn 248 Epilogue • April J. Mayes and Kiran C. Jayaram 256 Appendix: Course Syllabi 268 List of Contributors 276 Index 280 The contributors to 'Transnational Hispaniola' in Haitian and Dominican Studies elaborate new methodologies and forge new questions in research about Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They use history, anthropology, literature, and interdisciplinary studies to move toward new directions in studies of Hispaniola