From Silencing the Past – Power and the Production of History, by Michel-Rolph Trouillot, p 25:
“For what history is changes with time and place or, better said, history reveals itself only through the production of specific narratives. What matters most are the process and conditions of production of such narratives. Only a focus on that process can uncover the ways in which the two sides of historicity intertwine in a particular context. Only through that overlap can we discover the differential exercise of power that makes some narratives possible and silences others.”

Trouillot is describing a theory of history much like the philosophy of art. In art, one learns that the negative spaces have value; what is left out describes the ultimate image as much as the impressions that the artist leaves. Trouillot is arguing that the same holds for historical silences, and that if we can understand the reasons such silences show up in a particular historical narrative, we’ll gain insight into the complete history. Indeed, he seems to be saying that one cannot consider history without considering the silences also.

On page 26, Trouillot writes:
“Silences enter the process of historical production at four crucial moments: the moment of fact creation (the making of sources); the moment of fact assembly (the making of archives); the moment of fact retrieval (the making of narratives); and the moment of retrospective significance (the making of history in the final instance).”

Just finished reading all 250 posts to the Haiti newsgroup since I joined at the beginning of the year. Whew!

My brain is on overload right now and I’m still sifting through my thoughts, but here are a few observations:

1. It is striking how different reports of the same event can vary so widely. Of course, this is rather obvious, but I think this is the first time I’ve read about the same event – the Haitian Independence celebration of jan 1, in this case – covered by so many sources. From AP wire stories to personal accounts to government propaganda, descriptions of particular events vary so widely that it’s impossible for me to know what the truth is. I can’t tell if Haitians love Aristide or hate him. Is the Group of 184 a spontaneous and legitimate dissenting voice, or was it manufactured here in the US? How many people really have been killed in protests during the last month.

I find this all especially interesting now that I’m reading Trouillot’s Silencing the Past. Given our unprecedented access to information in this age, if it’s impossible to know right now what truth is, how can historians hope to make any sense of it?

To that point, Louise turned me on to the New Yorker article Theatres of War by Daniel Mendelsohn. In it, the author describes Thucydides’ History of the fall of Athens, and current authors’ attempts to deconstruct it and use it for their own purposes. The significant discovery for me in the article, though, is that Thucydides wrote a sort of interpreted history. He wrote the dialog of the players involved, sometimes as if an entire people was speaking with one voice. He used the device of dialog to try to capture the sense of the debate, the flow of ideas that was taking place at the time. Perhaps this is what history can do: capture a flavor, an essence.

2. Haitians, most of them, are poor. Really, mind-bogglingly poor. When you read descriptions of people eating mud just to survive, it’s hard to fathom that kind of reality. Toussaint must be weeping to see what’s become of his country.

3. It seems that all Haitians agree that things need to improve – many of them are desperate for change, for a better life – yet none seem to have any hope that things will really ever be different. There is outrage and agitation aplenty, but few talk of an actual plan for how things are going to improve.

For my part, my armchair observer’s two cents says that Haiti needs stability. Aristede needs to serve out his term, even if he spends too much on cars and has goon squads running amok. The man that Haiti elected needs to finish a term, and elections for the next president need to be held and that person needs to finish HIS term. Democracy must be seen to be working, and without the further intervention of outside forces. When Haitians see that they have a voice in the voting booth, they may start to speak with more confidence and authority.

Of course, without money, even a stable governmental body may not make much difference. Desperate people are driven to desperate measures. (You see? You see how easy it is to lose hope for Haiti?) If the international community would simply release the money that has already been allocated for use in Haiti, and if it could somehow be distributed rationally – perhaps along the lines of the cash infusion that Ireland has seen in recent years – then it’s hard to see how there wouldn’t be some improvement. Of course there will be abuses, but the current practice of withholding funds is certainly contributing nothing positive.

I’m reading from Henry Adams’ “The history of the United States of America during the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison.” Zounds! In this he declares that the Spaniard Godoy, by refusing to relinquish the Louisiana Territory upon discovering he had been duped, had as much influence as the revolt in Haiti on Napoleon’s decision to sell the territory. The details in Adam’s book are sketchy but tantalizing.

The question of Louverture and Haiti’s role in US history is key as I move forward with this project. I suspect that my grandfather made a little much of the revolution’s importance on Napoleon’s decision to sell the LA Territory. If events in Haiti can be established as having had a profound impact on that transaction, then the focus of whatever story emerges should rightly focus on that fact. If not, then I’ll be able to keep the story in Haiti and not have to explain French and American history in addition to Haitian.

[Just noticed this from the General Editor’s Preface to Adams: “The books in this series were designed for reading, not research. All documentation has, therefore, been eliminated.” Then, from the book editor’s introduction: “Only a few of the high points of the History could be represented here…” This is an abridged edition. Time to find a new volume of Adams.]

Did a lot of reading today about the Louisiana Purchase. I have some notes that I’ll post tomorrow. I finally felt like I was getting in to the flow of research today.

I’ve been using StickyBrain for note takikng for the past few days. It’s really useful in that it lets me capture thoughts on the fly. I like that I can display one category of notes at a time and make new notes in that category. I love that I can grab text from the web – URL and all! – in one easy keystroke.

I wanted the freedom to capture whatever might come to my brain without worrying to much about organizing them at the time. However, I can already see things – like my daily log – that I’m going to want to actually organize every couple of days. I may end up getting CircusPonies to start making more structured notebooks. Using these programs in tandem might just be what the doctor ordered.

Speaking of doctors, I’m coming down with a cold. Sucks. Actually, blows. Ah well.

Decided to try a new approach to the work thing. First thing I’ll do in the morning (maybe the previous day?) is to schedule time on Haitian history lesson at the Corbett site. I think st big picture view will be most helpful

Ordered Libete (corbett’s course book) and a book on blogging from Barnes & Noble. Also ordered “Silencing the Past” Michel-Rolph Trouillot; and “The Making of Haiti: The Saint Domingue Revolution from Below” by
Carolyn E. Fick, from Amazon.

Read the required reading for Corbett’s first lesson. Must complete the posts.

Checked out Rosetta Stone. I think this is the best idea for getting up to speed with French. Will probably subscribe to the quarterly lesson plan sometime this weekend.

It’s the last day of Christmas and Seattle is swathed in a snowy blanket. A winter storm has dropped a few inches of the white stuff even here on the beach. It’s absolutely gorgeous, steely gray sky and soft puffy flakes. The weatherman says that we’ll see the snow turn to rain and slush later in the afternoon, so I’m just sitting here in the living room soaking it all in.

UPDATE: Just after I posted this, the song Quiet by John Mayer came on RadioIO. There’s a line about how quiet it is with the snow coming down outside. Love that synchronicity!

Happy New Year!

I just came across this article on What You Can’t Say by way of Slashdot. I find myself wishing the author would find more evidence for his viewpoint, yet the topic of moral fashions is an intriguing one. Herman Hesse said, “We should remember that it is easy and foolish to sneer at the mistakes or barbarities of remote ages.” To impose today’s moral fashions on other generations is as silly as dressing them in our clothes would be. This is an important concept to remember as I read about Toussaint Louverture.

Secondly, a big congratulations to the team at JPL for a successful landing of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Louise and I watched the coverage on Nasa TV last night. It was so exciting to see the years of hard work pay off so handsomely. Best of luck, you guys, and continued success!