Edwidge Danticat from Haiti

Edwidge Danticat is a Haitian-American woman who was born in Port-au-Prince, the Capital of Haiti in 1969. Her family was poor, and to make ends meet, her father left the country (Haiti), when she was two to find work as a taxi driver in New York City.

When Danticat was four, her mother also left for America to find work as a textile worker. Danticat and a younger brother were placed in the care of an uncle. Finally, when Danticat was 12, she was reunited with her parents and two new brothers in Brooklyn (where she still lives). She learned English, found comfort in books (James Baldwin, Richard Wright, and Alice Walker),

and focused on writing. Danticat became one of the famous woman writers in America, and she is well known for her books and fiction novels (Schultz, S.p1).


The Haitian heritage and culture has a lot to do with her works. The island of Hispaniola (second largest of the Caribbean Islands) is shared by the Dominican Republic, which occupies its eastern side and the Republic of Haiti (about 10,700 sq. miles, roughly one-third of the total surface). Discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus, Haiti is very mountainous. Its original Arawak name, Ayiti, means "land of mountains". Logan (1968:6) notes that, relative to area, Haiti is even more mountainous than Switzerland. The variety of climates, vegetation, and terrains found in these areas vary from coastal plains to extensive mountain ranges, valleys, forests and savannas. Its coastline is very detailed and dotted by a number of smaller islands. Temperatures and rainfall vary widely between the coastal areas and the mountains. Average temperatures range between 72 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter months and 83 degrees in the summer. Because of the topography of the country, only a small percentage of the land can

be cultivated. Deforestation and subsequent erosion are major problems. Trees have been cut down and converted to charcoal the only source of fuel. Its diversity of landscapes reflects its social diversity, his hierarchy and oppositions: great wealth and great poverty, power and subordination, urban and rural culture, elite and peasants, Christianity and voodoo, French and Creole, extended families and nuclear units, great beginnings and present poverty and strife (Chierici, R.p52-54).


The Haitians celebrated their independence in 1804 as the first black republic independent in the world. Haiti' s population is about 6.7 million inhabitants, and thirty two percent of the population lives in the urban area, which is Port-au-Prince the capital where most people are middle class. According to our national history, African slaves were brought in from the west coast of Africa to work in the Spanish mines. A small number of the Haitians are Mulatto because of the French arrival on the Western parts of the island. Haitians combine French, Indians and lines of African blood (Louis Jacques, J.p1). The country has a capital system, and governments are elected for a period of four years. Some of Danticat' stories reflect these Haitian Characteristics.

Edwidge Danticat has been writing ever since she was a small girl of nine. While her parents thought that writing would never be more than a hobby for her and urged her to pursue another career, Danticat proved them wrong. At the age of twelve years old, Edwidge Danticat left her native country Haiti, to come to settle with her parents in Brooklyn. It was during these early years that Danticat was influenced by the Haitian practice of story telling which developed because much of the population was not literate at that time. During her high school years, Danticat rarely spoke loudly, if at all, because she was shy. Although at first she was teased at school because of her accent, Danticat was always been proud of her origin. During the difficult times, she found support from her family and the Haitian community in Brooklyn.

Danticat received a BA in French literature from Barnard College in 1990 and earned an M.F.A from Brown University. Therefore, she fulfilled her parents’ desire that she would be successful of the fact, that she was an immigrant. Danticat’ s education, however, did not stop there. She went on to complete her Master of Fine Arts degree at Brown, where as her thesis she wrote Breath, Eyes, Memory (Soho Press, 1994). Her success as a writer came quickly. Acclaimed for her two works the novel and Krik? Krak, two short stories collections Danticat was in the enviable position of being well –regarded. Critical acclaim and awards for her novels included the 1995 Women Book Achievement, a Granta Regional Awards from Essence and seventeen magazine articles. She was nominated for the Winter 1998 by Jane magazine, one of the "15 Gutsiest Women of the Year". Earlier this year, Danticat won the literary lottery when Oprah Winfrey chose Breath, Eyes, Memory as the June selection for her hugely popular on-air book club (Farley, C.p78). Her achievement in writing makes her won a lot of prizes and awards through America, and the Caribbean. Besides, her book "Breath, Eyes, Memory" shot no 1 on the Publishers Weekly paperback bestsellers list (Farley, C. p78). "At a young age, Edwidge Danticat has become one of our most well known new novelists. She is a writer who talks about the wonder, the terror, and the heartache of her native Haiti. Also, the enduring strength of Haiti's women--with a vibrant image and narrative grace that bear witness to her people' s suffering and courage" (The Publisher. p2).

Occasionally the matter-of-fact tone of the swift, simple prose in 'Breath, Eyes, Memory' s seems inappropriate for its subject matter--which includes rape and sexual abuse as well as third world political strife but Mrs.Danticat' s calm clarity of vision takes on the resonance of folk art. In the end, her book achieves an emotional complexity that lifts it out of the realm of the potboiler, and into that of poetry…The tale is lovingly dominated by the powerful female characters who struggle to make better lives for themselves and their families. However, Ms.Danticat also includes two veritable Prince Charmings who go under- appreciated by these same women, further evidence of her inclination even in highly charged scenes, to be fair rather than doctrinaire. Ms.Danticat…is extraordinary ambitious in the number of psychological and intellectual themes she introduces in 'Breath, Eyes, Memory.' She is also extraordinarily successful (Gladstone. p1).


Danticat, through her writings represented her ethnic heritage and background. In 1937, a Dominican Republic dictator massacred about 40,000 Haitian Workers. Therefore to recall the massacre through her novel: "The Farming of Bones", published in September 1998 by Soho Press, she traveled to Haiti to research the plight of the bone farmers- the ominous sobriquet given to sugar-came cutters, and to talk to friends, and relatives who lives through of heard stories about the ethnic cleansing that the Dominican Republic, a major sugar-producing country, one perpetrated on neighboring Haiti and its poor migrant workers (Erin J.Aubry). Many comments have been made about this novel for example:

The setting, the Dominican Republic in 1937, when dictator Trujillo was beginning his policy of genocide, is a clue, however, to the event that Amabelle relates… In addition to illuminating a shameful, little known chapter of history, Danticat gives us fully realized characters who endure their lives with dignity, a sensuously atmospheric setting and a perfectly paced narrative written in prose that is lushly and erotic detailed (the Haitians were betrayed by their inability to pronounce "parsley) and starkly realistic. While this novel is deeply sad, it is infused with Danticat’ s fierce need to bear witness, coupled with a knowledge that "life can be a strange gift" even when memory makes endurance a difficult task (Publisher weekly, p2).

In 1937, Generalissmo Rafael Trujillo ordered his army to slaughter as many as 20,000 men, women, and children living within the borders of the Dominican Republic. Haitian American novelist explores that brutal massacre through the story of servant Amabelle and he lover, Sebastien. Their tale is interspersed with flashbacks to Amabelle’s chilhook and memories of her own tragically killed parents; it suffused throughout with calm, lyrical, sensual, language that successfully counterpoints the heartbreak and violence described (Benson.M, ).

She was also featured in a New York Times Magazine article that named "30 Under 30" creative people to watch. Besides, Danticat' s novel The Farming of Bones is profoundly sad and beautiful. Its shows how life can become the defining motif in people' s lives. It's an investigation of the idea of borders, and the past of a grieve nation (Wesler, bookpage.com).

Danticat impressed me with her success as a writer, and her attachment to her native country. She came here as an immigrant and did not t know how to speak English. She made her way through the crowd by becoming one of the famous women writers in America. Besides, she did not t forget about her culture, and her native country, Haiti. Although she is a U.S. citizen, Danticat remains connected to Haiti. She translated her novel Krik?Krak! into Creole for Haitian radio, and illustrated a beautiful image of Haiti. According to me, Danticat is one of the brightest, and well known Haitian American woman in America.


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Read more on Edwidge Danticat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwidge_danticat