Jean Price-Mars
Encyclopedia
Jean Price-Mars was a Haiti
an writer. Born in Grande Rivière du Nord, Price-Mars obtained a degree in medicine and worked as a diplomat.
movement in Haiti, which "discovered" and embraced the Africa
n roots of Haitian society. Price was the first prominent defender of vodou as an actual religion complete with "deities, a priesthood, a theology, and morality." He argued against the prevailing prejudice and ideology, which rejected all non-white
, non-Western
elements of the cultures of the Americas
. His Haitian nationalism contrasts its embracement of Haitian cultural identity as African through slavery
, while the neighboring Dominican Republic
prided itself for being Spanish
.
Price-Mars' attitude was born when he witnessed the active resistance to the 1915 to 1934 United States occupation of Haiti by the campesinos
. He deplored the elite's abandonment of the tradition that focussed on the country's liberation from French colonialism
, but he took pride in the conduct of the poor. He attacked the elite for their "inability to promote the welfare of the Haitian masses".
an ancestry while denouncing any ties to their African legacy. The term comes from Gustave Flaubert's novel "Madame Bovary
" in which Emma Bovary is anxious to escape from social conditions which define her, but upon which she looks down. He noticed that the elite were composed almost exclusively by people of mixed blood, who embraced their "whiteness, while the rest of the majority shared much of the same features, but his disdain for the elites spread beyond the racial purity of "Bovarism".
It also spread to their economic and political influence implied by their status. He understood that their power base in the state system relied heavily on the taxation of crops, especially of coffee
, the chief export, grown by the campesinos who had come to the country's defense when the elites had abandoned it to protect their own interests.
He also attacked the elites' role in education
of the country. The elite justified their position and control as those whose responsibility it was to civilize the masses. However for Price-Mars, to educate is to civilize. Therefore, he gives considerable attention to educational programs. He examined the "intellectual tools" available in Haiti and challenges the elite for their responsibility by virtue of their position and cultural formation in the western mold to promote such progress among the masses.
He ultimately and paradoxically came to embrace slavery as the source of the Haitian identity and culture. The culture and religion formed among the slaves which they used to rebel against the Europeans became the building blocks for a Haitian nation.
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an writer. Born in Grande Rivière du Nord, Price-Mars obtained a degree in medicine and worked as a diplomat.
Negritude movement
His writings championed the NegritudeNégritude
Négritude is a literary and ideological movement, developed by francophone black intellectuals, writers, and politiciansin France in the 1930s by a group that included the future Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor, Martinican poet Aimé Césaire, and the Guianan Léon Damas.The Négritude...
movement in Haiti, which "discovered" and embraced the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n roots of Haitian society. Price was the first prominent defender of vodou as an actual religion complete with "deities, a priesthood, a theology, and morality." He argued against the prevailing prejudice and ideology, which rejected all non-white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
, non-Western
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
elements of the cultures of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
. His Haitian nationalism contrasts its embracement of Haitian cultural identity as African through slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, while the neighboring Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
prided itself for being Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
Price-Mars' attitude was born when he witnessed the active resistance to the 1915 to 1934 United States occupation of Haiti by the campesinos
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
. He deplored the elite's abandonment of the tradition that focussed on the country's liberation from French colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
, but he took pride in the conduct of the poor. He attacked the elite for their "inability to promote the welfare of the Haitian masses".
Bovarism
He coined the term "collective Bovarism" to describe the elite in identifying themselves with elements of EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an ancestry while denouncing any ties to their African legacy. The term comes from Gustave Flaubert's novel "Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and is considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life...
" in which Emma Bovary is anxious to escape from social conditions which define her, but upon which she looks down. He noticed that the elite were composed almost exclusively by people of mixed blood, who embraced their "whiteness, while the rest of the majority shared much of the same features, but his disdain for the elites spread beyond the racial purity of "Bovarism".
It also spread to their economic and political influence implied by their status. He understood that their power base in the state system relied heavily on the taxation of crops, especially of coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
, the chief export, grown by the campesinos who had come to the country's defense when the elites had abandoned it to protect their own interests.
He also attacked the elites' role in education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
of the country. The elite justified their position and control as those whose responsibility it was to civilize the masses. However for Price-Mars, to educate is to civilize. Therefore, he gives considerable attention to educational programs. He examined the "intellectual tools" available in Haiti and challenges the elite for their responsibility by virtue of their position and cultural formation in the western mold to promote such progress among the masses.
He ultimately and paradoxically came to embrace slavery as the source of the Haitian identity and culture. The culture and religion formed among the slaves which they used to rebel against the Europeans became the building blocks for a Haitian nation.
Notable works
Some of his most notable works are the book Ainsi parla l'oncle (1928), which was translated into English as "So Spoke the Uncle", La Vocation de l'elite (1919), La République d'Haïti et la République Dominicaine (1953), and De Saint-Domingue à Haïti (1957).Further reading
- Jean Price-Mars and Haiti, by Jacques C. Antoine. Three Continents Press. 1981