The Island Needs New Narratives

A model of Hispaniola that uses small electric light bulbs to highlight both its perimeter and its internal border. However, while the perimeter is permanently illuminated, the border dividing it in two lights up intermittently.

Karmadavis: "My works are not intended as criticism; rather, they are representational. The piece is a metaphor for daily life on the border. Open and closed depending on factors ranging from economics, human trafficking, abuse of power, and disorder." Interview with Wooding and Fumagalli, October 2019.

Outdated Commonplaces

If one observes the circulation and dissemination of sanctioned narratives about Haiti, Haitian migrants, and Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic, the sense of being trapped in a loop is unavoidable. Over the centuries, conservative pronouncements against Haitians and Dominicans of Haitian descent have changed very little in their promotion of a national identification that uses Haiti as its negative counterpoint. These discourses draw a simplified and artificial picture of the island that highlights differences, presents them as incompatible traits, and denies the existence of cultural permeability: Haitians speak Creole, Dominicans speak Spanish; Haitians practice Vodou, Dominicans are Catholic; Haitians are Black, Dominicans are mixed-race or white; Haitian culture and society are an extension of Africa, while the Dominican Republic has purely Spanish origins. As Pedro San Miguel has succinctly said, according to these discourses, "the definition of 'Dominican' [is simply] 'not Haitian'." The omnipresent influence of divisive narratives in the Dominican Republic is better understood when one considers that, even though extreme conservatives are a minority in the country, most Dominican newspapers tend to assume and defend conservative positions in which anti-immigrant discourse is the norm and Dominicans of Haitian descent may be wrongly conflated with Haitian migrants.

New Narratives

Aware of the importance of narratives, we draw inspiration from anthropologist, performance writer, and theorist Gina Athena Ulysse who, in 2015, after the devastating earthquake that struck Port-au-Prince in January 2010, rightly insisted that we need new narratives in, for, and about Haiti to inform activism, politics, and the capacity to imagine a different future and different ways in which the world can relate to Haiti and its people. Ulysse is right about Haiti, but it could also be said that the island of Hispaniola as a whole needs new narratives, especially narratives that challenge deeply rooted divisive discourses and stereotypes that support hardline policies and justify denationalizing practices deployed to manage migration in the absence of adequate controls at the point of entry or channels through which migrants can maintain a positive status.

A Novel Approach

Although the work of local civil society organizations that speak out against deprivation of nationality and deportations and use legal means to advocate for the rights of denationalized people is invaluable, it is vital, if human rights activities are to gain traction, to challenge conservative narratives from both a cultural and a legal perspective. The importance of literature and the arts in creating and spreading new narratives that can highlight the reality of the situation, raise awareness, dismantle harmful stereotypes, and play a crucial role in changing the tone and content of the conversation should not be underestimated.

Well before the current border-canal debacle engulfing the island, OBMICA director Bridget Wooding and Associate Researcher Maria Cristina Fumagalli wrote an article questioning outdated commonplaces. It seeks to explore new narratives for Hispaniola by proposing a desirable approach that recognizes art and culture as a complement to the legal framing through which this issue is so often viewed. New ways of seeing are promising, it is argued, insofar as they can open more positive paths toward building a better future for and between the two countries that share the island. Below are the respective links to the article in Spanish, French, and English.

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